The story of the “Cunard Yanks” is one that’s grown to mythical proportions in Liverpool and beyond.
The way it’s been told is that sailors from the families of Liverpool musicians brought back American records for the groups to learn. The story is partly true, as many Liverpool families had brothers, fathers, or uncles at sea who returned home with American records before they were released in the UK. In fact, the record that turned John Lennon on to rock ‘n’ roll was an imported “Long Tall Sally,” brought in from Holland.
However, the story has grown to such an extent that many believe that the majority of the American songs played by Liverpool groups were obtained this way. There was always a battle between the groups to get a song that nobody else had, so if a family member brought a record back from America, then you could steal a march on your musical rivals. I spoke to Howie Casey from Derry and the Seniors and asked him how they obtained their American records.
“Derry became a great source for some of the great, and more obscure, mainly American records. Liverpool has a large black African and Caribbean community, and, through Derry, we were introduced to this great music in some of the clubs in Upper Parliament Street, like Joe Bygraves’ Club and The Beacon. We also met many American servicemen who were stationed at Burtonwood, Air Force Base just outside of Liverpool. They would come into town to these clubs, and there would always be a piano there, so some of these guys would sing the songs and we’d think: ‘I like that’. So we were picking up these tremendous influences, which set us apart from the other groups.”
I spoke to a friend of mine, Jimmy Doran, and he explained to me how he obtained records by American artists.
“A lot of people say that the Cunard Yanks brought the music over but I would say that my sister and her group of people were listening to Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Larry Williams, and Little Richard when they came out. Where I lived, the music was all like that, and we did not know anyone on the ships. My sister would get the records from the local record shops.”
Not everyone could afford to buy records, so Rod Davis from The Quarrymen explained what they did: “The only way we could learn songs,” recalled Rod, “was by listening to the records – often in the NEMS record shop near to Penny Lane or on Radio Luxembourg –and scribbling down the words we thought we were hearing.”
You might have heard of Radio Luxembourg, but not realized how influential it was on post-war British teenagers. The English-speaking commercial radio station started broadcasting as early as 1933 and specifically targeted listeners in the United Kingdom. This was because radio in Britain at the time was controlled by the straight-laced BBC. For many, there was only one source of pop music on the radio and that was from the small Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Europe.
In 1929, the Luxembourg Society for Radio Studies was formed to persuade the government of Luxembourg to grant them a commercial license. It was duly approved, and, at the end of that year, the Luxembourg Broadcasting Company was established, identifying itself under the name of Radio Luxembourg. It was not long before they were broadcasting across the English Channel. To reach these shores, the programs were broadcast on Long Wave, but the British Government was not impressed and tried to do everything in its power to stop it. However, in 1934 the European Wavelength Plan came into effect, which allocated spectrum to various countries for radio transmission use.

Throughout the 1930s, Radio Luxembourg boasted a huge audience in the UK, the programs mainly comprising popular dance music and sponsored output. During World War II, the government of Luxembourg shut down the station. The conquering German army commandeered it as a propaganda tool, broadcasting programs to the UK featuring the infamous William Joyce, comically named “Lord Haw-Haw” by the British public. After liberation, the U.S. Army commandeered the station, using it for a similar purpose.
For the aspiring musicians of Liverpool in the 1950s, regular English broadcasting began again on the medium wavelength of 208 meters. However, a decent listening experience in the UK could only be achieved after dark. For listeners like young John Lennon, this would necessitate getting an extension speaker installed in the bedroom so that, after bedtime, you could still listen. Thankfully for John, Uncle George was happy to do this.
In the 1960s, a number of disk jockeys began broadcasting live from Luxembourg, with other shows originating from their new London studios at 38, Hertford Street. Interlaced between quiz shows and religious programs were the pop shows broadcasting the latest hits. Some of Britain’s best-known radio presenters started their careers on Radio Luxembourg, such as Pete Murray, David Jacobs, Brian Matthew, Alan Freeman, and Hughie Green who would later appear in front of the cameras presenting quiz shows.
The biggest name to broadcast was American disk jockey Alan Freed, the man who invented the term “rock ‘n’ roll,” the title of his show.
