Debunking the Fantasy of the Movie, "Pirate Radio"

Posted: November 16, 2009, 9:29 am

The Los Angeles Times got it right in an article titled, THE SWASHBUCKLING SPIRIT BEHIND 'PIRATE RADIO.' "Anyone who goes to see the film hoping to learn about the realities of illegally broadcasting music to millions of idolizing fans from the cold and rocking waters of a ship are likely to be disappointed by everything but the soundtrack."

Writer and director, Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill) wrote the story as a coming of age saga. For those who worked on Radio Caroline, however, it was not about the DJs coming of age as much as it was about Rock & Roll coming of age and finding an audience with British teenagers.

At least that's what our guest, Tom Lodge, said on KKZZ AM 1400, when he appeared on September 29, 2009. Lodge wrote the book, RADIO CAROLINE, THE SHIP THAT ROCKED THE WORLD. It is a true life account of what happened on Radio Caroline, the first pirate radio ship off Great Britain in the 1960s. "Life was nothing like it is portrayed in teh movie Pirate Radio," said Lodge. "We were into it for the love of the music, nothing more."