I’ve been listening to Radio Caroline for some weeks now, reliving my youth – well, my 20s – and wondering why every bloody mention, on air, is of the Mi Amigo Caroline’s second radio ship. The original, the M.V. Caroline, best known as Caroline North, and based in the Irish Sea, never gets a mention. I’d love to know why.

This website, devoted to Caroline North and created by Big Jim Murphy, aka Murph the Surf for those of you with long memories, goes a long way towards redressing the balance in favour of a ship that spawned the careers of Kenny Everett, Dave Lee Travis, and Simon Dee (who, subsequently, rather blew it), as well as quite a few rather less famous names. The website has a list.

Caroline North had a presenter called Tom Lodge. Caroline, today, has Tom Lodge Junior who, if my memory is at all accurate, sounds remarkably similar. Whether these guys are related I have no idea, but it’s a remarkable coincidence if they’re not. TL Jr’s online info doesn’t say. Anyone out there know? NOTE: Tom Lodge Jnr has just mentioned, 22:13, Sunday ,Dec. 20, on Caroline, Tom Lodge was his father. However, he’s just played an old clip of his dad, and they sound nothing alike – my memory playing tricks. Well hell, it was 45 years ago. And interestingly, there’s a fair bit about Caroline North on TL Jnr’s show tonight.

I did, of course, listen to Caroline South as well (the Mi Amigo), plus a scattering of other pirates, late at night when the rising of the ionosphere, as daytime heat bled away into space, allowed the medium-wave signal a little more range (they reflect off the ionosphere). Thus I had the chance to listed to Emperor Rosko, Johnnie Walker, and others (I’m vague because if the current Radio Caroline website has a list of its original presenters, I certainly can’t find it. The chances of my remembering after so long are zero.

So, to anyone at Radio Caroline who might be reading this, when your presenters are banging on about Caroline’s history, and bigging-up the Mi Amigo, just bloody well remember it all started with the M.V. Caroline (renamed from the M.V. Fredericia), originally off Felixstowe, before moving to the Irish Sea.

That the Mi Amigo survived long after Caroline North is undeniable, but come on, guys, credit where credit’s due – the M.V. Caroline deserves it, as do all those, presenters and crew, who served on her.

Have just come back to Dublin after spending a weekend with my family in co. Kerry, including my brother Chris.

Chris and I both worked for Radio Caroline at the same time in the 1980s, and indeed were often on the ship together. In fact, there was a time in December 1987 when acute staff shortages after the collapse of the big mast meant that ours were the only two voices on air for a period of about two weeks!

Sometime during the autumn of 1987, John Burch got a photo of the two of us together, which he published in the Caroline Movement Bulletin under the title “Brothers In Arms” (referencing the best-selling Dire Straits album which had been huge a couple of years before.

More recently, I was pleased to be able to borrow the picture from John for use on the front cover of Shiprocked – Life On The Waves With Radio Caroline.

This weekend, Chris and I decided that it might be good fun to recreate the photo – the 1987 and 2009 versions are seen below. It will be noticed that a few changes of physique and hair colour have taken place over the years!

Brothers In Arms 1987 - Chris Kennedy (left) and Steve Conway at sea on the Radio Caroline ship Ross Revenge (photo: Caroline Movement)

Brothers In Arms 2009 - Chris Kennedy (left) and Steve Conway safely on dry land.

I’m taking part in two readings this week, one of which is very special for me.

On Wednesday 25th November Seven Towers will be holding their usual “Last Wednesday” open-mic at Cassidys of Westmoreland Street, with poets and authors including Oran Ryan, Ross Hathaway, Eamon Lynsky and Bob Shakeshaft.

I’ll be reading a newly-written short story, my first real piece of fiction.

Doors open 7pm, admission free.

On Thursday 26th I will be going back to my roots, with a special reading at Dundrum Public Library, at 6.30pm.  I’ll be reading excerpts from SHIPROCKED – Life On The Waves With Radio Caroline.

Dundrum Library is where, at the age of 5, I was taken by my mother for my first introduction to the world of books, over the years I borrowed hundreds of titles there as I was growing up, so to return as a published author is a special treat for me.

Again, admission free, and signed copies of the book will be available.

Steve

Have just come back from my first ever visit to Amsterdam where I was a guest at the wonderful annual Radioday run by the Foundation for Media Communications.  At least a couple of hundred former offshore pirate staff and listeners attended, making it both a reunion with people I haven’t seen for years, and a chance to put faces to names of people who have been buying Shiprocked.

There were some great panel discussions, including a very interesting one on Laser 558 / Laser Hot Hits, an interview with Keith Skues and a talk about AFN.

I spent an hour on stage in conversation with Nigel Harris, who also has a book out about his radio days (review here when I manage to get hold of a copy – it was sold out on the day). Nigel is such an easy and interesting person to talk to, the hour just flashed by.

A great day, very well organised – can’t wait for next year’s one!

Nigel Harris (left) and myself on stage

An hour chatting to Nigel just flew past

Radioday at the Casa400 Hotel in Amsterdam

“Pirate Radio/The Boat That Rocked”
a review by Darby O’Gill

Hands down, the feel good movie of the year! Before Howard Stern, and even before Wolfman Jack, a band of rogue deejays rocked the airwaves. In 1966, at the height of the British Invasion, rock and roll was only allowed to be played on British radio stations for barely two hours a week. The only way people in the U.K. could listen to rock or pop music was by tuning into pirate radio stations broadcasting from boats just off the coast of Britain in the North Sea. In Pirate Radio, previously released as The Boat That Rocked, earlier this year in the U.K., writer/director Richard Curtis tells a fictional story based on the true events of Britain’s rock and roll revolution. Broadcasting live 24/7 from an old tanker turned makeshift radio station, anchored just outside British jurisdiction, is a band of misfit deejays known as Radio Rock.

