OST OCD - "Rock 'n' Roll High School"

I’m flipping through channels on the TV last night and happened across VH1 Classics airing Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. I don’t even remember the last time I saw this flick, which was released originally in 1979. But I sat, enthralled for two hours, watching this classic rock movie.

Allan Arkush directed this vehicle for the Ramones, which was executive produced by B-movie legend Roger Corman. Corman wanted a latter-day version of his “wild teen” films of the 50s and 60s, and felt that the best way to adapt to the 70s would be to center the plot on the popular music of the day. The production Disco High began. Based upon a story by Allan Arkush and Joe Dante, the film's screenwriters Richard Whitley, Russ Dvonch, and Joseph McBride developed the script through several versions, under titles ranging from Heavy Metal Kids to Girl's Gym to a mutation of Disco High's title, Rock 'n' Roll High School.

Your basic plot summary, from AllMovie:

Rock 'n' Roll High School is a prime example of a '70s movie phenomenon: a cult film that was deliberately designed to be a cult film. High-schooler Riff Randell's (P.J. Soles) efforts to meet the Ramones are continually thwarted by rock-&-roll-hating principal Miss Togar (Mary Woronov). Miss Togar is the zealous sort who conducts experiments on laboratory rats to prove the adverse effect of rock music on innocent teenagers. Riff knows that she'll have to be twice as clever and devious as Togar to get her daily supply of Ramones -- and thereby hangs our tale. A secondary plot involves the efforts of the men's-bathroom-stationed matchmaker Eaglebauer Clint Howard to arrange a date for high-school jock Tom Roberts (Vincent Van Patten). An anarchistic climax caps this spoof of '50s R&R musicals.

Some other people to look for in the movie: Dey Young as Riff’s best friend Kate, LA Disc Jockey The Real Don Steele as DJ Screamin’ Steve Stevens, and, in an uncredited role, the late Darby Crash of the Germs.

Watching this movie took me back to my high school days, with the girls wearing Farrah-do’s, the guys with almost equally long hair, and rocking the portable cassette player. Great stuff!

A quick song note: On the soundtrack the five Ramones songs are all jammed together under the heading “Ramones medley.” When they were re-released as bonus tracks on the CD version of Road to Ruin, the songs are still listed as one track. That being the case, I’ve decided to leave them as one eleven-minute track instead of trying the split them and screw them up. Besides, the songs all appear during one sequence in the movie. Also – in the movie, the kids are all headed to the Rockatorium, or something like that, to see the Ramones. According to the album jacket, the tracks were recorded at the Roxy in Los Angeles.

Blitzkrieg Bop/Teenage Lobotomy/California Sun/Pinhead/She’s the One.mp3 Ramones
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.mp3 PJ Soles
Teenage Depression.mp3 Eddie & the Hot Rods

YouTube has the original Rock ‘n’ Roll High School trailer.

Labels: rock, soundtracks

posted by aikin @ 9:07 PM