"Pirate Radio" Walks the Plank
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Ever since I learned of their existence, I was fascinated by the romance of the pirate radio stations that were located on ships anchored off the coast of England in the 1960s. So I was overjoyed to learn that Richard Curtis - screenwriter/director of such pleasing Anglo rom-coms as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill" - was rolling out "Pirate Radio," a comedic movie tribute to the phenomenon. If it had been as good as I hoped, I'd be shouting about it from the rooftops. Instead, some overly broad characterizations, plot contrivances, forced whimsy, and anachronistic misuse of period music undermined a modicum of my enjoyment. Make no mistake, though. I was entertained by it.
The real-life circumstances that Curtis fictionalized for "Pirate Radio" were kind of bizarre. The BBC - at the time, the only official broadcasting entity in Great Britain - was controlled and operated by the staid, reactionary British government, and the stuffy bastards-in-charge refused to program the groundbreaking rock music of the day on their radio unit except in the most cursory of ways. Meanwhile, the U.K.'s homegrown rock 'n' roll was conquering the world, and the natives couldn't get enough of it. So some enterprising fellows came up with the idea of broadcasting the hits from shipboard studios afloat far enough outside territorial waters to evade government interference.
These pirate radio stations - chief among them Radio Caroline and Radio London - were wildly popular and commercially viable, with massive and loyal audiences that craved a chance to hear the likes of British Invasion stalwarts The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Hollies, Donovan, and lesser lights such as The Dave Clark Five, Manfred Mann, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Herman's Hermits. And the stations played plenty of American artists including The Beach Boys, Otis Redding, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Bob Dylan, and The Byrds - none of whom were getting any significant airtime on the Beeb.
As you might surmise, the musicians were grateful to the pirate radio stations. Not only did they help promote rock 'n' roll to the masses; they did so in the spirit of rebellion against authority. In fact, The Who released an entire album - The Who Sell Out (probably my favorite of their recordings) - that was designed to simulate a broadcast on Radio London, complete with Who-created commercials and actual Radio London promo breaks.
Pirate radio was so much a part of the British cultural landscape in the '60s that there was actually an episode of the television series "Secret Agent" - known as "Danger Man" in the U.K. - that featured its superspy protagonist John Drake going undercover as a DJ at a station set on a refurbished offshore oil platform. (By the way, this was the program that used the classic Johnny Rivers single "Secret Agent Man" as its theme song in the U.S., and spawned the adored, albeit enigmatic TV series "The Prisoner" which was recently remade as a mini-series for the AMC cable channel.)
To his credit, Curtis clearly was enamored of pirate radio when he was growing up, and that affection shows through in the film. He had the good sense to gather a stellar cast, highlighted by the sterling Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the station's American star DJ and Rhys Ifans as his rival, a celebrated jock who's brought on board to boost the station's profile and ad revenues. They're aided and abetted by, among others, ever-reliable Bill Nighy as the station's owner, Kenneth Branagh as the BBC prig dedicated to bringing down those evil purveyors of rock 'n' roll, and Emma Thompson as an aging, aristocratic rock muse whose naïve son is working as an intern on the ship.
There are shots of diverse fans on land reveling in the broadcasts (the pirate stations boasted some 20 million listeners); plenty of seagoing drunken revels, shipboard groupie sleepovers, and studio high-jinks; and sequences of government functionaries fuming and plotting against the rockin' rebels. Despite the absence of any depth to the script that would have addressed the high-low culture war at the heart of the situation, I would have been less peeved if Curtis and his crew had been more conscientious about art direction, fashion, and soundtrack choices. Starting in 1966 and wrapping up sometime in 1967 when the government shut down the major pirates and the BBC instituted its own rock channel Radio One (even hiring a few beloved pirate DJs), the film shows random articles of clothing and poster art from a few years later. And, in a most egregious error considering the importance of music to the plot and mood, it features at least three songs that weren't recorded until some time after the story ends - the most obvious of which is The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," a 1971 classic that's used to dramatic effect in a pivotal scene, and took me right out of that scene.
