FM (1978)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Boring

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I have not seen this movie in many years but it shows how relevant it all is. Look at the state of radio today. It is no longer about the music then it is about the money. Maybe that is why satellite radio is taking off. Satellite radio is taking us back to the days when the music was the power. What more can I say. This movie hits home. I for one am glad there is Sirius Satellite Radio out there. Don't get sucked in to HD. It will go away just like Quadrophonic did in the early 70's. The movie also goes back to a time when the cost of seeing a live concert was well under $10. The acting in this movie is superb. The music takes me back to a better place.

Watched after a quarter century of big media conglomeration, when radio stations nationwide were swallowed up and turned into carbon copies of each other, FM leaves me pondering this question: was radio just as bad before as after all the mergers and buyouts? This vapid attempt to present rock radio as some sort of 'counterculture' establishment actually proves the exact opposite. Believe this film, and you'll believe that FM stations were an endless sea of dreadful pop music; where The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Foreigner and their wretched ilk ruled supreme. Some alternative. The truth is that, for the most part, FM rock radio was as bad--if not worse--in 1978 as it is today. Just as in the late 1970s, your best bet is still to tune in to your local college radio station. For those who think Dan Fogelberg is the bee's knees, this is your film.Any positives? Well, it's amusing to see Norman Lloyd in a cowboy hat, affecting a Texas accent, and Tom Petty brings a shred of credibility to the proceedings. Otherwise, it's as boring as a Steely Dan song.

I was in radio in the area the movie took place in the late 1970's, most of my friends felt the movie was molded after 94.7 KMET, "The Mighty Met" which at the time was king, with KLOS always nipping at their heels. Sadly, corporate money won out, the MET went "NEW AGE" and KLOS survived. Remember Paraquat, Ace "Space" Young, "The Gonzer" and Jim Ladd to mention a few Met Cats! None of us even thought about "WKRP in Cincinnatti" as a off shoot to "FM" although it was a great show. Myself and many others worked at a station much like "WKRP" at one time or another! "FM" was excellent and reflected a wild time in radio, when there was some pretty weird music out there and some great ones too!

If you lived in Los Angeles during the 60's and 70's, you'll definitely understand and relate to this wonderful "un-official" send-up of what happened to shut down real rock 'n roll at radio station KMET-FM, the last surviving "underground" FM radio station of the 70's.Conglomerate KLOS-FM and independent KMET-FM were in a ratings and cultural battle that pushed the envelope of radio decency and the right to free speech unlike no other.The radio personalities: B. Mitchell Reid, Mary "Mounds" Turner, etc.Situations like "Champagne PayDays" where the DJ's would drink while spinning records, as well as "suspected" pot-smoking while on-the-air, along with playing as few commercials as possible, helped to bring down the station at the middle of the seventies. If you were there and want to reminisce, or, if you wanna see what it was like during a time when 'the people' REALLY controlled the airwaves, FM is the movie for you.Plus... you can't beat the music and the performances by artists and stars of the era.IF YOU LIKE ROCK 'N ROLL and YOU BELIEVE THAT IT WILL LIVE ON FOREVER, then, "FM" IS THE MOVIE FOR YOU!