Why is Reggae ignored?
 

Why is Reggae ignored by most Radio stations? Here in England it is rarely heard. Maybe the odd one considered a novelty or Bob Marley or UB40 but not much else gets played mainstream.

Because radio stations suck unless they're free-form. Reggae is huge in the UK, especially dub artists. Find yourself a nice free-form station to listen to even if it's streaming only.

I ain’t ignored it.

Reggae is very popular in the West Midlands :confused: no you're not going to hear it on Radio 1 but there is plenty of pirate radio around.

^ Blimey, is Radio 1 still around ? I remember the day it came into existence - guarranteed an audience because all the DJs came from pirate radio stations, which had recently been declared illegal. The pirate stations were very popular, with non-stop pop music, a faint air of rebellion and the romance of coming from ships moored in the North Sea. By comparison, Radio 1 was a bland corporate enterprise stomping on radio freedom, a move that generated this protest song, played for a month or two on the pirate stations, but never on Radio 1 afaik:-



The song exhorted people to "fight for the pirate stations", but I didn't make it to the barricades myself, being 12 years old at the time. In any event, there was no effective protest and all the DJs changed sides overnight. :(

Have you ever watched Pirate Radio?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX1SSiFWF-s

^ No, never heard of that movie, so I'll be looking for it soon. Thanks. It looks like some good nostalgic fun, and even has (at 1:48 minutes) the actress from British sitcom, The IT Crowd:-

Question of where do you look, mainstream there is definitely less.

I'll be devil's advocate here, and suggest that the establishment doesn't like hearing unfiltered black expression on the airwaves... Some of the most powerful reggae has deep cultural value as an expression of suffering, history and empowerment. This challenges the dominant cultural narrative in many Western countries.

That sounds about right. But hasn't it always been the case? Reggae listeners have never been part of the mainstream.