Pearce Reginald Hartley CalvertNational Probate Calendar, 1966 (1928 – 21 June 1966) was an English artist manager, born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England. He was the manager of

The Fortunes The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 10s. Afterwards, they had ...

, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours,

Screaming Lord Sutch Screaming Lord Sutch (10 November 1940 – 16 June 1999), who had his name legally changed from David Edward Sutch, was an English musician and perennial parliamentary candidate. He was the founder of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party an ...

, and other pop groups. In 1964, after hearing

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...

, he decided to start his own

pirate radio station Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially ...

, and made use of an old World War II fort in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. Originally, the station was called Radio Sutch, and it started broadcasting on 27 May 1964, on 1542

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

. They had a summer of fun, but when Sutch decided to return to performing, Reg Calvert carried on, renamed it Radio City, and put it onto a more professional footing. Calvert was shot and killed by

Oliver Smedley Major William Oliver Smedley (19 February 1911 – 16 November 1989) was an English businessman involved in classical liberal politics and pirate radio.''The Times'' (18 November 1989), p. 12. Early life Smedley was born in Godstone, Surrey, on ...

, the former owner of a rival offshore station,

Radio Atlanta Radio Atlanta was an offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 12 May 1964 to 2 July 1964 from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England. The radio broadcasting vessel was owned, at that ...

, who was later acquitted of murder on the grounds of

self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

Life and career

Calvert was born into a family of musicians in Huddersfield, and was conscripted into the army in 1946, after being demobbed he moved to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

where he attempted various means of making a living, including making

popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...

, compering ballroom dances and playing piano in a club.

Music manager

In 1956 Calvert heard

Bill Haley William John Clifton Haley (; July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was an American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-sel ...

's "

Rock Around the Clock "Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter being under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was record ...

", he then determined that his ambition was to bring

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

music to Britain. Calvert then embarked on a career as a music manager, and set about assembling a stable of young musicians, who would tour the country and play the hits of the day, while imitating the looks and style of the popular stars of the time. In 1961, Calvert bought Clifton Hall, a former stately home near

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

as a base for his operations, where he assembled, created and managed an array of bands. These included Danny Storm, Buddy Britten,

, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, and Robbie Hood And His Merrie Men. Of these, The Fortunes and Pinkerton's Assorted Colours went on to have mainstream commercial success. In 1962, Clifton Hall was featured in a short film made by British Pathé. Calvert also managed the musical career of

; it was Calvert who suggested that Sutch stand as a candidate at the 1963 Stratford-upon-Avon by-election as a publicity stunt, therefore launching Sutch's career as a political candidate.

Pirate radio

Calvert established the pirate station Radio City, which broadcast from a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

marine fort off the

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

coast, seven miles from

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

. Radio Atlanta, the second pirate radio station, ran out of money and merged with

, which had also run out of money. It was decided that Calvert would be asked to amalgamate with them and they would pay the bills, giving Calvert 50% of the profit. After a couple of months, Radio Atlanta was again in financial difficulty and not paying bills or wages, so Calvert resumed control. Later in 1965, Major Oliver Smedley and Allan Crawford approached him again to go into partnership, on the proviso that they would provide a new transmitter. In December 1965, the transmitter arrived from Texas. It was old and very large, and the wrong sort of transmitter. The power pack fell in the sea as they tried to hoist it onto the station, and although it was dried out, the transmitter used too much power and was unsuitable. Neither Radio City nor Atlanta engineers could get it to work properly. Shortly afterwards, Atlanta sent Radio City a bill of £600 for the transport from Texas. Calvert returned it to Atlanta, on the grounds that the transmitter was its responsibility and could be collected at any time. Smedley approached Calvert again, saying he had someone interested in buying the station, and came to the office with a Mr Fablon to go through the accounts. By May 1965, Radio City was one of the few very profitable stations. Nothing further was heard from Fablon, but unknown to Calvert, Smedley had put together a company and, as chairman, was trying to sell shares in Radio City without Calvert's knowledge. In June 1966, Calvert agreed to go into partnership with another pirate station, Radio London. When Smedley telephoned Calvert to tell him he again had some buyers interested, Calvert explained he was entering into a partnership with Radio London instead. Smedley shouted abuse down the telephone and decided to take over Radio City with a boarding party in the middle of the night. Allan Crawford from Radio Atlanta refused to join in the boarding party. He tried to persuade Smedley not to go ahead with his plan, and told him not to use the name of Atlanta. Smedley's response was to hire a group of riggers, who boarded Radio City on 20 June and put the station's transmitter out of action. First Smedley contacted Phillip Birch from Radio London and demanded £5,000 and half the profits to take his men off. Birch accused him of blackmail and refused to pay. Next, Smedley demanded the same of Calvert, who also refused. News from Radio City was that the boarders were armed and would destroy all the equipment if Calvert or anyone else tried to evict them. Calvert went to the police to ask for their support, but they refused as it was outside their legal jurisdiction. They suggested he should sort it out with Smedley. Calvert tried repeatedly to do so but Smedley was never available – he was trying to sell the station to Radio 390.

