Ah summertime, nothing is better than floating in a pool, radio playing, catching some rays. Yeah, that would be nice if 1-I had a pool and 2- It wasn't a million degrees outside. So, I've decided to stay in my air conditioned house and watch a few rock n' roll movies. Now before I get started, yes I know there are a ton of them out there and I will definitely revisit this topic time and time again so if I don't pick your favorite this time, I probably will in a few weeks.
This week, I am going to focus on some summertime favorites that I remember seeing when I was a kid.
Let me start with Rock n' Roll High School. I remember seeing this movie for the first time at the midnight movie (Remember those? Rocky Horror always comes to mind) in Chapel Hill . What's not to love about this movie? The Ramones, PJ Soles, blowing up a school. C'mon! It doesn't get much better than that. The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission. I had heard that originally Cheap Trick was suppose to be the band and not the Ramones. I think I may have peed my pants if Cheap Trick was the band, but that's a whole other story. If you were a little punk rock chick in the 80's, you wanted to be PJ Soles in the movie (minus the crush on Joey). She was cute and sassy. You have horrible Principal Togar trying to keep Riff Randall down and destroy rock n' roll. The struggle finally reaches a boiling point when the kids take over the school and The Ramones show up to help out with the decline of the student body. OMP says, "Say hey to Vince for us!"
If you know this movie, you get the joke.
So here I am a little older, and thinking that I need something a little more mature. I'm going for Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Not necessarily a music movie but man, the soundtrack is amazing! You know you remember when Phoebe Cates is coming out of the pool and The Cars Moving in Stereo is playing. That image is burned in every teenage boy's mind. Or what about when Rat is taking out Stacey and Led Zeppelin's Kashmir is playing (When it comes down to making out, whenever possible, put on side one of Led Zeppelin IV-Another OMP moment, he is telling me for Led Zeppelin purist, Kashmir is not from Led Zeppelin IV) There are several plots going on here. The best one has to be the battle between Mr. Hand and Spicoli. We get to see a young Sean Penn before he was all Madonna'd and PC'd up. He plays a complete SoCal stoner and we loved him like that! So, side note-Sean,please go back to the stoner surfer, it works! There are a million memorable quotes-that I still say today. This movie does have adult themes so not one for the kiddies!
I couldn't resist this last movie cause well, cause I'm a chick, a child of the 80's, loved roller skating and wanted so desperately to be Oliva Newton John not only in Grease but also in Xanadu. Don't roll your eyes at me. You know you love Xanadu. If you were a little girl in the 80's you loved it! It's okay, your secret is safe with me. Another reason I couldn't resist this movie this week is that I have been on an ELO kick. Yes, I do know this movie is bad, so get off me! OLJ plays a muse that is trying to help Sonny(aka Michael Beck) realize his dreams. She inspires him by roller skating around him and introducing him (in a round about way-get it rollerskating, around...it's sounded a lot funnier in my head) to Danny, played by Gene Kelly. Gene died shortly after this, and no OMP, it's not from embarrassment. ELO did the sound track-which I still love and we have a brief music video with The Tubes. This movie is really bad but in a fun kitschy way and it's awesome for a girl's only crafting night.
Well, there you have it! Find your old mix tapes, dust off the walkman and roller skate on down to your video store, but this time, make sure you wear safety pads, no one wants you breaking a hip.
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