Dread Broadcasting Corporation (DBC)

Automatic captions — a machine draft pending editorial review.

1. 0:01Good evening each and every one and once again welcome to the sound of DBC.
2. 0:05Dread Broadcasting Corporation
3. 0:07was the first black-owned and controlled station in Europe.
4. 0:11[Reporter] To avoid detection the illegal broadcasters
5. 0:13transmit from secret makeshift studios.
6. 0:16It was revolutionary.
7. 0:18DBC set the template for black music and how it's played on stations today.
8. 0:24England needs a black station. Europe needs a black station.
9. 0:28It's the same music every day, the same chat, and the same jokes.
10. 0:32In the '80s, it felt like it was medallion DJs.
11. 0:35Typical, shirt open, medallion.
12. 0:37Very male, very white.
13. 0:39It was just kind of boring basically.
14. 0:43I remember thinking: "What really? A real black radio station playing reggae music in London?"
15. 0:49And I thought: "Wow, I've got to get on that station."
16. 0:52The BBC and Capital can’t cater for these communities.
17. 0:56[Reporter]: So in order to make that point you’re prepared to break the law?
18. 0:59We have to.
19. 1:00Even if it means paying huge fines?
20. 1:02Even if it means going to prison.
21. 1:05It was run by Rita Marley's brother and sister
22. 1:07and a guy called Michael Williams.
23. 1:10Originally when Lepke started, he did the shows
24. 1:13on Sunday afternoons.
25. 1:14He strung up a mast in his back garden.
26. 1:16[Reporter]: And until recently it bombarded the capital every Sunday afternoon
27. 1:20with a wide variety of black music, from reggae and soul to calypso and soca.
28. 1:25Something like this would give blacks a chance to represent themselves, to actually be heard.
29. 1:32Black pirate radio beamed across London.
30. 1:34The transmitter is rigged on top of a tower block.
31. 1:38We'd have people climbing up on the outside of buildings.
32. 1:40When you think about it now it's really dangerous but
33. 1:42the higher we got with our mast, the further we could broadcast.
34. 1:50DBC has to be streetwise to survive.
35. 1:53Walking the Portobello Road now only because the law has caught up with them,
36. 1:57seized their equipment and silenced their signal.
37. 2:00We’re told it’s a free country, free speech all the time.
38. 2:02You can’t do free speech,
39. 2:04it hurts.
40. 2:05There's nothing worse for a pirate radio station than getting their equipment taken
41. 2:08by Her Majesty's Government.
42. 2:11We had a lot of support from the community
43. 2:13and they would donate money.
44. 2:14How many T-shirts you got left?
45. 2:16Not very many.
46. 2:17The Dread Broadcasting Corporation logo is very iconic.
47. 2:21It's a powerful statement.
48. 2:23It's a dread with a spliff hanging out.
49. 2:32DBC gave people like me an opportunity, where back in those days
50. 2:36there were no black female DJs on the air.
51. 2:39That was not a thing. It was impossible.
52. 2:41You didn't hear women in general, let alone black women.
53. 2:44This is our new signature tune that will be in the shops soon.
54. 2:48You saw the likes of the Ranking Miss P.
55. 2:50There was another lady called Lady Di.
56. 2:52Neneh Cherry and Andrea Oliver, they did a hip-hop show.
57. 2:55DBC gave people like me an opportunity. People were always blown away by the female DJs.
58. 2:58It was so inspirational.
59. 3:01Their long-term aim is to be a legal broadcasting service
60. 3:04covering black cultural issues, news, information, and music
61. 3:08and they also hope to pave the way for other grassroots stations around the country.
62. 3:12We did go to the Houses of Parliament to put our case forward.
63. 3:15We weren't really welcomed.
64. 3:16People had preconceived ideas of who we were.
65. 3:20We wanted to get a legal licence,
66. 3:22and we were advised to come off the air while they review the legal licence,
67. 3:25which didn't happen, so it naturally came to its end.
68. 3:32[Presenter]: Margaret Jones was a reggae DJ on Radio 1.
69. 3:34By what name was she better known?
70. 3:37Miss P.
71. 3:38The Ranking Miss P was so good that she was
72. 3:40poached by the BBC eventually.
73. 3:44We were brave and we were fearless.
74. 3:46DBC did an impossible thing: expose black music to where it is today.
75. 3:51And without us it wouldn't be how it is now.