Rock’n’roll celluloid
Rock’n’roll goes to the movies in local music journalist Shane Pinnegar’s new book, Rocksploitation. BOB GORDON chats to him about his deep dive into 69 rock’n’roll movies.
The thing with rock’n’roll movies seems to be that they’re either good or so-bad-they’re-good. Would you agree?
Absolutely—and sometimes, the bad ones are the most enjoyable, in the sense that they can be funnier to watch than if they were not so completely ludicrous or poorly acted!
What are the best examples of each of those descriptions?
There‘s a film called Hard Rock Candy, aka Sapphire Girls, which seems to be a porno with all—or most—of the sex scenes cut out. It‘s absolutely ridiculous; the acting is abysmal, the plot makes zero sense… And it is hilarious because of all that. If the script and performances had been better, it wouldn’t be worth watching at all! Incidentally, the lead actress, Mary Carey, ran for California State Governor against Arnold Schwarzenegger—and came 10th out of 133 candidates!
As for the good ones—that is a very long list! Just open Rocksploitation to the contents page.
You hunkered down on this book after the release of the book about your father’s experience as a child migrant sent to Fairbridge. Did it provide some lighter relief for you in the process?
Very much so. Writing All That Was Taken From Us – A Child Migrant’s Story was very emotional. I had to dig deep into parts of my dad‘s life that most children would never have to look at, so when it was finally finished and I was thinking about my next project, this seemed the perfect fit—watching loads of rock’n’roll movies and talking about them was a bonus!
When did the notion of a book like Rocksploitation first hit you?
As you know, I‘ve written music, book, and film reviews for 15 or so years, hundreds and hundreds of them. So I started writing short essays about a few favourites, not exactly knowing where they’d end up—maybe on my website, maybe somewhere else. This was probably during COVID lockdown. Then I started researching them deeper and digging up all sorts of trivia, and from there it made sense to assemble them into a book.
I originally wanted it to be 101 movies—but that would have been over 950 pages, which is ridiculous, so I trimmed it back to 69… That’s a Bill & Ted‘s Excellent Adventure reference there, folks.
A good deal of the interviews span many of your years as a music journalist. This idea must have been with you for quite some time?
Not as long as you may think. My interest in rock’n’roll movies came first, and I was as surprised as anybody when I revisited those old interviews to discover snippets I could use in the book. If I had been more forward-thinking, I would have asked more questions about the movies Martin Kemp or Andrew Dice Clay or Andrew Strong or Martha Davis had appeared in!
The book’s written in a very digestible tone, as in each chapter feels like a conversation. Were you conscious that a book about entertainment should itself be entertaining?
Not in so many words—that‘s a great way of putting it, though. I‘m not really interested in intellectual assessment of these films so much; I just want to celebrate them and share my love of them. I hope that’s entertaining to some.
Did deep-diving into these movies take you on a guided tour of your youth and your own cultural adventures over the years?
Very much so. Films like This Is Spinal Tap, the Bill & Ted movies, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Blues Brothers, Get Crazy, and The Commitments—they‘re all absolute favourites, and revisiting previous viewings, watching them in different countries with different people… It was a trip, man!
Predictable question: which of the movies in the book are your favourites?
Get Crazy by Allan Arkush is my absolute favourite, and I was so thrilled when he agreed to a long interview about the movie and also his Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. This Is Spinal Tap and The Blues Brothers are, of course, legendary. Wild Zero, starring Guitar Wolf, is my undisputed favourite zombie alien sci-fi superhero gonzo rock’n’roll movie of all time!
Did I hear you say a Volume 2 is in the works?
Oh yes—37 chapters completed, and on track, hopefully, for a November release. I originally wondered if I would be able to dig up 101 movies that fit my criteria: fictional films about rock’n’roll only, no live films, biopics, documentaries… but so far I have discovered almost 450. So there’s no shortage of material to cover, plus more being released all the time… including the long-awaited Spinal Tap sequel in September!
Shane Pinnegar’s new book, Rocksploitation, is on sale now from amazon.com.au
