Radio On (1979) - Film

[Nightfly]

Radio On (1979)
Stars; David Beames, Sandy Ratcliff, Sue Jones-Davis, Sting

I’ve always been a staunch defender of the 70s, but invariably cynics always bring up the 1978/9 “Winter of Discontent” as the decade’s negative side. I recently discovered ‘Radio On” which seems to reflect some of the desperation of this time, but it really is a hidden gem.

It was the directorial /writer debut of Chris Petit, a former Time Out critic, shot entirely in black and white during the first couple of months of 1979 as the UK came slowly out of months of industrial and economic unrest.

David Beames plays Robert, an overnight DJ on a closed circuit factory radio station, the studio scenes filmed at UBN in London, an actual factory radio station which launched the careers of Dale Winton and Graham Dene and itself wouldn’t survive beyond the end of that year.

Robert learns of the mysterious death of his brother in Bristol and putting aside the failing relationship with his girlfriend, sets out alone in his old Rover car to find out what happened. This unusual type of road movie covers the wide range of characters he encounters on the way including a guitar playing Eddie Cochran fan working at a filling station, played by Sting.

The dialogue is minimalistic, but this is a definitely a film where the viewer is left to fill in the blanks themselves and it’s not a film if you prefer your stories with a defined plot with an ending where everything is tied up and explained.

The films plus points include the excellent photography which perfectly captures Britain in early 1979 from its shots of The Westway through the countryside to his destination in Bristol. The soundtrack features Kraftwerk, David Bowie and a handful of the Stiff Records artists who were hot at the time - Lene Lovich, Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric etc.

This probably isn’t the film to watch as a double bill with “Bless This House”, but if anything, those who lived in London during the 70s, lovers of great arty cinematography or those who like a new wave soundtrack should maybe give this a watch if they get a chance.

I've not been able to find a trailer for Radio On, though this review from Mark Kermode offers a brief look.

[Cartman]

Only seen little snatche s of this film, must get round to watching it properly.

The winter of 78/9 was my first winter of work, loved the period personally, the music was absolutely amazing, look up the charts for September 78 to February/March 79. 

I've always thought the "winter of discontent" was exaggerated a lot by, and largely created by, the media who had an agenda and an axe to grind. The cold weather helped them in this . One memory is crashing my Dad's Austin 1100 into a fence in snow in January 79, "and me doing part of the repairs myself, outside the house in arctic conditions!😀

[Nightfly]

Apr 10, 2021 15:48:40 GMT Cartman said:

I've always thought the "winter of discontent" was exaggerated a lot by, and largely created by, the media who had an agenda and an axe to grind. The cold weather helped them in this . 

Oh yes, I agree and I think it was probably the beginning of the era of media manipulation. The main hardship I remember was constantly slipping and falling on the ice in the school grounds as the caretaker wasn't working and gritting the paths.  The power cuts of 1972 though... well that was a different story   though I always have a picture in my mind of me sat by candlelight listening to "Telegram Sam" by T Rex on a tiny transistor radio.

1978/9 was my favourite period in music too.

[Arthur Pringle]

Certainly an obscure one, I don't think I've even heard of it until now, looking at his credits the only title of Chris Petit's I recognise is 'An Unsuitable Job For A Woman' & I think that's only because there was a tv series adapted from the same book.

[Nightfly]

Apr 10, 2021 16:10:26 GMT Arthur Pringle said:

Certainly an obscure one, I don't think I've even heard of it until now, looking at his credits the only title of Chris Petit's I recognise is 'An Unsuitable Job For A Woman' & I think that's only because there was a tv series adapted from the same book.

I hadn't heard of it either until last year when I came across it accidentally whilst looking for info on UBN Radio, being a bit of a radio anorak, though the scenes at UBN are very brief. Curiosity got the better of me and I found a DVD on Ebay and was hooked. I believe it's also on the BFI website but I think it's in the subscriber only section, or you may have to pay to watch.  I don't think it's ever been on TV.

[Cartman]

Apr 10, 2021 16:06:37 GMT Nightfly said:

1978/9 was my favourite period in music too.

Mine too. The best ever years musically, a great combination of new wave and disco. There's a retro run down chart thread in the music section of the forum which focuses on it.

[Lord Emsworth]

Great film

Still stands up

[Vienna]

I'll have to take a look at this film. It's coming out on Blu-ray in May, newly restored by the BFI.  




Vi

[Lord Emsworth]

It's quite arty so maybe not to everyone's taste but I love it

The Kermode intro above gives you an idea of what to expect as does this clip soundtracked by Kraftwerk...

....and this Guardian review (starts at 3:03 before that it's anther film review)....

[Sam Tyler]

Apr 10, 2021 15:48:40 GMT Cartman said:

The winter of 78/9 was my first winter of work, loved the period personally, the music was absolutely amazing, look up the charts for September 78 to February/March 79. 
I've always thought the "winter of discontent" was exaggerated a lot by, and largely created by, the media who had an agenda and an axe to grind. The cold weather helped them in this .

That was my first winter of work too, straight after leaving school. I went to an oil refinery in South Wales September '78 to July '79, great time and I certainly don't recall any particular issues or 'winter of discontent'. It wasn't like the issues of 1973, power cuts, strikes etc, my memory of the time was almost the opposite.

Apr 10, 2021 15:48:40 GMT Cartman said:

One memory is crashing my Dad's Austin 1100 into a fence in snow in January 79, "and me doing part of the repairs myself, outside the house in arctic conditions!😀

I'd bought a Suzuki TS185 when I was 17 and one Friday lunchtime in the January left the refinery to ride it home to Surrey. All was fine until Cardiff when the snow started. By the time I got to the Severn Bridge it was virtually a blizzard with a howling wind, hard-packed snow and traffic crawling along below 20mph. The remainder of the journey was incredibly slow such that it took me nine hours to do the 185 miles. I was knackered when I got home but still took the bike out in the snow over the local fields for a thrash around the next day.

Sam.