Saturday, June 15, 2024: Ellen Aim and the Attackers - Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young

 

I can hear people screaming, "WHAT ABOUT SPINAL TAP?"

Fair question, what about Spinal Tap?  Well, first of all, I've already featured them on CSOTD, all the way back on February 18, 2011.

Secondly, Spinal Tap are pretty much the first thing most people think of when they think of a fictional band featured in movies or television.  Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and director Rob Reiner (in his feature directorial debut, by the way) set the bar so damn high that everyone has been playing catch up since the film's 1984 debut.  Spinal Tap are the gold standard, the weight against all others are measured, and rightly so.  Not including Spinal Tap this week wasn't a knock against them; more like, "Hey, I know the Mona Lisa exists, but let's look at a few other portraits, shall we?"

We're closing this week with the great Ellen Aim and the Attackers, aka, Diane Lane and a bunch of New Wave, New England musicians in 1950s garb performing some of the greatest rock that had ever rolled.  God bless you, Jim Steinman, RIP.

Released the same year as Spinal Tap, described as "a Rock & Roll Fable", Streets of Fire is a fever dream of a movie, a mix and match patchwork of the 1950s and 1980s.  No 1960s hippies, no 1970s disco, on the Streets of Fire you're either a greaser, a kool kitty, or some kind of 80s MTV star waiting to happen.  Low down cruiser motorcycles ride past bright 80s neon.  It's a stylized, retro-futuristic urban landscape, an aesthetic that never quite succeeds, but still somehow works.  It was a nightmare shoot for director Walter Hill, and the movie flopped at the box office.  

However, the film found a new audience through home video releases and frequent showings on cable television, which allowed it to reach viewers who appreciated its unique qualities. The blend of different eras and genres created a sense of nostalgia that resonated with fans of both classic and contemporary rock music, Streets of Fire eventually gathered a dedicated fan base who appreciated its unconventional style and confident action sequences.

Now, truth be told here, I'm skirting the rules a little bit.  Remember at the beginning, that the fictional band couldn't be a real band in real life.  Well, the backing band for Ellen Aim, The Attackers, were actually a real band.  Formed in New Hampshire but (eventually) based in Boston, Face to Face were a new wave act that had a minor hit in 1982 with the single "10-9-8." They were signed to a label in 1984, and moved from Boston to Los Angeles to record their debut album.  During that time their producer, Jimmy Iovine, offered them the opportunity to appear as the backing band.  They didn't like the idea, and only contributed musically to the project a cover of Bruce Springsteen's song, "Streets of Fire", which never made it into the film.  So, while they are on stage performing as The Attackers, it's not actually their music they are playing.  So, I'm letting it slide.

I truly hope you enjoyed this week as much as I enjoyed putting it together.  

Let the revels begin
Let the fire be started
We're dancing for the desperate and the broken-hearted....