Pirate Rock

Originally released under the title The Boat That Rocked a couple of years ago in UK, and a bit longer, I heard, but recently significantly edited for US release, which should be the version I saw in Tokyo. The director, Richard Curtis, is known for Four Weddings and Funerals, Notting Hill and Love Actually, seven years younger than me, but was growing up in the 60s listening to those happy British tunes. Those innocent pop tunes in the 60s should have influenced him much, as shown in his depiction of those characters of his famous romantic comedies. So I had a pretty high expectation for this film, as a fan of those music and music scene.
It’s about the pirate music station which aired rock and pops 24/7 from a boat on the public sea because BBC wouldn’t air the vulgar music by those longhairs, not longer than 30 minutes a day. Yes, the story is simple and predictable (of course, we know its history), the humor is on the level of The Animal House, caricaturized politicians and bureaucrats are very British, like in a Monty Python episode, shallow but fine with the simple story line. The actors are great and so are their performances. The main feature is the music as it is its major theme.
The Pirate Radio is vaguely based on the actual Radio Caroline, which is alive and well today, but our station in the film has a brief life from 1966 to 1969. The ship is filled with odd casting of DJs and crew, with a single lady cook who is lesbian. One DJ is an American but his rival is coming on board. And another enigmatic hermitlike DJ has a key role. The tone is very happy, it says like music is a joy of life, nobody can kill the music, everybody loves dancing, you know what I mean? Well, it really was like that in the 60s. Girls loved dancing or loved to imitate. We boys bought tons of vinyl records eagerly and tried to learn their lyrics, guitar chords and riffs. And those were the golden days of the radio, too. I used to listen to top 20 kinda programs of British charts, New Musical Express and Melody Maker, where DJs urged us listeners to vote for their favorite bands, asking us which band we’d support, Beatles or Rolling Stones? Every week, there was a battle of the bands, Kinks vs. Troggs, Herman’s Hermits vs. Hollies, etc. We boys discussed how our favorite bands lost by those girl fans who didn’t realize the meaning of the new music of rock and how they always preferred the good looks, with jealousy, after that. And I can still clearly recall when I heard for the first time “Gold and Silver” by Quicksilver Messenger Service and “Section 43” by Country Joe & Fish on US Army radio FEN. Though it was way past midnight, those golden guitar licks and colorful organ opened the night sky and let the California sunshine in. So this film is just for me, for us, who were there, no, around then, I mean.
I did enjoy it untill its climax. It’s not a great movie, but a lovable one. Like an old friend, it sent me back to my youth, and reminded me of those happy days of singalong and street dancing. Since coming home, I’ve been listening to internet Pirate Radio station most of the time. Yet I do have some quibbles, maybe not minor ones.
In the middle of the climax, I suddenly felt like thrown back from that time in the screen and shoved into my seat in the theater. Why? The background music was "Won’t Get Fooled Again" by the Who. Yeah, great tune, from their Who’s Next album in 1971. Right. Way past 1966-69 time frame, and that was the milestone for the band to really break into the American market. There was no echo of the early R&B or pseudo psychedelic reference in that tune. It was a genuine 70s hit. Yes, the director admits that he even added Cat Stevens’ “Fathers and Sons,” a 1970 song, and he knew that the singer/songwriter scene was after those days of the pirate stations. Well, I don’t give a damn about using that song because the lyrics perfectly fit the scene. Yet, I do care about the Who. Besides, the basic message of that film is that music matters. If it matters, then they should care about the use of the tunes. Plus, I wish he used more British flavored hits, instrumental music like “Albatross” by Fleetwood Mac, or British oddities like Whistling Jack’s. But they have to use more international hits in order to sell it to the world, which I do understand.
Another quibble is about the underdevelopment of the Bob character. That quiet hermitlike DJ, who spends a lot of time studying seriously about the new albums and new music. I can relate to him, because I knew there was a new generation of DJs, who were serious about the music. People like Tom Donahue. Of course, there were a bunch of crazy ones like Wolfman Jack, or later Dr. Demento. But that guy in the film always hides from the scene and we’re never informed about his DJing style. Only at the very last climatic disaster, we understand he really cares about the music, probably more than about people. Maybe somebody should have explained his attitude and philosophy to our protagonist earlier, so we can relate to the boy’s feeling toward this guy.
But those quibbles aside, it was a fun movie, reminding me of Richard Lester films, or the long forgotten Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, even. And it is about growing up/sexing the cherry, which should be boring but ok for me. Because it was actually like that. We boys were always chicken about girls, just dreaming of simply holding hands with girls, just like that Beatles song. So three hoorays for the brave girls without whom we’d never have known love!