Top 10 Rock Movies of All Time
So after the tough sledding of the past few days, it’s time for us all to frolic a bit in the shallow end of the cultural pool: it is, after all, still summer, and Labor Day’s just around the corner.
Here, then, a parlor game: What are your ten favorite “rock movies”? That phrase wobbles a bit, of course; I debated whether to include a movie like Bye Bye Birdie (1963), putatively a movie about rock & roll—and, heavens, an absolutely fascinating one!—but I’ve decided that I’d restrict my list to movies that are not just about rock, but sort of by rock as well. That is, they explore their subject from an indentifiably rock point-of-view. If that makes any sense. So that I haven’t included any movies that don’t really understand rock (as Bye Bye Birdie Doesn’t, or The Girl Can Help It [1956] doesn’t), even though they can be riveting documents of the fates and fortunes of rock in the larger culture.
So here’s my list: and I’m hoping that my #1 will come as a surprise to some, because I’m planning to write about it here shortly. I’m also going to write soon about a movie I recently watched at the recommendation of fcrp reader Steve, The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005). It doesn’t make my list, but it’s well worth watching—as I’ll try to elaborate here in the near future.
Finally: The real point of a list like this on a blog like this one is to provoke you to compile and share your own lists. I’ll be very eager to hear your picks, and eager too to rent or buy them and watch them.
Without further ado—drum roll, please:
1. Luna, Tell Me Do You Miss Me? (2006). Heartbreaking: watching a band as delicately beautiful as Luna break up over the grinding financial pressures that beset a band hovering on the fringes of commercial success.
2. The Rolling Stones & others, Gimme Shelter (1970). Another kind of rock tragedy; the footage of Mick watching the footage of Meridith Hunter’s murder at the film’s close is very powerful. And the Stones’ greatest track as the soundtrack!
3. The Beatles, Hard Day’s Night (1964). What’s to say? Established the narrative foundation for nearly every rock movie that has followed, even the Spice Girls’ Spice World (1997; perhaps my #11!)
4. Various artists, Woodstock (1970). Another uncontroversial classic; Hendrix alone is worth the price of admission, of course, and Santana was never better than on “Soul Sacrifice.” Only dark spot: Neil Young wouldn’t allow himself to appear on film, even though he played with CSNY.
5. The Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dig! (2004). I’m displaying a disturbing trend toward super-downer flicks: this documents the car-crash that is the Brian Jonestown Massacre, offset somewhat by the pop tones of Portland’s Finest.
6. Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense (1984). Perhaps should rank higher; both the band and director Jonathan Demme stepped up their game and gave the “concert film” a bit of style (and a huge Armani suit).
7. U2, Zoo TV Live from Sidney (1994). I know I’m a bit biased here, as most of a chapter in my next book is obsessed with this film and this concert tour. I don’t think there’s been a smarter rock show mounted, ever.
8. Radiohead, Meeting People Is Easy (1998). Some of our stars, on the other hand, deal with fame with a bit less panache. If you’ve ever wanted to understand what life on tour is like from the inside, this (and Tell Me Do You Miss Me?) will get you there.
9. Neil Young, Rust Never Sleeps (1979). Vintage Neil weirdness, catching him in the process of reinventing himself for like the 23rd time.
10. The Band, Bob Dylan & others, The Last Waltz (1978). If Martin Scorsese made a rock movie, it would look like this. Oh wait: Scorsese did make a rock movie, and it was this. Nothing to beat it for pure star power.
Now: Hit the comments section, if only to tell me what I’ve missed, or why one or more of these is just wrong headed.
What, what, no “Monterey Pop”? And trivia for film nerds: Scorsese was also one of the editors on “Woodstock”– so he’d had practice before “The Last Waltz.”
Interesting about Monterey Pop: I wonder whether it doesn’t rise to the top for me because it doesn’t have any real narrative arc, or something?
It doesn’t seem to meet implicit criteria, but wither Spinal Tap? Granted, not a “real” band but certainly captures a particular and resonant popular inflection of rock. Or should that be “rawk?”
Another long-time fave that I just, er, forgot. Though I can’t imagine which of my 10 I’d drop for it –
Surely no such list could be complete without “This is Spinal Tap.” It’s silly, of course, but it has a real (if unflattering) story to tell about rock, don’t you think?
(Norma and I appear to have had the same thought at the same time. Whoa, man, synchronicity!)
Turn the list up to “11″ and add Spinal Tap
Ah, of course! RJ’s nailed it. My list of 10 should go to 11, with Nigel & the Boys bringing up the rear — or “Big Bottom.”
It’s funny–I don’t watch many music movies or read much about music; I only listen. But I’m really interested to see the Luna movie, Kevin. I liked that band.
I’m not sure I could put out a list of ten best, but I have a few movies to mention that may or may not be worth a look:
-”Rock and Roll High School” Haven’t seen it in donkey’s years, but I remember liking it in a “so bad it’s good” way. Gabba-gabba hey!
-”The Gits” I confess I watched this mainly because of the crime/mystery angle. The lead singer, Mia Zapata, was brutally murdered just as the band was about to sign with a major label. But an interesting peak into the early- and mid-90s Seattle scene.
-”Storefront Hitchcock” If you’ve never seen Robyn Hitchcock live, this gives you an opportunity to see just how weird and funny he is. There’s a more recent movie, too, but the name escapes me. Something about tarantulas, I think. It’s about his work with the Venus 3–Peter Buck, et al.
Susie, you stole my “Whoa, synchronicity” line! Should I be flattered or embarrassed?
