Author: Beatrice Camarlinghi

In 1955 the landscape of peripheral radio stations gained a new sound: the one Europe n. 1. The year before the businessman Charles Michelson, already director of Radio Monte-Carlo, invested in the new project.

But not everything was quiet in Saarlouis. In fact in 1957 the Council of Europe also pushed by the protests of Luxembourg and Scandinavian States, proposed to buy the radio station to use it for its own communication needs and maybe transfer the machinery to Strasbourg.

Europe n. 1 owned its success in the 50s and 60s broadcasting the newest musical hits attracting especially the younger generation. Together with the concept of the “soft commercial”: to whisper rather than shout the description of the product commercialized it seduced the audience.

Sources :

Rapport de l’assemblé consultative du Conseil de l’Europe, Recommandation 131 (1957) du 18 janvier 1957, AnLux Emetteur N. 1 Cote AE-10906.

Rapport et lettre de la Compagnie Luxembourgeoise du Luxembourg adressée M. Schulte Conseiller au Ministère des Affaires Etrangères du Luxembourg du 8 février 1957, AnLux Emetteur N. 1 Cote AE-10906.

Maurice Siegel, Vingt ans, ça suffit ! : Dans les coulisses d’Europe N° 1, Paris, éditions Plon,‎ 1975, pp. 314.

Pierre Laforêt, La prodigieuse aventure d’Europe N° 1, Paris, Pierre Horay,‎ 1960, pp. 179.