Radio Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Big 8

Mar 12, 2004

1h 12m

★ 8.0

Overview

Examination of the international social, political and musical impact of radio station CKLW during the 1960s and 70s. CKLW was the sonic mirror of Windsor's sister city, separated by a half mile of dirty Detroit River water – reflecting excitement, soul, creativity – and bloody murder.

Genres

Documentary

Music

Production Companies

Markham Street Films

Radio Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Big 8 Trailers

Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Michael McNamara

It’s This American Life’s wildest, most ambitious live show ever! Nearly 50 actors, singers, dancers, musicians and comedians joined Ira Glass onstage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Opera House on June 7th, 2014 to try some things they'd never tried before. The result? Journalism turned into opera, into plays, into a Broadway musical. Comedy from Mike Birbiglia, and SNL’s Sasheer Zamata. Songs from Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. Dance from Monica Bill Barnes & Company.

8.0

Antoine de Caunes : la vie rêvée d'un enfant du rock

Nov 25, 2025

Documentary on Antoine de Caunes, a French television presenter, comedian, actor, journalist, writer and film director.

5.0

The Great American Broadcast

May 9, 1941

After WWI two men go into radio. Failure leads the wife of one to borrow money from another; she goes on, after separation, to stardom. A coast-to-coast radio program is set up to bring everyone back together.

5.7

Hi, Good Lookin'!

Mar 22, 1944

An usher at a radio station studio pretends to be an executive at the station in order to help a pretty girl become a singer.

5.2

People Are Funny

Jan 11, 1946

A comedy based on NBC's "People Are Funny" radio (and later television) program with Art Linkletter with a fictional story of how the program came to be on a national network from its humble beginning at a Nevada radio station. Jack Haley is a producer with only half-rights to the program while Ozzie Nelson and Helen Walker are the radio writers and supply the romance. Rudy Vallee, always able to burlesque himself intentional and, quite often, unintentional, is the owner of the sought-after sponsoring company. Frances Langford, as herself, sings "I'm in the Mood for Love" while the Vagabonds quartet (billed 12th and last) chimes in on "Angeline" and "The Old Square Dance is Back Again."

7.0

Pump Up the Volume

Aug 22, 1990

Mark Hunter, a lonely high school student, uses his shortwave radio to moonlight as the popular pirate DJ "Hard Harry." When his show gets blamed for a teen committing suicide, the students clash with high school faculty and the authorities.

6.9

Standing in the Shadows of Motown

Sep 11, 2002

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.

7.4

Sparkle

Apr 7, 1976

Three sisters start out singing in their church choir in Harlem in the late 1950s and become a successful girl group in the 1960s.

6.7

Dreamgirls

Dec 25, 2006

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

0.0

Out of the Blue

Nov 5, 1931

Impoverished aristocrat's daughter Tommy Tucker is in love with radio announcer Bill Coverdale, but he is engaged to her more glamorous sister Angela, who he does not love. Seeking escape from this hopeless situation, and her life of genteel poverty, Tommy flees abroad to Biarritz to become a nightclub singer.

7.0

Northern Soul: Living for the Weekend

Jul 25, 2014

The northern soul phenomenon was the most exciting underground British club movement of the 1970s. At its highpoint, thousands of disenchanted white working class youths across the north of England danced to obscure, mid-60s Motown-inspired sounds until the sun rose. A dynamic culture of fashions, dance moves, vinyl obsession and much more grew up around this - all fuelled by the love of rare black American soul music with an express-train beat.

6.7

FM

Apr 20, 1978

When a liberal music station's owners decide to introduce army recruitment ads, despite the protests of its manager, the rebellious DJs are determined to fight back, no matter the cost.

6.0

Sex and Broadcasting

Nov 15, 2014

SEX AND BROADCASTING is a feature length documentary about New Jersey's WFMU, the world's strangest and most unique radio station, and one man's attempt to keep it alive in the face of recession, the persistent threat of commercial media, and the challenges that come with keeping a rebellious group of outsiders together.

8.0

Carbone 14, le film

May 11, 1983

Supernana, David Grossexe, Simone Cuisse d'Acier, Jean-Yves Lafesse occupy during three nights of summer 82, with their guests, Radio Carbone locals, one of those numerous « free radio » created in France at this period.

7.3

Restrepo

Jun 25, 2010

Directors Hetherington and Junger spend a year with the 2nd Battalion of the United States Army located in one of Afghanistan's most dangerous valleys. The documentary provides insight and empathy on how to win the battle through hard work, deadly gunfights and mutual friendships while the unit must push back the Taliban.

5.8

End of the World

Apr 26, 2015

The Mayan doomsday prophecy looms over a dark night in Poland. A late-night radio host takes in calls from citizens expressing their concerns, predictions and speculations on what may happen when—or even if—the sun comes up. Simultaneously, a crisis centre dispatcher fields panicked calls from people experiencing real-life traumatic situations in need of immediate attention. The voices of these callers are interwoven with an intimate therapy session and a wandering taxicab to build a profile of a place where citizens want to be heard. Never showing the callers on the other end of the line, the film creates an aural overview of a darkened city. As the night progresses, the calls continue coming in, revealing the various struggles people are experiencing in dealing with conceptual fears and current woes—all in a world that soon may be over.

No Image Available

0.0

When Moyles Met the Radio 1 Breakfast DJs

May 9, 2010

DJ Chris Moyles looks at how the Radio 1 Breakfast Show has reflected life in Britain over the past 40 years, as he meets his predecessors in the early morning slot.

0.0

Annie Nightingale: Bird on the Wireless

Jun 3, 2011

Radio 1's longest-serving broadcaster Annie Nightingale takes us on a counter-cultural journey through the events, people and sounds that have inspired her illustrious career.

5.8

Yellow Caesar

May 24, 1941

Using edited archive footage, mockery is made of Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini.

4.0

Kallai FM

Feb 16, 2018

No overview available.

Radio Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Big 8

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Radio Revolution: The Rise and Fall of the Big 8 Trailers