Radio Survivor

Being a DJ Can be Scary

I’m one of those geeks who does TiVo searches using “radio” as my key word in order to ensure that I’m not missing an interesting radio-themed pop cultural moment. For some reason this week’s television listings offered up a bounty of radio nuggets, from the classic 1990 teen angst film Pump Up the Volume, to the 1987 retro-themed Woody Allen film Radio Days.

There were also a handful of children’s animated series with radio themes, including:

Postman Pat: in which “children put on a radio show at school”

Edgar & Ellen: watch as “Ellen becomes a mystery pirate DJ”

Beavis & Butt-head: tune in to see “The boys become disc jockeys for the day”

But what really caught my eye were the horror movies and thrillers set in radio stations. Premiering today on The Movie Channel, this year’s straight-to-DVD release Dead Air promised a “radio station fighting for survival” amid a terrorist attack.

Additionally, a 2001 episode of the series Night Visions called “Dead Air” aired this week, in which a late night radio shock jock deals with horror following some creepy calls. 1994’s Radioland Murders was also broadcast this week, with its tale of murder amid the launch of a new radio network in 1939.

Although horror can take place in any setting, there’s something particularly scary about the presence of a late-night DJ alone at a radio station. As I read the synopses for a few of these films and episodes I couldn’t help thinking about Play Misty For Me, in which a crazed caller is every DJ’s worst nightmare. With that, here are a few horror movie selections that will keep graveyard DJs awake at night:

1. Play Misty for Me (1971): Clint Eastwood directs and stars as late night DJ who is being stalked.

2. Dead Air (1994 made for TV movie): Gregory Hines stars as the DJ and a caller might be a killer.

3. Dead Air (2009): Late-night talk radio DJ holds down the fort at a station during a terrorist attack.

4. Radioland Murders (1994): Death abounds during the launch of a radio network in 1939.

Can you think of other representations of DJs in horror films?

KPOO

Just when people think that radio is dead, there are signs of it continuing to reinvent itself in interesting ways. The morning news today (on both KTVU’s “Mornings on Two” television broadcast and in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle) brought word of an innovative art installation taking place over the Thanksgiving holiday at Coit Tower in San Francisco.

To honor the 40th anniversary of a year and a half protest/occupation by American Indians at Alcatraz (taking place from November 1969 to June 1971), films will be projected onto the side of Coit Tower. An accompanying soundtrack will be broadcast on San Francisco community radio station KPOO. The collaboration makes sense, as the essence of KPOO’s mission is to serve communities typically under-represented by mainstream media. Additionally, KPOO airs a show twice a month called “Webworks: Voices of the Native Nation.”

Admittedly, listening to film soundtrack simulcasts on one’s radio isn’t an entirely new concept, as low-power radio transmissions were a staple of the drive-in movie scene. In this instance, though, one can listen in through a car radio or even by tuning into a webcast through one’s mp3 player or iPhone. It certainly sounds like an amazing way to experience public art and perhaps it will get a few folks to tune in to community radio.

Pirate Radio

It’s always fun for me to see how radio gets portrayed in popular culture and I often revel in all of the inaccuracies. David Silver as a high school, college, and commercial radio DJ on the original Beverly Hills, 90210 was always a treat to watch and make fun of.

DJ David Silver would rap on and on about his personal life and bantered with his girlfriend Donna (played by Tori Spelling) over the air while his mouth hovered miles away from the microphone. Behind the scenes, his character helped to cast a sleazy haze over college radio graveyard shifts when he became addicted to speed (given to him by his program director) in order to survive the sleep deprivation.

Well…gear up. Tomorrow the comedy “Pirate Radio” opens in the United States. It’s a fictionalized take on radio pirates in 1960s Britain. Retooled for U.S. audiences, the originally titled “The Boat that Rocked,” explores a cast of characters broadcasting illegally from the seas off Britain.

Rock scholar and critic Simon Frith wrote a great piece about the history of pirate radio in Europe, which is a nice bit of background to have before taking in the film.