Homicide

On 21 June, Calvert visited Smedley's home at

Wendens Ambo Wendens Ambo is a village in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The population at the 2011 census was measured at 473. Its name originates from the merging of two originally separate villages called Wenden Magna (or Great Wenden) and We ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, to request the removal of the raiders and the return of vital transmitter parts. Calvert was shot dead by Smedley in what has been described as a "violent row". Smedley said he did it to protect his housekeeper and at the subsequent trial, it was alleged that there was a violent struggle.Asa Briggs, ''The history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Volume 5''. Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 567. Mike Leonard, ''From international waters: 60 years of offshore broadcasting''. Forest Press, 1996, p. 139 Smedley claimed that he feared Calvert was there to kill him and he was acquitted of murder on the grounds of self-defence. Calvert was buried on 1 July 1966 at St Peter's,

Dunchurch Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,12 ...

. Screaming Lord Sutch and members of the group Pinkerton's Assorted Colours were among the mourners at the funeral.

Critical response

Partly in response to the sensational death of Calvert, and lurid tales of

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, the British government passed the

Marine Broadcasting Offences Act The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (c. 41), shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or "Marine offences Act", became law in the United Kingdom at midnight on Monday 14 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the Wireles ...

, which made offshore broadcasting a criminal offence as of 15 August 1967. Radio City stopped broadcasting after Calvert's wife Dorothy, whom he had married in 1946,General Register Office indices of Birth, Marriages and Deaths appeared in court charged under the older

Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the telecommunication, transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transmission med ...

, because the station was sited within the limit. Radio City closed down shortly after Dorothy Calvert lost the case.

Personal life

His wife Dorothy Rowe Calvert died on 21 February 2010. Her funeral and interment, also at St Peter's, Dunchurch, took place on 5 March 2010.

Gallery

Image:20091114_Reginald_Calvert_grave_01.jpg, Gravestone in St. Peter's Churchyard, Dunchurch. Image:20100309_Reg_Dorothy_Calvert_marker_1.jpg, Temporary marker in St. Peter's Churchyard, Dunchurch.

References

Literature

Johnny Rogan John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...

, ''Starmakers and Svengalis: The History of British Pop Management''. Futura, 1989. (hardback edition. Queen Anne Press, 1988, . Both contain a long chapter on Reg Calvert detailing his life) * Adrian Johns: ''Death of a Pirate: British Radio and the Making of the Information Age''. W. W. Norton & Company, 2010 * S.K. Moore: (Book 1 of trilogy) Popcorn to Rock 'n' Roll. Biography of Reg and Dorothy Calvert 1946 – 1960. Available on Kindle and from Amazon Books. * S.K. Moore: (Book 2 or trilogy) Clifton Hall – School of Rock 'n' Roll. Biography of Reg and Dorothy Calvert 1960 – 1964. To be published summer 2016. * REG – stage play with music. Act 1: School of Rock 'n' Roll. Act 2: Death of a Pirate. Details: www.regcalvert-plays.co.uk

External links

Pearce Reginald "Reg" Calvert at Find A Grave

STATELY STROLLERS – aka STATELY SINGERS – DANNY STORM – video newsreel film (inc. Clifton Hall)

Regcalvert-plays.co.uk

"The Reg Calvert Story" {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, Reginald 1928 births 1966 deaths Deaths by firearm in England Offshore radio broadcasters Pirate radio personalities People from Huddersfield People murdered in England