The story begins when Young Carl is sent by his mother to the ship known as Radio Rock, to spend time with his godfather Quentin, the owner of the radio station, who is played by the always brilliant Bill Nighy. It’s very much a coming of age story, and I think the British equivalent to Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. Once on board, Young Carl meets the motley crew of deejays. There’s The Count, the flagship American deejay that is constantly pushing the envelope and crossing the line, masterfully portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. There’s the always charismatic, and at times narcissistic Doctor Dave, played by the extremely funny Nick Frost. Another familiar face is that of Flight of the Concords’ manager Brian, actor Rhys Darby, who plays the self proclaimed funny man Angus “the nut” Nutsford. Even though all the faces may not be familiar, this is truly an all-star cast. Each performance is so masterfully executed that you can’t help but feel the authenticity of this film. However, I think one of the most unsung heroes of this film is Ike Hamilton, who plays Harold, the ship’s booth technician. If you watch Ike’s performance throughout the film, I guarantee that you will be totally blown away. Every little nuance that he brings to the character of Harold just radiates brilliantly off the screen. If you’re reading this after you have already seen the film, I highly recommend seeing it again for Ike’s performance alone. But, if you’re anything like me you’ll already want to see this movie again regardless.

The other side of this story is that of the British government and their efforts to stop the pirate radio ships from broadcasting. This task is helmed by Sir Alistair Dormandy, played by Kenneth Branagh, and his new assistant Mr. Twatt. I’m not kidding, his last name is Twatt. And, yes Richard Curtis takes full advantage of it. Twatt is played by Coupling’s Jack Davenport. Now, don’t worry. The political stuff doesn’t weigh down the story at all. Mostly because it’s not an overpowering plotline and it also lends itself to some of the film’s funnier scenes. I dare you not to laugh or at least snicker every time Dormandy says, “Twatt.”

Richard Curtis has, as always, done a masterful job telling this story. His unique vision, and heart warming style of storytelling, makes Pirate Radio/The Boat That Rocked a must see film. Every part of this film oozes 1966. The wardrobe is fantastic, the soundtrack is to die for, and even the look of the film itself sets the tone. It’s almost as if the film was shot and processed in 1966. Adding to the film’s authenticity, the bulk of the movie was shot onboard an actual ship, just off the south coast of England. Richard Curtis’ first cut of the film had a running time that was just over three hours. The final cut of The Boat That Rocked had a two hours and fifteen minute running time, where as the final cut for Pirate Radio has a one hour and fifty-six minute running time. I’ve seen the U.K. version of the film and enjoy both cuts, but I have to say this film is so enjoyable that I wouldn’t mind sitting though the three hour cut at some point. Most of the missing scenes from the first cut of the film appear on the U.K. DVD release of The Boat That Rocked. (U.K. DVD review will be posted soon) The two major scenes that were cut from The Boat That Rocked for the U.S. release of Pirate Radio consists of a visit to the Radio Rock ship from a large group of contest winners, and the other is the unseen stag party in London. The scenes aren’t necessarily needed, but this movie is so, as I said before, enjoyable that I don’t think you could ever get enough of these characters.

I realize this review is quickly becoming a mini-novel, but I think I would be crucified if I didn’t at least talk about the music in the film. As you would imagine, this movie is chock-full of classic rock from the likes of The Who, The Kinks, The Turtles, and so many more. Both the U.K. release, and the U.S. release of the soundtrack feature a two disc edition with 36 tracks to take you back. Also, the opening credit graphics are fantastic! The use of the radio tuner dial transitioning from scene to scene, as The Kinks’ “All Day and All of the Night” blares, instantly sucks you into the world of the movie. But, I think one of my favorite things was the use of the album covers in the end credits. It not only instills you with a fantastic sense of the history of rock and roll, but it also makes you want to listen to some great albums you might not have listened to in awhile. The bottom line here should be obvious at this point, but needless to say I highly recommend this movie no matter which version you see.

Rating:

The Boat That Rocked U.K. DVD Special Features: COMING SOON

In Kiel stürmt und schüttet es, die Lütte übernachtet bei einer Freundin. Wie lässt sich so ein Abend besser nutzen als mit einer guten DVD? Die Wahl ist heute auf Radio Rock Revolution gefallen. Ein Erfolg würde ich sagen!

Gute Laune garantiert, gute Musik dazu, was will man mehr?

Hier der Trailer, eine wirklich lohnende Investition sag ich da!

Und nun mal sehen, was man an einem stürmischen Abend nach dem Film noch anfangen kann…

Came across the wonderful Wordle site yesterday – www.wordle.net – which allows you to generate a “word-cloud” from any given selection of text, or blog.

It handles quite large amounts of text too – I fed the entire text of Shiprocked into it, and generated the image below.

Shiprocked, as analysed by wordle.net

Sometimes change creeps up on you and you suddenly remember things you used to do that you never do anymore. (Like listening to Radio Caroline for instance……..). And it isn’t too long ago when a holiday entailed sending postcards to people back home. There’s not much point these days with the constant communication of mobile phones and texting. Now you see people sitting on beaches or at the side of hotel swimming pools with their laptops checking their email (or perhaps writing their blogs!!)

I’m sure you can still get postcards but one day in the not too distant future they’ll completely disappear like the telegram. stop.

PS: I always thought his name was Bob Noakes. And I don’t think they achieved an output of 50kW very often !!

He was the first person to broadcast from pirate station Radio Caroline.

