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Ladies And Gentleman The Fabulous Stains
[Rhino]
1981; color
Directed by Lou Adler
Starring: Diane Lane, Laura Dern, Marin Kanter, Ray Winstone, Paul Cook, Steve Jones & Paul Simonon
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Like many people, I developed a crush on Ladies And Gentleman The Fabulous Stains a long time ago and was completely excited when I learned it was finally being released on DVD. (In great part I learned about the film in the first place thanks to an article in now-defunct Grand Royal Magazine by filmmaker and LAGTFS booster Sarah Jacobson. I missed the film's original wave of re-interest which I understand was due to it's airing on a show on the USA channel I never got to see, except for posthumously on grainy VHS copies, Night Flight. Suffice it to say, with at least three revivals under their belt - or perhaps I should say sheer blouse - this is now officially a cult classic.) If you know of the movie at all you probably already know it's basic plot but for those of you who haven't, as far as rock movies go it's a pretty standard story of a young band's struggle towards, rise to and fall from fame - all pretty much over the course of one cross country bus tour. The hook being the band is made up of three ridiculously adorable teenaged girls, played by Diane Lane, Laura Dern and Marin Kanter. Although technically, the teenaged girl thing is just the main hook. There are many, many others including the fact The Looters (the British punk band who are in the middle slot on the tour) are made up of Sex Pistols Paul Cook & Steve Jones and the Clash's Paul Simonon (and admirably fronted by British actor Ray Winstone); The Tubes' Fee Waybill, in an outrageously Alice Cooper-esque get up, and Vince Welnick play two-fourths of The Metal Corpses (the band in the headlining slot); Black Randy And The Metrosquad appear in one of the club scenes; and I haven't even mentioned the Stains' incredible look / outfits or the soundtrack. (I guess taking the aforementioned musicians into account the soundtrack being worth mentioning is a given.) You should really just go watch the movie yourself though. I know this is a bit PG, and possibly close to chick flick territory for some of the more jaded members of the BMB audience, but if you're at all into rock movies, I think you will enjoy it. We rented this newly released DVD so I'm not sure if there's a booklet or any other additional bonus material with the full package but the disc we watched also included two commentary tracks, one with Lane & Dern and one with director Lou Adler. The former was kind of interesting but reminded me a lot of a conversation between me and one of my girlfriends over a glass (OK, fine, a bottle) of wine while watching a movie on my couch. Possibly the type of thing that's more fun to participate in than to listen to but I liked it more than the Adler track, which could have definitely benefited from a second person in attendance to prompt the director to say something, and at times anything, other than stating very basic facts. (One of the things that made me laugh out loud was the first time Dern appears on screen he offers only this commentary: "That's Laura Dern. Daughter of Bruce Dern." Fascinating insight! PS: That is a fact, not so much a comment. By the way what do you have against Diane Ladd?) Recommended viewing for girl band geeks, wanna-be riot grrls, and regular ol' rock 'n' rollers alike.
—Bunny
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