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| Raving it up: The Kursaal Flyers around the time of Mark Kidel's documentary |
46 So You Wanna be a Rock 'n' Roll Star?
(Mark Kidel, 1976)
In
the days before MySpace, bands got famous the old-fashioned way,
hitting the motorway hard. Southend pub rockers the Kursaal Flyers
weren’t director Mark Kidel’s first-choice subject for this BBC film,
presented by Melvyn Bragg, who apologises for all the swearing. He’d
considered following Kokomo or Ace but struck gold with this stark
depiction of three days on the road in Scotland and the north-east
which must have had watching schoolkids running back to their careers
advisors ready to reconsider accountancy.
Like Keane to Dr
Feelgood’s Coldplay, the trouble for our heroes is that everywhere
their Transit pitches up, Canvey Island’s finest have been before and
torn the proverbial roof off the joint. The camera lingers over some
interminably long takes with only small talk about hotels to fill the
gaps. The banality of a touring band’s daytime existence is typified by
drummer Will Birch casing their Aberdeen hotel on arrival and nodding
approvingly, ‘Hmm, big doors’.
Throughout, the Flyers are winningly
guileless; they dream of making it in America and ‘touching down in,
er, wherever you touch down’. While Birch chats up the girls (‘What
town is this again?’ he enquires five minutes into a conversation
backstage in Middlesbrough) and Bull jollies the troops with updates on
his piles, singer Paul Shuttleworth is keen to assert his aloofness. ‘I
don’t go out raving it up like the others,’ he stresses in the film’s
most poignant moment. ‘I prefer to look around decorating shops. I tore
this out of the paper the other day, see? Compost.’
Such moments of
unintentional hilarity have led many to claim the film as the
inspiration for ‘This Is Spinal Tap’. Certainly, the Flyers’ accents
are reminiscent of Nigel Tufnell and David St Hubbins’ estuarine
drawls; the band’s backhanded appraisal of a support act in Aberdeen
(‘She’s all right. Bit flat, though,’ recalls the Tap’s ‘this much
talent’ comment; while a remark from Shuttleworth about the band
needing to tighten up their outros leads to Birch’s Tufnell-esque
flounce, ‘In what way aren’t they perfect?’.
‘There are odd
comments that are funny but unintentionally so – that’s true,’ the
drummer recalls, 31 years on. ‘But I believe our documentary was more
of an influence on “Bad News Tour”. Ade Edmondson was of an age that
would have seen it when it was first aired. And there are several
vignettes in it which were directly lifted. But I guess we did look a
bit Tap-ish. Their drummer wears cycling gear like me. And the accents:
they’re sub-Mick Jagger, Dartford Crosssing/ Bluewater/ Lakeside
accents; we were all trying to be cockney wide boys!’
Though not
unhappy with the finished product, Birch feels that the Kursaals were
the first victims of reality TV. ‘We were quite naive, in a way, to
allow a crew to accompany us,’ he recalls, ‘little realising that it is
the technique of film editors to make an end product that reflects
their own agenda. There are things where we come over as a bit foolish
or hopelessly out of touch but anyone filmed at that age is going to
look cringeworthy.
As for all that ‘raving it up’, he adds: ‘Me
and Richie are in 50 per cent of the scenes; he was a funny guy and I
was just showing off, really. I knew that Mark Kidel wanted it to be
entertaining so I played to gallery – y’know, bring the ladies in and
I’ll chat them up! I get the odd crack off my wife when it’s shown.
Mind you, Anita, the young girl from Middlesbrough, I often wonder what
happened to her…’ Martin Horsfield
Greatest hit Early morning, and the band Transit tours Southend, picking up each member from their mums’ houses.
Top 50 index | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-6 | 5-1
Author: Dave Calhoun. Written by Derek Adams, Geoff Andrew, Dave Calhoun, Wally Hammond, Michael Hodges, Martin Horsfield, Martin Hoyle, David Jenkins, Trevor Johnston, Eddy Lawrence, Sharon O'Connell, Chris Parkin, Graeme Thomson, Peter Watts
User comments on this story
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- Mark said...