You can say I'm nitpicking. Curtis can invoke dramatic license. I'll just respond by saying that if you're going to do a period piece involving pop music, get the sounds right. All of them. We're still waiting for a definitive movie (a documentary?) about the pirate radio stations off the British coast. On the other hand, there are plenty of good and evocative tunes of the era to fill your ears (e.g. The Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night," the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice," The Who's "I Can See for Miles," Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," Dusty Springfield's "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me," etc.), and considerable fun to be had during "Pirate Radio," which does manage to reveal a little truth about a riotous bit of pop-music history.
Here's the U.S. trailer for "Pirate Radio":
And what would be more ideal right about now than the first ten minutes of The Who Sell Out, complete with killer Pete Townshend songs ("Armenia City in the Sky," "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand"), the band's faux commercials ("Heinz Baked Beans," "Odorono"), and actual Radio London promos? Nothing else...
Comments (20)
Thanks for that review! I want to see this movie! Like you though what I would really be interested in is a comprehensive documentary. Thank Heaven for pirate radio. What a different time that was for the music industry. Nowadays rock music is mainstream and very much commercialized and big business. Back then these bands really had to struggle. Read The Beatles biography by Bob Spitz and find out what a tough time The Beatles had (rejected by every single record company until George Martin decided to give them a go on Parlaphone, their very last resort option at the time). But one thing drove them on...sheer determination and an unwavering belief in themselves.
What a well done review you present us Mike. I'll see it, but your words moved it to the "wait for the DVD list" and really, thanks for that!
Sometimes, our tastes coincide so well - "Sell Out" has always been my fav of all Who output, wish I still had that gloriously sloppy vinyl cover - but we have the music forever. Awhile back, I did a post that focused on just this recording, and made up a mix of just the commercial spots. Small pittance for your many fine word-spells, but you've saved me some green...
Nothing has pissed me off more than watching the trailers and hearing "Won't Get Fooled Again". I just can't tolerate that kind of "mistake" in films. Is it really that hard to find music to sell the movie? That and the god awful group dancing they show of the cast on the ship deck. What is this, "Bye Bye Birdie"?
Bummer..at this point, if you are gonna do a music movie, you might as well get it right. I wonder when they'll make the Story of King Records into a film..James Brown,Syd Nathan, Seymour Stein..it could be awesome. Maybe MOG will start making movies and we can consult on them to make sure things get done right.
Like you Mike i was disappointed in this film. It should have been far better with the cast and creatives involved. I can let the musical license go a bit b/c as you know some songs just fit even if they're not technically correct(i'm sure they also came up against clearance issues) if the script was better than it was. It seemed like lazy filmmaking to me. How do you hire Chris O Dowd and Nick Frost and not use them to your best comedy advantage?
That said Emma Thompson's cloak was GENIUS.
gilsmusic: You're welcome. You make a good point. Persistence and belief in oneself are paramount to most success stories. But there are so many variables and roadblocks to achievement in show biz, especially today, that the most confident among us can be thwarted. Of course, if you give up, you have no chance at all.
scotfree: I'm sure it will be fun to watch on DVD or VOD. I do still have an original pressing of Sell Out in the shrink wrap. It may have to be among the keepsakes that stay with me when I dissolve the bulk of the collection. (I fear the time is almost upon me...) BTW, even if I prefer listening to the whole album, well done on the commercial mix - one-stop shopping!
contrabandwidth: Yep. That stuff really stuck in my craw. On the other hand, I could watch the ingenue Talulah Riley (who plays the lovely mod chick brought on board to deflower the intern) for hours and not get bored.
Cody B: From your keyboard to God's in-box, man. MOGiversal Pictures presents!
Misstee: Other than my pique at the few time-slipped song choices, we are in total agreement. Diverting? Yes. But disappointing? Yes.
I'm just amused by the name change this film seems to have undergone. In the UK it was known as The Boat that Rocked. Did they have to change it because americans can't understand puns....
Oh please. They changed it because Americans like pirates. Ahrrrr, matey! (Sorry I didn't toss in a note about the title change, but I didn't want to, you know, confuse any Americans.)
