Imagine if you were forbidden to listen to some kind of music... Wouldn't that make you angry? Wouldn't you want to do something to react to this absurdity of banning something because some decision-makers don't like it?
You might say it's unlikely that such a thing can't happen...
And yet in 1960, even though the youth wanted to hear the new fad across the Atlantic, the rock music that was capturing their hearts, the state-run BBC played only loose music that did not satisfy the ears of young listeners. And here comes the "rocking" ship.
In 1966 there were various pirate radio stations stationed in international waters that broadcaste to UK. One of them, "Radio Rock" run by Quentin has one of the most impressive team of disc jockeys, with american DJ "The Count" as their leader. It's about the same time that a government minister decides to shut down all pirate radio stations, for immorality reasons. Or as Quentin states in the film:
*** Governments loathe people being free.***
And while the government is threatening to shut them down, trying to cut them off from advertising revenue, the radio station has a fanatic audience that is growing thanks to the rock music the producers play, the freedom of speech that permeates the shows and that absence of conservatism and rot,which the BBC's dry shows then exuded.
Of course, the film also tells the personal lives of the producers and crew members, dominated by that of young Carl as he tries to find true love.
The film, while not a masterpiece, wins you over with its rousing score, excellent acting by Philip Seymour Hoffman (one of the best actors of his generation who left so early), Bill Nighy (the always beloved "rock uncle"), and Rhys Ifans.
A film that pays homage to the radio pirates who filled our evenings with the music we usually heard first from them, the songs that the official radio channels usually didn't play and we glued our ears back, doing a little mischief for our favorite music.
Thanks for reading!
The 13th of February is designated as International Radio Day. Cheers to all the radio producers and personel.