- Karen Carpenter the world's worst singer? Congratulations to Vince for the stupidest and most-innacurate post ever committed to the internet Posted on Jul 12 2009 00:50
- Report as inappropriate
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- Eddie Carnihan said...
- "STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN" about the legendary Motown house band THE FUNK BROTHERS. Not in the top 50. you're having a laugh. Posted on Jun 12 2008 14:26
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- Harry said...
- The Chuck Berry film Hail Hail Rock'n'Roll is a great documentary about the contrary genius. And your admiration for Keith Richards can only increase - he displays inifinite patience when Chuck corrects his playing. Posted on Mar 29 2008 20:49
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- A Sad Man said...
- What about the Monkees film "Head" its a surrealist, psychadelic classic. And Velvet Goldmine too. Posted on Jan 31 2008 15:22
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- Holly said...
- Nice...personally, i like "Raise your voice!", "Confessions of a teenage drama queen"...something more modern :D:D Posted on Jan 31 2008 14:22
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- KevinT said...
- I would have to include the documentary 'A Great Day In Harlem' - one of the best films about jazz musicians. Posted on Oct 17 2007 17:20
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- Brendan Thorpe said...
- How about "Born to Boogie"? Marc Bolan at the height of TRextasy - the arty bit may not be great, but the concert stuff is excellent! Posted on Oct 16 2007 15:37
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- J said...
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Taste is subjective, so we'll cut you some slack... But how could you snub "Ray" or the Cash film "Walk the Line?" "Rockers" was pretty amazing. "The Wall..." and the new release of "The Grateful Dead Movie" is hot. The bonus features (esp. the performances uncut) kick ass. AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock" & come on... "Yellow Submarine."
Personally I think "Spinal Tap" & "Hedwig & The Angry Inch" should be included. The bands may have been born out of the movies (the original play in Hedwig's case), but they are rocking bands nonetheless. Posted on Oct 14 2007 12:52 - Report as inappropriate
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- Alex Murillo said...
- Just to correct a common mistake..."This Is Spinal Tap" is not "Christopher Guest's mockumentary", as you said...it was directed by Rob Reiner. Guest was indeed a co-writer, and of course the film bares a resemblance to Guest's later films, but I think it's unfair to both Reiner and the other members of Spinal Tap (McKean, Shearer) to label the film as Guest's alone. Posted on Oct 11 2007 02:49
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- alex said...
- Actually I'm positive Spinal Tap did a few novelty shows back in the L80's/E90's (8 in all I believe) one at the lamented CBGB/OMFUG in NYC. Even one novelty show brings a band into the plane of existence as anyone knows who has ever been in bands. I've been in a lot, some did only one show, and they ALL existed even if no one but the three of us knew it. So Spinal Tap existed. QED. Posted on Oct 10 2007 16:23
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- Graz said...
- I also forgot to metion the Rock n' Roll, Australian Japanese Surfing Road Movie " Bondi Tsunami". 2004. Check it out. Posted on Oct 10 2007 04:32
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- Graz said...
- What about B.Middler in t"The Rose". Garland and Striesand in thier versions of " A Star is Born" . The briilant "Hair" and now also "Hairspray". But absoutley " Once" is brillant. Who compiled this list? Posted on Oct 10 2007 03:28
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- kay said...
- where the hell is PURPLE RAIN?!?!?! this surely has to be in the list?! Posted on Oct 08 2007 14:58
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- Don said...
- You've missed some of the truly great performances by real bands while playing up other performers imitating the stars. And some are as much fantasy as reality based on someone's interpretation of what happened. That is not a true documentary, just fiction passed off as one. Posted on Oct 08 2007 13:42
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- kanna77 said...
- this is great ! Posted on Oct 08 2007 03:47
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