I am on a streak. Movies that failed to garner either critical acclaim or commercial success appear to be something quite attractive to me. Maybe that is not entirely true. Certainly there are whole genres of movies that I dislike, and many examples within them of things that fit both these criteria. However, I feel like I am swimming against a tide. Not that I dislike things that others like, but perhaps my tastes are either broader or more forgiving--neither of which intellectually makes sense to me, which is why it feels weird.
This is a movie that my offspring and I agree on emphatically. The music is sensational, the story is enough to hold the whole thing together, and the cast of oddballs and music misfits matches up to my real life experience.
Pirate Radio is a fictitious comedy set in Britain during 1966, but is very loosely based on the real pirate radio station named Radio Caroline, in an era when the BBC was the only licensed radio broadcaster on the UK mainland, restricted by union agreements to playing a very limited amount of recorded music each week. In the story, a pirate station called Radio Rock began broadcasting pop music twenty-four hours a day from a boat anchored off the coast of England in international waters. Hosted by a colorful band of disc-jockeys, it soon gains an audience of millions and angers the government in the process. It should be noted that when offshore broadcasting began off England in 1964, the musical output and style of presentation of the first station (Radio Caroline), was very similar to the BBC. So the movie takes liberties with what actually happened.
In 'Pirate Radio', a group of odd-ball disc jockey's are living on a dilapidated cargo ship, broadcasting music that they love for an adoring audience of Brits who can't get enough of what is coming out of England and the U.S. Think of it as a rock radio mocumentary.
You're right in saying that the original output of Radio Caroline South was fairly staid (although I can't speak for Caroline North, which being well out of head office earshot tended to do its own thing.) However, at the end of 1964, Radio London sailed in, bringing the US Top Forty format and jingles, which very quickly cornered the listener market. The Caroline sound had to be revamped to compete. By 1966 (which is when the film is supposed set) most of the stations were Top Forty-based. It's a tremendous pity the film-makers couldn't stick to the music of that year for their soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who love the offshore stations were very disappointed with the film, as were most of the former DJs. The reality is much more interesting.
We are developing a musical stage show that tells the story of offshore radio. We offered it to Universal pictures for the film's premieres in North America, thinking it would be good to interest the press in the real story.
Universal did not want to know.
Mary Payne, Radio London webmaster
www.radiolondon.co.uk