Simon Dee, DJ and TV talk show host (after a bizarre interview with actor George Lazenby, who had been smoking cannabis and who outlined at length his theories about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, the show was dropped), forerunner of stars such as Chris Evans and Jonathan Ross, said to be the inspiration for Austin Powers, has died of bone cancer at the age of 74.

Anybody remember him as the camp tailor in The Italian Job?

Simon Dee’s story is a strange one, perhaps worthy of a stage play or film, in the manner of “Telstar”, the Joe Meek biography.

For a little while last year, I thought Jonathan Ross was going to emulate Simon Dee’s rise and fall, but a combination of Ross’s business acumen and the BBC’s craven weakness prevented that from happening.

R.I.P. Simon Dee (Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd) 1935-2009

I’m a hard person to please when it comes to breakfast radio. Most of currently fashionable “zany” style breakfast show leave me cold, and over the years there have been few that I have been really hooked on. Totally straight music doesn’t quite do it for me either, as in the mid 80s, before I got involved in Radio Caroline myself, I always much preferred Caroline’s breakfast shows (Johnny Lewis, Kevin Turner, Peter Philips) to the Laser 558 ones, even though I would have listened to Laser a lot during the rest of the day. There was more warmth and personality on the Caroline breakfast, plus news too, which is an essential in my world.

I might add here that years later I was to do the breakfast show myself on Caroline, out of necessity when there were few people around. I would never consider my own breakfast shows anything to write home about, and was always glad to relinquish the slot when there was someone more experienced on board. Likewise I did breakfast on Phantom from 2000-2002 when it was a pirate, but wouldn’t have dreamed of seeking the slot in the later, legal phase.

So here is a listing of the very few breakfast shows which have really engaged me as a listener over the years.

(Note: any station that I have worked on is automatically excluded, as I can’t really judge from the listener’s viewpoint).

Kevin & Andrew on Atlantic 252 – mid 1990s

Kevin Palmer and Andrew Turner (news) were the perfect pairing in my opinion, and had exactly the right balance between the music, and a little bit of houmour and chit chat. Breakfast on the station was never the same once Kevin left.

Kara Noble & Lee Simpson – Heart (London)  – mid 1990s.

For an all-too brief few months when Heart first opened in London, there was a perfectly balanced, really enjoyable pairing between Kara (who had formerly been a sidekick to Chris Tarrant on Capital) and Lee (who was a comedian). Lee was gently spoken, the comedy was never too much in your face, and this would go down as the best male/female pairing I have heard. Lee and Kara came across on air as true equals, the show was co-presented rather than being a fight for attention between the two, as so many of these shows tend to be. Kara was treated intelligently, and really came across as an entertaining and thoughtful presenter.

Mark & Lard on Radio 1 – late 1990s

This is a show I shouldn’t have liked, but did. Mark & Lard did a lot of clowning around, but in a wonderfully self-deprecating way, and the music was brilliant. It was too good to last, and Radio 1 were not brave enough to stick with them for long enough to see if it would really work. They moved to the afternoons and did essentially the same show, and I listened when I could.

Gareth O’Callaghan on 4fm (Ireland) – 2009

As I have got older, my tastes have evolved, and I have found myself listening to pure speech much more in the mornings, but Gareth O’Callaghan has lured me back into the music breakfast. 4fm has a very strong playlist for anyone of my generation, delving much more deeply into the back catalogue of 60s, 70s 80s than most stations, and combine this with a fair dose of intelligent speech. The music/interview ratio is just perfect for me, and the interviews are medium to heavyweight issues rather than trivia.

Gareth is a great presenter, warm and natural, friendly without being intrusive. His newsreader, Cathy Creegan is incorporated well into the body of the show, and the interaction between the two is adult and entertaining. They come across as two people who actually like each other, rather than just being forced to work together.

A great show, and long may it continue.

Steve

 (*Nota: Article inèdit)

Radio Caroline-1967

“En 1966, sin duda alguna la época del mejor pop inglés, la BBC sólo emitía dos horas de rock and roll a la semana. Pero la radio pirata inundaba el país con rock y pop 24 horas al día. Y 25 millones de personas, más de la mitad de la población, escuchaba cada día a los piratas”. Así se inicia la sinopsis de Radio Encubierta, film protagonizado por el grandísimo Philip Seymour Hoffman, que narra las peripecias de un grupo de locutores chiflados por el rock, que deciden enriquecer la vida de sus conciudadanos montando una radio pirata a bordo de un barco anclado en aguas internacionales. Un historia que sus creadores dicen no estar inspirada en hechos reales, pero que tiene mucho parecido con la hazaña de Ronan O’Rahilly, un irlandés chiflado que durante décadas surcó los mares a bordo de embarcaciones ya legendarias dentro del mundo del rock como la Frederica, Mi Amigo o el Ross Revenge, haciendo llegar las emisiones de su Radio Caroline a millares de británicos ansiosos por escuchar buena música. Ésta es la historia de una radio pirata y libre, Radio Caroline, que durante tres décadas tuvo en jaque a la BBC y al gobierno británico.

