Pirate Radio interviews with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Nick Frost
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Nick Frost star in this Richard Curtis directed comedy that used to be called The Boat that Rocked. Kenneth Branagh and Rhys Ifans also star. But really, from early peaks it looks like the reason to see Pirate Radio is for that thick goatee Hoffman is sporting. This is a period piece set in the 60s about an illegal radio station and the emerging pop music.
Richard Curtis is the man behind Love Actually, a film I watch every year with my wife. It’s surprising, but this is only the second film Curtis has directed.
Philip Seymour Hoffman talks about being The Count, and his approach to being a DJ.
Bill Nighy (who also starred in Curtis’ Love Actually) talks about how he got involved in the project.
Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) is not Gregor Fisher who played opposite Nighy in Love Actually. But that didn’t stop me from thinking he did for the last five minutes.
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Several reviews of "Pirate Radio" refer to the boat as an "illegal radio station" which isn't correct. The offshore radio stations, themselves, were never illegal. They broadcast outside of British territorial waters and took advantage of the fact that the, land based, BBC radio stations were commercial free, tax supported, and 100 per cent government controlled.
Because the floating stations were in international waters, stations like Radio London, created by Don Pierson, a Texas businessman, could broadcast popular rock & roll all day and make money selling ads to British businesses. These boats were eventually put out of business because the British government made it illegal for British companies to do any type of business with the pirate stations. It was even illegal to sell food to feed a ship's crew.
Using these tactics, the UK government shut down the floating stations, but lost their battle to keep rock & roll radio out of Briton. The "pirates" had introduced American style popular radio to the UK — they won the hearts of a new, massive youth audience. The demands of this audience eventually broke the BBC radio monopoly and changed British radio forever. The pirates won.