In the 1960s, Luxembourg’s commercial monopoly was challenged by the arrival of the pirate radio stations. These were stations broadcasting on ships and structures outside the 3-mile limit of Britain’s territorial waters. The most famous was Radio Caroline, which had nationwide coverage operating from two ships, one anchored off the southeast coast of England and the other off the Isle of Man.
Radio Luxembourg needed to compete in this market, so the pre-recorded sponsored shows were dropped in favor of live radio presenters. The UK government stepped in by passing a law making it an offense for any British Citizen to work on a pirate radio station. With the demise of the pirate radio stations, Radio Luxembourg was once again the only provider of popular music. However, in 1967, the BBC launched Radio 1, their first popular music station hosted by many of the disk jockeys who had made their name on Radio Luxembourg or Radio Caroline. It quickly became the station of choice for fans of pop music. Commercial-free, it was music and chat without the advertisements. However, in 1973, Independent Local Radio stations were allowed to operate in competition with the BBC, and commercial radio was introduced to the UK. This was the death knell for Radio Luxembourg, which finally closed down on 30 December 1992.
Jimmy Doran explained the importance of Radio Luxembourg. “Everyone listened to Radio Luxembourg,” he recalled. “My sister, who was a bit older than me, would listen to the show and then have the record in her hand by the following week.” I was surprised and enlightened when Jimmy then told me the nature of the shows they heard: “They were sponsored by the record labels. There would be a show by Capitol Records, London-American, Columbia and many others. They would play the latest songs by their artists on their labels, which would be in the shops that week. My sister would listen to them, decide which she wanted, and go and buy them that week. That is how we knew about the American records coming over to the UK.”
For the record labels, this was the only way to get airplay in the UK and introduce new releases to the record-buying public. The London label first appeared in America in 1934 representing British Decca’s operations in America. Back in Britain, the London label made its debut in 1949 releasing material from its American counterpart, but also from early U.S. independent labels. Some American hit records appeared on EMI’s Columbia, Parlophone, and HMV labels, but the cream of the crop was usually on London-American. It was on these labels that the fans were able to buy the American songs, promoted on Radio Luxembourg and available in the shops.
“Radio Luxembourg was brilliant,” Jimmy continued. “We’d be sitting there on Sunday evening waiting for the program to start at 7:30 pm and there would be a religious program from Monaco before it. We waited for it to finish and watched the clock, counting down from ten. Then we heard it: ‘This is The Jack Jackson Show’, and he made this noise like a screeching cat, and we would all copy him. He would introduce the records by saying; ‘This is a record coming out soon in shops near you.’ My mum liked the records, but my dad, sitting in his chair in the corner, would lower the paper and just moan. They would go out to the cinema and pop into the pub for a drink, then to the chippy on the way home. We would listen to the radio shows while they were out and decide what records we wanted.”
-David Bedford
Photo: The Beatles at the Cavern Club (Getty)
Extensively researched, packed with info and well written. Great job!
And what a background: grew up in Dingle, lives on Penny Lane, your life is full of Beatle magic.
Great piece! Lots of interesting information about how American records were infused into Britain’s music landscape. Bravo!
Regarding the shipborne radio stations, it should be noted that the DJs from those stations enjoyed the same sort of adulation as the pop stars whose records they aired. When on shore leave, they would hang out in trendy clubs with the likes of the Beatles and Stones. On the Beatles’ 1966 US tour, the Fabs were accompanied by jocks from three of the major stations. Radio Caroline picked Jerry Leighton, Radio England chose Ron O’Quinn and Radio London sent Kenny Everett. As a fellow Liverpudlian of a similar age, Kenny got on well with the boys and they remained friends after the tour. In 1968, they gave him the job of editing their annual Fan Club Christmas flexi-disc. Kenny was one of the UK’s most innovative and best-loved DJs, until his untimely death in 1995, aged 50.
Fascinating! Great article.
Really great, David!
Great article, David! Haven’t talked yo you since Charles’ tour in 2016, but I was back in Liddypod in 2022 & 2023.
*to* you
*Liddypool* (I think that one was autocorrect gone crazy!) 😂