~
On August 4, 1979, The film
Rock & Roll High School starring the Ramones premiered in
New York,
New York. The film was released to theaters in the US on August 24, 1979, and has since become a
cult classic.
Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 American
musical comedy film directed by
Allan Arkush, produced by
Michael Finnell, and starring
P. J. Soles,
Vince Van Patten,
Clint Howard, and
Dey Young. The film featured the
punk rock group
Ramones with additional songs by
Brian Eno,
Devo,
Eddie and the Hot Rods,
Brownsville Station,
Chuck Berry,
Todd Rundgren,
Alice Cooper and
Nick Lowe; all featured on the
vinyl LP. The music is a treasure chest of great artists that would cost millions to get permissions from today!
The producer of the film was,
Roger Corman, the legendary
B-movie
master, who made his name and fortune on fast and cheap films, often
considered crude and outlandish, appealing to younger audiences who
frequented
drive-ins
and late-night screenings.
Produced for under $300,000 and shot in 23 days at various locations around
Los Angeles, including
Mount Carmel High School which was scheduled for demolition that was used in the film, the
Mayan Theatre, the
Roxy and
Whisky A Go Go,
Rock 'n' Roll High School was ready for release by the spring of 1979.
Rock 'n' Roll High School was so low budget that it couldn’t afford to pay extras. They were, however, putting on a
Ramone concert. So they charged $1.50 per ticket for people to come be in the audience for six hours.
“We get every crazy punker in the world in there,” Arkush said. “You can see
Darby Crash from
The Germs, members of the
Alley Cats,
The Bags,
Circle Jerks
in the audience. Six hours later when they realized they were only
going to hear the same six times [tunes] over and over again, they would
get mad and we’d get them out and we’d bring in a new crowd.”
The director of the film,
Allan Arkush, remembers Corman telling him: “I’ve been thinking, since
Grease and
Saturday Night Fever are hits, why don’t you put music in it and we’ll call it
Disco High?” Yikes!!!! Fortunately, as the film took shape, cooler heads prevailed.
Arkush, who was a fan of the
New York budding
punk-rock scene and had worked as a
Fillmore East usher in his college days, desired a grittier group. Warner then suggested the
Ramones who were signed by
Sire Records. Arkush was already a fan of the group. “
Rocket to Russia was one of my favorite albums,” he recalled.
Arkush went to see
Seymour Stein and Linda Stein of
Sire Records,
“…and they blow up the school at the end of the movie,” Arkush
explained by the end of the meeting. “We’re in!” declared Linda Stein.
Arkush knew the
Ramones
may be a difficult sell to moviegoers. They hadn’t yet reached national
popularity, partially due to the stigma of their genre. “The
Sex Pistols
made a bad impression on Americans and punk music was considered a
dirty word,” Allan recalls. “They wanted to refer to the Ramones as ‘
new wave’ and not ‘
punk.’
Blondie was the only punkish band who had broken onto the radio. When the
Ramones were booked for tours, they got paired with
Black Sabbath
and it was a disaster. [Sabbath] fans would throw stuff at them.
Because of this, they were an outlier band, and that suited the movie.”
My next favorite is
Come Back Jonee by
Devo. I have loved every song by them and saw them
perform at the
Old Waldorf in
San Francisco,
California, in November of 1978. During its time
Old Waldorf hosted some of the biggest names in the music industry, such as
AC/DC,
Dire Straits,
Blue Öyster Cult,
Iggy Pop,
Blondie,
Rory Gallagher,
Metallica,
Pat Benatar,
R.E.M.,
Spirit,
Poco,
Gary Moore,
U2 and
Dead Kennedys.
It was opened by Jeffrey Pollack in 1976; he sold it to
Bill Graham who closed it in 1983.
Next would come
School Days by
Chuck Berry,
written by him in 1957 and is often considered a rock-and-roll anthem.
The last verse of the song contains the lyrics "Hail, hail rock and roll
/ Deliver me from the days of old." Perfect for the theme of
Rock 'n' Roll High School.
Of course, the film would not have been complete without
School's Out by
Alice Cooper. It has been regarded as the band's signature song and reached number 7 on the
Billboard Hot 100.
I love this song but beg to differ as to whether it is their signature song for me. The 1971
Killer album has several songs which would fit that title. Cooper said that the song
Desperado was written about his friend
Jim Morrison, who died the year this album was released.
Halo of Flies is an attempt by the band to prove that they could perform
King Crimson-like
progressive rock suites (they succeded admirably), and was supposedly about a spy organization.
Jello Biafra and
The Melvins covered the song on their release
Sieg Howdy!,
Exquisitely descriptive of dreams dreamed in the classroom is
Energy Fools The Magician by
Brian Eno.
Oh, my God! Who knew a Corman film would ever consider using Eno? VERY
short at just over two minutes but sends you on to the next song . . .
. . .
Todd Rundgren delivers
A Dream Goes On Forever. “A thousand true loves will live and die but a dream goes on forever!”
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 – Ramones - Rock 'N' Roll High School, Engineer [Remix] – Joel Soifer*, Mixed By [Remix] – Phil Spector - 2:13
A2 – Ramones - I Want You Around, Engineer [Remix] – Joel Soifer*, Mixed By [Remix] – Phil Spector - 3:06
A3 – Paley Brothers / Ramones, Come On Let's Go - 2:11
– Ramones - Ramones Medley (11:00)
A4a – Blitzkrieg Bop
A4b – Teenage Lobotomy
A4c – California Sun
A4d – Pinhead
A4e – She's The One
A5 – Nick Lowe - So It Goes - 2:28
A6 – Brian Eno - Energy Fools The Magician - 2:03
Side 2:
B1 – P.J. Soles - Rock 'N' Roll High School - 2:11
B2 – Devo - Come Back Jonee - 3:44
B3 – Eddie And The Hot Rods - Teenage Depression - 2:54
B4 – Brownsville Station - Smoking In The Boys' Room - 2:55
B5 – Chuck Berry - School Days - 2:40
B6 – Todd Rundgren - A Dream Goes On Forever - 2:22
B7 – Alice Cooper - School's Out - 3:24
Companies, etc.
Mastered At – Sterling Sound
Marketed By – Warner Bros. Records Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – Sire Records Company
Copyright (c) – Sire Records Company
Recorded At – The Roxy
Recorded At – Cherokee Studios
Mixed At – Mediasound
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Jacksonville
Credits:
Producer, Engineer – Ed Stasium (tracks: A1, A2, A4, B1)
Notes:
[Tracks A1 and A2] Remixed by Phil Spector; Remix Engineer - Joel Soifer; Recorded at Cherokee Recording Studios, Hollywood
[Track A4] Recorded live at the Roxy, Los Angeles; Mixed at Media Sound, New York
Various – Rock 'N' Roll High School (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Label: Sire – SRK 6070
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Jacksonville pressing
Country: US
Released: 1979
Genre: Rock, Stage & Screen
Style: Rock & Roll, Punk, Soundtrack
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
YouTube links:
Winterland 12/28/78 - (Official videos)
Pinhead
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, August 4, 2020