Thanks for the review -- I love The Who Sell Out, too. Probably one of my top five albums.
Growing up, I didn't know the history of the Radio London bits, but it didn't matter. I thought it was very cool and used to make mix tapes that had radio noise in between tracks when I was a teenybopper. My friends thought . . . what the hell?
It's been seen in the UK as a bit of a vanity project for Richard Curtis, which is strange as he got so many of the details wrong. Haven't bothered with it to be honest;
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The Knife cuts through the bologna. Absolutely fascinating! And I always thought the "music INDUSTRY" here in the USA was repressive (selectively). New and different music was sometimes difficult to hear then. I remember in that period, waiting until ten PM on Fridays to hear an hour of the likes of the Cream, etc. This was in Baltimore!
Thanks for the documentary, Neill. VERY interesting. Boy, those sinister-looking structures! (Suddenly, I think 'War of the Worlds')
I'd like to take up the cynical idea that the money men couldn't take the risk that we would understand "The Boat That Rocked". But that almost goes without saying. Like were they afraid our kids would have to be taught about the Philosopher's Stone? What would they have changed "The Mouse That Roared" to? ("We Won, Sort Of.")
PS: Your title, Mike, reminds me of a nifty crossword clue I recently came across. "Right-hand mand for a man with no right hand" answer - Smee.
@Mike, @Cody - Maybe we can do some Mog re-enactments of these famous events. Paper cut outs on poscicle sticks and a web cam. Let me get my scissors and my copy of "Please Kill Me" and I'll get started! The Mog Theater Players are commencing their vocal warm ups as we speak.
Apparently the name change also coincided with an edited version for US because one of the chief complaints of the UK reviews is that it was far too long.
funoka: Sell Out still delights me every time I hear it, and the so-called "Deluxe Edition" is even better, with scads of extra, previously unreleased tracks - a few of which are now among my fave Who cuts. Radio noise? It's been a plague for years. ;-)
Neill: Talk about vanity...
Spike 1: Yeah. Seems like, wherever it is, the industry tries to control and undermine creativity. (As one who suffers from Peter Pan Syndrome, I smirk with impunity at the "Smee" reference.)
contrabandwidth: "It's time to put on make-up. It's time to light the lights. It's time to get things started on 'The Mogger Show' tonight!"
Misstee: Believe it or not, I'd watch the longer version (the director's cut?) if given a chance. That's how much the topic interests me. Well, that and Talulah Riley.
Almost forgot. Thanks for the link to the doc, Neill. You're a champ!
On the title: In France it's called Good Morning Britain.
The Who Sell Out is in my top 10 list as well. I was gratified to finally hear some live concerts from the period and learn that they played 'Tattoo' as part of the 'eternal set' for a few yeasr.
Mike- Nice review- thx much. I still want to see it, warts and all.
Neil- thx for the link to the doc on this. Best Rockumentary I have seen in a while: "Anvil: The Story of Anvil"- it was like "This is Spinal Tap" if that was a true story. Anvil is true story!
Here is a link to the trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF4H8lB2Y_o
As for the title being "Pirate Radio" I am wondering if it wasn't just recent Johnny Depp success with pirates but maybe the Pretenders, too?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B000E1ZBHC/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_0?ie=UTF8&index=0
i know of only a handful of radio pirates in my country from when i was a kid but i guess i get the idea. apart from my general idea, though, none of what you posted here was familiar to me necessarily. the post is both a review and a huge history lesson for me. wow, thanks, Knifey.
of course, you turned the movie around. now i am curious enough to want to watch it. which, as it happened, was the marketing ploy of said The Who compilation. (:
Fasted: The anvil doc is a winner, f'sure. Highly recommended. As for the title "Pirate Radio," it just sounds more romantic and exciting the "The Boat That Rocked."
poeby: Caveat emptor. But, again, despite its flaws, I enjoyed watching the film. And I like to think of my posts as info-tainment, so I'll take your appraisal of this one as a compliment!
...we still have loads of (mainly Urban) Pirate radio stations in the UK;
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