Take Me Back Pirate Radio Archives (TMBPRA) celebrates its fifth anniversary on the YouTube platform. We have been a non-profit based project so far with no monetisation of any of our content published. The conversion of tape cassettes, mastering of sound, editing of music/videos, the creation of artwork and the writing of articles has been unpaid work. Up to this point it has purely been a benevolent endeavour. We have proudly amassed 13k plus loyal and passionate subscribers over this period of time, also connecting to tens of thousands of nostalgic pirate radio and underground music enthusiasts from around the world.
Check our channel link here: Take Me Back: Pirate Radio Archives (YouTube Channel)
Our sole aim has been to celebrate London’s rich history of underground music scene from the past as well as pirate radio’s contribution to the creation and the development of London’s music scene at a grassroots level all the way up from late 80s until the late 2000s.
The vision for our platform going forward is to help crowdfund for the publication of written literature with several book projects in the pipeline on the topics of pirate radio, 90s rave culture, and the evolution of underground music in London from acid house, hardcore breakbeat music, jungle music, drum & bass, uk garage, grime and dubstep. We have future plans to hold exhibitions that’ll showcase our vast collection of artwork that we’ve created, including the launching of our merchandise (t-shirts, stickers, posters, canvases…) as well as a website to continue to promote and preserve the content we produce. Lastly, the prospect of making documentaries and short films is something we’d like create. Unfortunately, it all comes at an expense that our pockets simply cannot finance during these testing times.
We endeavour to connect with a wider global audience by looking to branch out and create links and partnerships with established businesses but this cannot be done without your generosity. We believe it’s time to step up our platform and to elevate this project to a whole new level of international engagement that continues to recognise and promote our shared love of London’s underground music culture.
Lastly, we’d like to thank all our contributors, who have shared exclusive recordings of London’s FM pirate stations from the past and have given us credible testimonies from the era which are valuable sources of oral history. It’d be a shame for the project not to progress. Note that we are purely an archival project celebrating London’s music, art and culture. For the benefit of any doubt we reserve the right to produce work in a cultural and artistic capacity.