Por increíble que pueda parecer es cierto. En la década de los 60, en plena irrupción de bandas como los Beatles, Stones, The Who o los Kinks, la BBC tan sólo dedicaba dos horas semanales a la música pop. Se trataba de un programa dominical colocado después del resumen de la jornada futbolística en el que se repasaba los éxitos del momento. Una situación que permaneció así hasta el año 1973 y que tenía su origen en la década de los 20, cuando los transistores empezaron a llegar a los hogares. El gobierno británico, receloso del poder de este nuevo medio de comunicación, fundó el año 1927 la British Broadcasting Corporation, un órgano gubernamental destinado a controlar las ondas hercianas. Pero los oídos ingleses pronto se cansaron de la anodina programación oficial y el dial, casi por arte de magia, les llevó a sintonizar la primera radio pirata. Radio Luxembourg era una emisora situada en el diminuto principado europeo que le dio nombre que se podía sintonizar desde todo el Reino Unido y que, gracias a un programación mucho más atractiva, a finales de la década de los 30 ya se había agenciado de casi el 50% de la audiencia británica. Sin embargo fue en los años 50, con la explosión del rock’n’roll, cuando Radio Luxembourg vivió su mejor momento. Frente a una BBC que seguía anquilosada y paralizada en su aburridísima lista de programas, Radio Luxembourg contaba con espacios patrocinados por las principales discográficas del momento, en lo que aireaban con regularidad aquellos temas que empezaban a trastocar las mentes de los jóvenes de la época.

Ronan O’Rahilly

Ronan O’Rahilly era un joven irlandés de buena cuna que a inicios de los 60 se trasladó a Londres con la intención de ejercer de productor cinematográfico. Pero eran los tiempos del Swinging London, de los garitos del Soho frecuentados por las incipientes estrellas del rock, en definitiva la época del “Love Me Do” y el “Satisfaction”, y O’Rahilly cambió sus aspiraciones en el mundo del celuloide por la industria musical, donde llegó a ser el primer representante de leyendas como los Rolling Stones y los Animals. Posteriormente O’Rahilly se centró en intentar propulsar la carrera de nombres menos populares y fue entonces cuando se encontró con el rechazo del sistema establecido. No halló ninguna discográfica que quisiera apostar por sus nuevos protegidos, con lo que tuvo que crear su propio sello, y una vez éste entró en funcionamiento, se topó con que la BBC menospreciaba el pop y el rock y que Radio Luxembourg, aun siendo en teoría una radio pirata, estaba al servició de las multinacionales. ¿Solución? Creó su propia emisora. Por aquel entonces la diplomacia estadounidense en Inglaterra disponía de su propia emisora, se trataba de Voice Of America, una estación radiofónica que emitía su señal desde un barco anclado en aguas internacionales, y algo muy parecido estaba realizando también la emisora holandesa Radio Veronica. Tomando prestada la idea, Ronan O’Rahilly empezó a fantasear con crear una emisora flotante, una estación de radio a bordo de un barco en aguas internacionales, dedicada casi en exclusiva a la programación musical. Para hacer de aquel sueño una realidad adquirió un viejo buque llamado Frederica y se fue hasta Estados Unidos para comprar el equipamiento técnico necesario. Fue en ese viaje, ojeando un ejemplar de la revista Look en la que aparecían unas fotos del presidente de los Estados Unidos John F. Kennedy con sus hijos John Jr. y Caroline, cuando se le ocurrió el nombre de la emisora, Radio Caroline. Pero de regreso a Inglaterra O’Rahilly se encontró con que había un tipo llamado Alan Crawford, un australiano afincado en Londres con diversos negociones en el mundo de la música, que había comprado el navío Mi Amigo, para, bajo el nombre de Radio Atlanta, tirar adelante un plan muy similar al suyo. El Atlántico es enorme y finalmente ambas partes llegaron a un acuerdo. El Frederica se establecería en aguas internacionales cercanas al norte de Irlanda, llegando a los hogares del noroeste de Inglaterra, Escocia e Irlanda, en lo que tendría que ser Radio Caroline North; y Crawford al frente del Mi Amigo debía situarse frente a las costas de Essex y cubrir el resto de las Islas Británicas bajo el nombre de Radio Caroline South. Con tal propósito las dos embarcaciones se trasladaron al puerto irlandés de Greenore, propiedad de la familia de O’Rahilly, para ultimar los preparativos antes de lanzarse a alta. Sin embargo las intenciones de O’Rahilly eran otras. Tras sabotear el barco de su ¿socio?, el Frederica zarpó en solitario y el domingo 28 de marzo de 1964 el mundo pudo disfrutar de la primera emisión de Radio Caroline. “Esto es Radio Caroline, en la frecuencia 199, vuestra emisora de sólo música”, anunciaron el locutor Chris Moore y el actor Simon Dee, y acto seguido sonó el tema “Round Midnight” de Jimmy McGriff, un estándar de jazz compuesto por Thelonious Monk incluido en el álbum I’ve Got A Woman. Como era de esperar, Alan Crawford no se quedó de brazos cruzados, y durante un tiempo el Frederica y el Mi Amigo, cuales piratas de antaño, se dedicaron a sabotearse y hacerse la pirula (especialmente interfiriéndose la señal el uno al otro) tanto como pudieron. Finalmente, se llegó a un armisticio y ambas emisoras acabaron por cumplir el pacto original.