Great list, Kevin. Stop Making Sense changed my life for the better when I saw it at age 12. You do, however, veer dramatically toward the non-fiction (which is perhaps where Spinal Tap got lost). Two of my favorite rock movies of recent vintage are That Thing You Do and Almost Famous. I always choke up at the scene of the Oneders dancing around the appliance store listening to their song on the radio; I can’t even imagine what that must feel like! Almost Famous continues to hold up well for me, as I can’t seem to turn it off any time I come across it.
However, I wouldn’t suggest replacing any of the above for those two. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to have two separate lists: one for fiction and one for non-fiction. That could encompass Rock n’ Roll High School, High Fidelity, Purple Rain, Spinal Tap, whatever else we want to acknowledge.
Some quick thoughts: In my head (and perhaps only there) That Thing You Do is a “kids” movie, perhaps only because my girls were obsessed with it. Maybe I haven’t given it a chance. Almost Famous, on the other hand, seems to sweet, and to concerned with Cameron Crowe trying to prove how cool he was? Dunno. High Fidelity comes close, I think, though I much prefered the novel (stock snob phrase!).
Honourable mentions?
1. The Clash- Rude boy
2. The Band – The Last Waltz
3. Bruce Springsteen -The Promise( not out yet,but going to be great)
4. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains
5. Led Zeppelin – The Song Remains the Same
5. Neil Young – Heart of Gold
6. The Decline of Western Civilization
7. Bob Dylan – No Direction Home
8. David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust
9. Devo – The complete Truth about de-evolution
10. Frank Zappa – 200 Motels
11. This is Spinal Tap
Oh and “Tommy” and “Quadraphenia”.
If we let Tommy in, it can only be under the banner of camp (and I don’t mean Tommy’s Holiday Camp). That movie’s gawd-awful. I’m embarrassed that I’ve never seen Quadrophenia….
“These go to eleven”
(In no particular order)
* Help – Beatles
* Hard Day’s Night – Beatles
* Yellow Submarine- Beatles
* Live At Pompeii – Pink Floyd
* Urgh, a Music War – Everyone who was anyone in LA
* Greendale – Neil Young
* Irish Tour ’74 – Rory Gallagher
* Rock & Roll High School – Ramones
* Woodstock – Various
* Monterey Pop – Various
* The Rutles, All You Need Is Cash
BTW, Rock and Roll High School is best enjoyed in a college lecture hall with a shared bottle of Ouzo
Greendale! Greendale!! No one loves Neil more than I do, but I saw him play in St. Louis on the Greendale tour, and it was agony: Gramps sittin’ on the porch tellin’ the young ‘uns about the days before man raped the earth; right-on Earth Chick singin’ the eco-version of “The People Have the Power”: Ugh! Luckily he came out and played a 45-minute encore of good material, or we might have had a riot on our hands. Is the DVD better than the tour shows were?
Good pick up on the Rutles! And I’ll buy the Rory Gallagher, if it’s still available –
I liked Rory Gallagher before you did! But only his early stuff….
I was initially a little taken aback by Greendale (on tour), but perhaps the large amount of beer, with which we sought to offset the heat and humidity of Houston, helped my patience too. The DVD is better than the tour show and *sufficient analysis* would have revealed that “Earth Chick” was actually “Sun Green” – not to be confused with “Earth Brown.”
Really, though, if you truly love Neil, you’ve got to love him when he’s being a bit of a goof too. Greendale does have some pretty good music to it and I recommend it for your next roadtrip.
Yes, Ken, you liked Rory before I did, but you’re also older than me and the later material did rock a little hard for you.
Lastly,I am thrilled that nobody has tried to nominate The Wall, but also surprised to have not seen Rocky Horror Picture Show hit anyone’s list
Although the Beatles’ “story” is somewhat tired and all too familiar, I enjoyed “Backbeat” quite a bit.
The music created for the movie was a fun twist – some of Sonic Youth, if I recall.
Of course, Sheryl Lee made a wonderful Astrid . . .
1. The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night (1964). Last gasp of the British New Wave took a much lighter tone and rocked out righteously.
2. The Rolling Stones & friends, Gimme Shelter (1970). Love watching Ike and Tina Turner upstage the Stones followed by Jagger’s catty response.
3. Spinal Tap, This Is Spinal Tap (1984).
4. The Beatles, Yellow Submarine (1968).
5. The Monkees, Head (1968). A tremendous middle finger to their entire career. H’it don’t come no more awkward than Peter Tork, following his declamation on the nature of conceptual reality, shouting at Micky Dolenz: “Micky! Micky! Micky! I’m the dummy, Micky! I’m always the dummy!” and Dolenz looking remorseful and apologizing repeatedly, agreeing that Tork indeed is the dumb one he always had to portray on the tv show.
6. The Brian Jonestown Massacre & The Dandy Warhols, DiG! (2004).
7. Anvil, Anvil: The Story Of Anvil (2008). This is the feel-goodest rock documentary ever. If you don’t root for Anvil you have ice water in your veins.
8. Various, Woodstock (1970).
9. Various, Festival Express (2003). Worth it just to see Rick Danko, Jerry Garcia, and Janis Joplin drunkenly staggering together through a rendition of some song. Also the Flying Burrito Brothers are just plain great.
10. The Rolling Stones & friends, The Rolling Stones: Rock ‘N’ Roll Circus (1968). Whole lotta drugs going on. We get to see The Who in strong form and the debut of a supergroup: John Lennon, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Mitch Mitchell, as the Dirty Mac, playing a Lennon original (Yer Blues).
Thanks for the list and commentary, Blakester: Welcome back to these pages! I’d forgotten all about Anvil: I think when it came out I was stubbornly holding out for the Blu-Ray, which is just perverse. Turns out Blu-Ray was only issued in the U.K.: cineastes, them Brits. I’ve just ordered my DVD copy.