{"id":34946,"date":"2018-11-24T07:21:43","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T11:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=34946"},"modified":"2018-11-24T07:21:43","modified_gmt":"2018-11-24T11:21:43","slug":"texas-standard-explores-the-rich-history-of-outlaw-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/11\/texas-standard-explores-the-rich-history-of-outlaw-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Standard explores the rich history of outlaw radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Guy (KC5GOI)<\/a>, for sharing a link to the following (brilliant–!) radio feature\u00a0from the Texas Standard<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Texas Standard For November 23, 2018<\/h2>\n

On this Black Friday, we explore how marketing created a legacy of pirates in the air over Texas \u2013 affecting music culture and politics. It\u2019s a special edition of The Texas Standard.<\/p>\n

With shopping season officially underway, we often think of hyper-commercialism as a creation of Madison Avenue. But one could make the case that America\u2019s hype machine got its start along the border of Texas and Mexico, with a million watts of power leading to a revolution of outlaw broadcasters that\u2019s still making a mark today.<\/p>\n

You may have noticed that at the beginning of most of our programs, we say \u201cno matter where you are, you\u2019re on Texas Standard time.\u201d How that came about it no accident.\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s a reference to something we haven\u2019t touched on before here on The Standard \u2013 a callback to a time where no matter where you were, a particular sound with its roots along the Texas border, blanketed the country and changed the way we heard music, received distant messages and experienced media. It was outlaw radio \u2013 programming considered too dangerous for prime time. That\u2019s the subject of today\u2019s special edition of The\u00a0Texas Standard:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0The Border Blasters\u2019 Influence:<\/strong>\u00a0how enormously powerful radio stations broadcasting from the border between the 1930s to the 70s, influenced musicians and music itself.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Goat Glands And Freedom From The Law:\u00a0<\/strong>Medical\u00a0huckster and patent medicine seller J.R. Brinkley made his fortune selling his services via border radio.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Selling Flour And Politics:<\/strong>\u00a0In the 1930s, W. Lee \u201cPappy\u201d O\u2019Daniel used radio, and western swing pioneer, Bob Wills,\u00a0 to market flour. Then, he used the same technique to run for Texas governor, and later senator. He won both those races.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0The British Get Invaded:\u00a0<\/strong>In the middle of the swingin\u2019 60s, a\u00a0group of\u00a0Texas radio \u201cblasters\u201d used an old minesweeper to beam \u201cRadio London\u201d into England, subverting the BBC\u2019s monopoly on the airwaves.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0Typewriter Rodeo:<\/strong>\u00a0A Radio Dream.<\/p>\n

\u2013\u00a0\u00a0Modern Pirates:<\/strong>\u00a0The days of outlaw radio aren\u2019t all in the past. The FCC has cracked down on those who run stations in defiance of the law, but broadcasters persist, especially in an era when the means of making radio are cheaper than ever.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n