El legendario Jonnnie Walker usurpando las ondas herzianas

El éxito de Radio Caroline fue inmediato y locutores como Tony Blackburn, Roger Day, Simon Dee, Tony Prince, Spangles Muldoon, Keith Skues, Emperor Rosko y muy especialmente Johnnnie Walker, y Tom Lodge se convirtieron en auténticas celebridades entre la juventud británica. Este hecho animó a que muchos otros se animaran a crear su propia radio pirata, y en un muy breve espacio de tiempo las ondas se inundaron de estaciones como Swinging Radio England, Radio Britain, Radio London, donde debutó el mítico John Peel o Radio City, su máxima rival y con la que Radio Caroline inició una batalla que acabó con un asesinato. Radio City emitía desde una fortaleza de la Segunda Guerra Mundial situada en el estuario del Tamesis. En un principio Radio Caroline había llegado a un acuerdo con Radio City para que esta pudiera emitir bajo el nombre de Radio Caroline, una alianza de la que luego se deshizo. Cabreado por la ruptura del pacto, Reg Calvert, propietario de Racio City fue a pedirle explicaciones del asunto a Oliver Smedley, socio de O’Rahilly y Crawford en Radio Caroline, y éste, cuando la discusión empezó a subir de tono, le pegó un tiro que acabó con la vida de Calvert. Este hecho fue la excusa perfecta para que el gobierno británico, hastiado con la cada vez mayor popularidad de emisoras como Radio Caroline, iniciara una persecución sin tregua de las radios piratas, estableciendo una ley marítima que preveía el bloqueo de todas aquellas embarcaciones que albergaran una emisora. La falta de alimentos, personal e ingresos hizo que una a una todas las emisoras piratas fueran cayendo, la última, evidentemente, fue Radio Caroline, que desapareció el 3 de marzo de 1968.

El último viaje del Mi Amigo

Pero O’Rahilly volvió a la carga dos años después, primero asociándose con empresarios suizos que le cedieron el buque Mebo 2 para llevar a cabo las emisiones, y ya en 1972 el irlandés invencible adquiere de nuevo el Mi Amigo en una subasta y reinicia las emisiones de Radio Caroline tal y como el mundo las conocía. El proyecto resucita definitivamente en O’Rahilly  1974 cuando recibió ayuda económica de nada más y nada menos que George Harrison y la aventura de Radio Caroline vivió una segunda etapa tan gloriosa como desquiciada. Cuentan los que vivieron a bordo del Mi Amigo en aquella época que los aparatos técnicos solían comprarse a plazos, y la norma habitual era que sólo se pagara el primer recibo. También era común la lucha de egos entre los diferentes locutores, y no menos habitual que estos salieran a antena ciegos de marihuana, pinchando de principio a fin discos de bandas como Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Yes, Emerson, Like And Palmer… Aun así la audiencia siempre les fue fiel y algunos de sus programas tenían millares de oyentes, como “Personal Top 30”. Éste era un espacio en el que la audiencia enviaba una lista con sus treinta temas favoritos, y durante tres horas se emitía la selección de canciones elegida por el locutor de turno. Pero la historia nuevamente tocó a su fin en marzo de 1980, cuando un destartalado Mi Amigo no pudo más y se hundió en la desembocadura del Támesis.     

El Ross Revenge y el fin de una leyenda

El incansable O’Rahilly retomó la acción en 1983 cuando, con la ayuda de un nuevo grupo de socios capitalistas, adquirió el Ross Revenge, un antiguo buque pesquero del Mar del Norte. Pero los tiempos habían cambiado y a inicios de la década de los 80 aquellos que buscaban en el dial algo que no les daba la radio comercial querían punk, rabia y distorsión, y no horas y horas de insufrible rock sinfónico, y la audiencia de Radio Caroline fue cayendo en picado. Pero ése era el menor de sus problemas. El gobierno británico seguía su particular lucha contra las emisoras libres y para dificultarles las tareas decretó una nueva ley por la que extendía sus límites marítimos de 3 a 12 millas, obligando a los radiofonistas piratas de Caroline a tener que adentrarse mucho más en las frondosas  aguas del océano atlántico, con el peligro que ello conllevaba. Como ni así pudieron acabar con ellos, pese haber sufrido las inclemencias de alguna tormenta que cerca estuvo de acabar con la emisora y la vida de los que iban a bordo del barco, el 19 de agosto de 1989, con la ayuda del gobierno holandés, el fiscal inglés James Murphy ordenó el asalto del Ross Revenge alegando que la frecuencia utilizada por Radio Caroline interfería en las comunicaciones marítimas. El abordaje fue realizado en aguas internacionales, es decir en un territorio en el que ningún gobierno tenía potestad, pero eso no impidió que los militares holandesas requisaran todo lo que se encontraron por delante mientras los locutores iban retransmitiendo en directo el asalto. Y finalmente la retransmisión se cortó. En la actualidad Radio Caroline, aunque ya en tierra firme, retransmite a través de internet.

Titolo originale: The Boat that rocked

Regia: Richard Curtis

Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Sturridge, Chris O’Dowd, Rhys Darby, Katherine Parkinson, Talulah Riley, Sinead Matthews, Emma Thompson, Gemma Arterton, January Jones, Tom Wisdom, Jack Davenport

Distribuzione: Universal Pictures, GB-Germania, 2009

Guarda il trailer

Inghilterra, 1966. L’etere britannico è monopolizzato dalla BBC e  per ordine del ministro Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) gli amanti del rock ‘n roll hanno a disposizione solo due ore a settimana di trasmissione per ascoltare la loro musica preferita. Ma nel bel mezzo del mare del Nord c’è una barca che ospita Radio Rock, una radio pirata diretta da Quentin (Bill Nighy) e  gestita da un gruppo di eclettici DJ, tra cui il Conte (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Dottor Dave (Nick Frost), Midnight Mark (Tom Wisdom),  il re Gavin (Rhys Ifans), che trasmette 24 ore su 24 di pura musica rock e pop. Ed è qui che viene catapultato il giovane Carl (Tom Sturridge) , espulso da scuola per motivi disciplinari,  dove vivrà un’affascinante avventura all’insegna di sesso, droga e rock ‘n roll…

Premetto che adoro la scrittura di  Richard Curtis,  adoro da sempre i film che ha scritto, (in particolare Love actually del quale ha curato anche la regia), il suo stile e i suoi toni così ironici e il suo modo di raccontare storie e di mettere in scena  personaggi sempre particolari, originali, sulle righe (un esempio su tutti, il timido e imbranato primo ministro inglese interpretato da Hugh Grant in Love Actually). Questo film, il secondo scritto e diretto da lui dopo Love Actually, non fa eccezione.

Ci troviamo nell’Inghilterra della seconda metà degli anni Sessanta, in piena era del proibizionismo musicale. I giovani si ribellano alle costrizioni e ai limiti imposti dai genitori e dal governo. Uno degli svaghi maggiori è dato dalla musica rock, ma la puritana patria della Regina, ne limita l’ascolto, considerandola traviante e demoniaca. Così i giovani iniziano ad ascoltare in massa le radio pirata che trasmettevano rock per tutto il giorno. La radio pirata più conosciuta ed amata è Radio rock, che trasmette da una nave nel Mare del Nord. I suoi dj sono considerati degli idoli, desiderati dalle ragazze di tutto il Regno Unito: sono dissacratori, tutt’altro che politically correct, provocatori, e follemente innamorati della musica a cui dedicano tutta la loro vita. Vivono isolati sulla nave, senza compagnia femminile, se si escludono Felicity,(Katherine Parkinson) la cuoca lesbica, e le orde di ragazze che a intervalli regolari sono invitate sulla nave per “conoscere meglio e da vicino” i loro dj preferiti, giocano a Monopoli e a freccette, sono una grande variegata famiglia, della quale entra a far parte anche il giovane Carl, spedito dalla madre (Emma Thompson) , spirito libero e decisamente sui generis,  dal suo padrino Quentin, dopo essere stato espulso da scuola.  Qui Carl maturerà, farà nuove esperienze, scoprirà l’amore, (Gemma Artenton) il dolore, conoscerà suo padre,  la lotta per la libertà e la passione per la musica e i suoi effetti positivi e negativi.

Richard Curtis realizza un vero gioiellino, una pellicola psichedelica, allegra, dandy, hippie, comica, ironica, dirompente, in cui la musica è la protagonista assoluta (la meravigliosa colonna sonora è composta da ben 54 brani!!!Qui troverete la tracklist completa), ma è decisamente in ottima compagnia, grazie ad un cast stellare e perfetto, a partire dal premio Oscar Philip Seymour Hoffman, che definire camaleontico, versatile  e molto talentuoso è poco, nei panni del Conte, irriverente, dissacratore, colui che ama sempre andare oltre i limiti, come dimostrerà in occasione della sua rivalità con il Re, Gavin Cavner, il dj più famoso e amato dal popolo rock, che dopo una pausa negli States è tornato a Radio Rock ed è deciso a riprendersi il trono,interpretato da un meraviglioso Rhys Ifans, a mio avviso autore della migliore performance in assoluto; Bill Nighy, nei panni di Quentin, proprietario della radio fuori di testa (tra l’altro alla sua seconda collaborazione con Curtis, dopo Love Actually, nel quale interpretava una rock star sulla via del tramonto bruciata da droga e stravizi); e cosa dire di Kenneth Branagh, impettito e serissimo nel ruolo del rigidissimo ministro Dormandy che è deciso a chiudere a tutti i costi le radio pirata? (Assolutamente esilarante la scena della cena natalizia con la sua famiglia e con il povero signor Pirlott…)  Inoltre da sottolineare la prestazione del giovane Tom Sturridge, uno dei più promettenti attori del panorama inglese,  per nulla intimorito da cotanti colleghi. Infine non si può non citare un divertente cameo da parte di Emma Thompson nel ruolo della madre di Carl.

In definitiva una pellicola imperdibile, un tuffo nei mitici Sixties, che farà morire di invidia chi, come la sottoscritta, non ha avuto la fortuna di vivere quel periodo unico, vivo, speciale. E non dimentichiamo che la storia è rivisitata ma rispecchia la vera storia di Radio Caroline, una delle radio pirata britanniche più importanti degli anni 60 e dei suoi folli dj…

Conclusione: Imperdibile.

Voto: 9

 I’m looking forward to a few movies this summer – Johnny Depp as John Dillinger in Public Enemies is a no-brainer, and yes, I’ll even line up for the latest Harry Potter. But my love of rock’n'roll and combined with my respect for anything Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bill Nighy do makes me most geeked to see this movie.

It’s the classic “us against the squares” plot line merged with great music and a superb cast. As Johnny Depp would say…”pirate!”

Trailer for The Boat That Rocked.

The real Radio Caroline.

READING FOR VOLVO OCEAN RACE, GALWAY, SAT 6TH JUNE 2009

Seven Towers Press Release

We would like to invite you, your friends and guests to a wine reception and reading to celebrate the recent launch of ‘Shiprocked, Life on the Waves with Radio Caroline’ by Steve Conway, in the City Museum in Spanish Parade in Galway at 3.30pm on the 6th of June – just after the boats leave the bay.

Steve Conway, a former newsreader, DJ and programme controller on the famous pirate station Radio Caroline has just released this ciritcally acclaimed memoir – described as ‘the radio obsessive’s version of Nick Hornby’s ‘Fever Pitch” by the Sunday Business Post; as ‘hard to resist’ by the RTE Guide and former Galway Bay abd current 4FM presenter Gareth O’Callaghan praises ‘Steve’s wonderful ability to tell stories and create pictures’.

Steve will also have a thing or two to share about life on the high seas, and the perils that are likely to face the the sailors who have just left the bay – including treachorous currents, high and sometimes unpredictable winds – and the possibility of running out of chocolate.

You will also be given a chance to donate to the brave members of the RNLI who daily risk their lives to rescue people on the seas around Ireland and England and €1 from each book sold on the day will be donated to the RNLI

You can RSVP to this email address, which can also be used to send your messages on to Steve.

Steve’s agent can also be contacted  on 0872283351.

Looking forward to seeing you there
Best regards
Sarah Lundberg
www.seventowers.ie

ITEM:   WordPress gives you some basic statistics about the numbers of visitors to your blog. I seem to get a reasonable number considering the odd subject matter and my amateur IT skills. There’s a daily running total of how many “clicks” are made but that could be a few people looking at lots of stuff or many different people arriving here by mistake and clicking away to somewhere more suitable. Other stats available list the different catagories in total visits from the most to the least. This is interesting if only for the fact that  the majority of the subjects I’ve most enjoyed mentioning on this blog languish way down at the bottom of the list. There’s no accounting for taste……

ITEM: For instance nobody seems very interested in John Spencer comics. They have no value and little merit. But in the face of total indifference I am going to put a complete issue of Spectre Stories No 3 right here (pdf) . I doubt there is any copyright in force now and only a madman would ever reprint it. Its rubbish !!  I thought Solson Comics were the worst comics ever made until I re-read this UK comic pile of ____ from 1966. So although I find the subject of John Spencer comics fascinating  no doubt this post will remain firmly at the bottom of the stats list.

For the record Spectre Stories was one of 4 titles issued by John Spencer Publishing. The other three were Fantasy Stories, Macabre Stories and Strange Stories. Each lasted for approx 6 issues. Much of the odd artwork in No 3 was allegedly completed by Michael Jay (although the artwork reproduced above from No 1 isn’t by him…it looks more like the work of Ron Embleton). John Spencer Publishing were better known for their range of pulp paperbacks which were churned out monthly under the imprint of “Badger Books” by just a handful of prolific writers. The paperbacks were mostly Horror or Science Fiction and as they were numbered as if they were monthly magazines some people collected them in the 1960s (and even today??).

ITEM:    Last year I mentioned L.Miller & Son Comics of London. Between the late 1940s and approx 1966 they published numerous black and white comics in the UK, mostly reprints of Fawcett and Charlton comics (especially Captain Marvel and many many Cowboy comics). They did however commission some UK sourced books..most notably Marvelman who ran from 1954 to 1963. The “& Son” part of the company was Arnold Miller who also published his own stuff as The Arnold Book Co. An extremely unexpected place to find an exhaustive index of all the Miller/Arnold comics ever issued is within Nos 15 and 16 of Peter Normanton’s UK Horror magazine  ”From The Tomb”. The index along with a  fascinating article is by Frank Motler. There’s even a photo (thanks to Alan Austin and Steve Holland) of the less than scintillating premises where these comics originally emerged from !!

ITEM:    Still talking comics I’ve just finished re-reading some early issues of the small circulation UK underground(ish) A5 magazine “Escape” from the 1980s. One contains this fascinating article by Alan Moore regarding his first ever visit to the USA (and Marvel and DC of course). I hope they won’t mind my sharing a couple of pages here.

ITEM:     I see that Joan Alexander died recently. She wasn’t quite the first Lois Lane but evidentally a very popular one appearing as the damsel in distress and the thorn in Clark Kent’s side for more than 1600 episodes of the american “Superman” radio serial. Superman’s popularity must have been virtually instantaneous as the radio show began in 1940 and along with many of the other famous fictional characters on the radio moved over to TV in the early 1950s. Of course I never ever heard any of the Superman radio show episodes until this very week when I discover there are a number of  “Old Time Radio Serials” now sloshing around the Internet as mp3 files.

ITEM:   Another subject that is belatedly receiving more coverage on the Internet along with more interesting downloadable mp3 files is Offshore Pirate Radio. As far as Europe is concerned this probably all began in Denmark in 1958. In the UK it began in 1964 with Radio Atlanta and Radio Caroline. They quickly joined forces to make Radio Caroline North and Radio Caroline South. They, and numerous others, sailed on the crest of the 1960s pop music explosion in the UK. Here is an audio clip from Radio Caroline of an advert for the NME from perhaps 1965. It may have been the swinging sixties but doesn’t the announcer sound as if he’s just escaped from the BBC’s Light Programme or Third !!   

One of the songs of Takeshi Hosomi’s new project I love the most gets its own MV! I won’t go on telling you how much I actually like it. Just listen, watch and enjoy it for yourself! (Their previous clip can be seen here!)

Shocking ! En 1966, âge d’or de la pop s’il en est, la BBC ne diffusait en tout et pour tout que deux heures hebdomadaires de rock !
Heureusement à bord d’un cargo croisant au large en mer du Nord sévissait une bande sans foi ni loi de …DJs (!?!)
Librement inspiré de l’aventure de Radio Caroline, la plus célèbre radio pirate Anglo-Saxonne qui émettait depuis les eaux internationales de 1964 à 1967 avant d’être interdite, The Boat that Rocked minablement traduit en français par Good Morning England (sic) est depuis le 6 mai  en salle.
Retrouvez The Count, Midnight Mark, Angus “The Nut” Nutsford, (sans doute l’homme le plus agaçant d’Angleterre) et les 5 autres djs les plus allumés de la perfide Albion dans cette comédie déjantée, dont la bande annonce ( le seul intérêt de ce post en fait) “absolutely  mod”, et la B.O groovy en diable font mouche à tous les coups.
Et comme on dit à Rio: “Si vous aimez la haute mer et les sixties, vous n’allez pas être déçus !”


Pour en savoir plus sur Radio Caroline: L’histoire de Radio Caroline – 1964/1968

R*A*F


Stasiland, an incredible book by Anna Funder. The italian translation is very good, pity only for the title “C’era una volta la DDR”, which sounds a bit silly, actually.

Funder starts in a casual way to ask people how things were during the DDR years, and she ends up conducting a very intriguing reportage.

Beyond stereotypes and beyond Ostalgie, “between Kafka and Monty Python” Funder contacts victims of the regime and former Stasi officers, Mitarbeiters and talking heads. She visits the places were citizens were detained and subject to police interrogations. She smells the stale air of these rooms, where the odour of terrified people, dossiers, senile power and outright paranoia still lingers.

For 10 years the letters that my DDR penpals and I were writing each other were intercepted, opened with special W-shaped steam devices, read, copied and filed.

My friend Michael went up to the Archive and got the letters, just after the fall of the Wall. Just like those people you see in the film “The lives of others”. Just like the protagonists of Anna Funder’s reportage.

We were teenagers and loved Duran Duran. We were discovering Madonna. I worshipped Radio Caroline, we met over Radio Free Europe.

My friends in Brandenburg and Saxony were longing for freedom. They travelled a lot across the Socialist countries. We had freedom in Triest, but I had never travelled. Freedom meant different things for us.

I wonder if I can go there, and feel the blow, of seeing my letters in a file, imagine them through the eyes of a Stasi zealous Mitarbeiter, filed and numbered, in a box. I have the sinister impression that somewhere, someone knew a lot about me.

Richard Curtis has decided to deviate from his usual romantic comedy schtick and present us with sixties nostalia – so how did he do?

The plot is a thinly veiled look at the Radio Caroline story – Caroline, becomes Radio Rock for example.

And it’s not just the boat that’s had it’s name changed – brash American DJ Emperor Rosko is renamed “The Count” and is played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  The character Bob appears to be a nod to the late John Peel.  Bill Nighy plays, well.. you guessed it, Bill Nighy!

Rhys Ifans and Bill Nighy

As with many Richard Curtis films, there are too many characters and not enough opportunity to get to know them, to care about them and follow their story with interest to the end of the film.  Despite the film feeling too long, I got to the end still not feeling I’d “discovered” the characters.

There’s plenty of fun and games on board, the cast appeared to have had a ball filming this.  Interestingly though, former Radio Caroline DJ Johnnie Walker said in an article in The Times that his time on the boat wasn’t as fun as on the fictional Radio Rock, and it could get pretty grim.

With Johnnie Walker’s thoughts in mind, it would be interesting to see this subject tackled by another writer – perhaps we’d see tensions – cabin fever, if you will – building between the DJ’s marooned out in the cold North Sea in the winter.

I failed to understand why Curtis thought it was necessary to introduce the teenage lad – was it purely to display the supposed corrupting influence of the top DJs of the time, or to find and an excuse to bring Emma Thompson out to Radio Rock?

Kenneth Branagh’s turn as a Hitleresque London establishment figure was frankly embarrassing, as was the lame humour in naming his sidekick “Twatt”.

Rhys Ifans played the rock star DJ Gavin to perfection, but again,  he didn’t have enough material to work with and develop the character.

Watching this as someone from the UK in Australia, with an Australian audience, it became apparent very quickly that many of the references in this film did not travel.  The only jokes the Australian audience seemed to get were squarely aimed at Angus the Kiwi DJ!  It doesn’t take much to get an Aussie to laugh at a Kiwi!

I’m sure it’s been said before, but The Boat That Rocked didn’t really rock me and all it’s left me wanting is another writer/director to have a go at tackling similar subject matter.  Richard Curtis should stick to Hugh Grant and romantic comedies!

The official Irish launch of SHIPROCKED – Life On The Waves With Radio Caroline took place on April 15th, attended by a good crowd including many from the world of radio in Ireland.

The book is now available in all major bookstores, including Easons, Hughes & Hughes, Chapters, Hodges Figgis, as well as through the major online retailers.

The evening launch was preceeded by a lunchtime reading at Chapters bookstore in Parnell Street

Declan Meehan was one of a number of old pirate faces who attended the launch party

Shiprocked launch at Cassidy's Bar

Caroline and Ross Revenge posters were displayed throughout the venue

The radio t-shirt line-up with Phantom 105.2 staff (left to right) Ger Roe, Fiona Scally, Steve Conway, Anne Marie (in Radio Jackie t-shirt!), Sinister Pete and Pearl

The BBC are celebrating the 45th anniversary of Radio Caroline’s launch in 1964 by running a special “pirate” station from a former lightship at Harwich Pier all over the Easter weekend – see details and listen here.

Pirate BBC Essex from the LV18, seen on Good Friday

It’s great fun to listen to, they have got a lot of the original 60s presenters from the various offshore stations, and are drawing huge crowds down to the pier, and lots of listeners around the UK and further afield.

As part of my UK visit to promote the book I called in to the Radio Caroline sales stand that is nearby to deliver and sign more books, and was delighted to be invited on board the ship to be interviewed on Pirate BBC Essex about the publication.

I also caught up with many old friends from the Caroline days, including Roger Day,  Albert & Georgina Hood who used to run tenders, and now run the sales stand, ex Caroline and Laser engineer Mike Barrington, Paul Grahame and the Balls brothers.

Myself with Roger Day and his Ronan O'Rahilly T-shirt!

Signing copies of Shiprocked at the Radio Caroline sales stand. In the background is Mike Barrington, former engineer for both Caroline and Laser

Don’t forget that Radio Caroline themselves have special broadcasts over the Easter weekend, live from the Ross Revenge, though sadly the ship i not accessible for visitors.