brothers brian johnson and brent johnson examine the glorious glam rock behind the cult phenomenon …
Brian Johnson
There’s a faint feeling of the college crowds that used to flood midnight movie theaters in the 1970s in Aberdeen, N.J.
It lies at the Strathmore Theatre (Clearview Cinemas), where they still present midnight showings of ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ every Friday Night.
Nowadays, it’s a new age of misfit toys who flock to the theaters yelling nostalgic chants of “Asshole!” and “Slut! Not yet — give her time,” and have added new raunchy flavor.
As I sat in the theater over Halloween weekend, what hit me was with all the hoopla of Halloween and how over-crowded the theater was with teenagers yelling whatever they wanted, who the hell was listening to the music?
I’ve seen Rocky Horror enough to appreciate the audience participation. Don’t get me wrong. But sometimes what is truly lost is how fantastic writer/creator Richard O’Brien’s music is.
I remember my first glimpse of Rocky Horror as a kid was when VH1 played it around Halloween in the late ’90s. Obviously, as a teenager, it was fairly unpleasant to watch at times, especially the scene where Tim Curry bangs Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick back-to-back. That’s just not supposed to happen when on television when you’re 13.
Years later, after becoming a David Bowie and Roxy Music fan, I found a new appreciation for the film. Watching it again, I noticed how much Riff Raff looks like a balding young Brian Eno, and heard the similarities between songs like “Over At The Frankenstein Place” and ’70s glam.
O’Brien created melodies that combined a number of styles of music, much like David Bowie and Bryan Ferry. There’s doo-wop in “Dammit, Janet,” crunchy glam in “The Time Warp,” ’50s jangle-rock in “Planet, Schmanet, Janet,” and luscious ballads in “I’m Going Home.”
Theses are aspects of Rocky Horror that can’t be totally appreciated in a participation setting or when you’re a middle schooler watching VH1.
Obviously, it is a great experience to see the movie in a live setting — especially if you want to feel a connection with crowd you share a love of Rocky Horror with and probably nothing else.
But as we wrap up this Halloween season, what still stands out about the movie most is Meat Loaf’s belting on “What Ever Happened To Saturday Night,” Tim Curry’s vocal inflections throughout the soundtrack, and the ’50s rock sensibilities that charmed the ’70s glam scene.
As a rock musical, the movie delivers as a classic, and not in a campy type of way that many who flock to see the movie in Aberdeen view it as.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-YdhseyDGc&feature=related
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Brent Johnson
The Rocky Horror Show is a lot of things.
A musical that’s twisted, delightful and downright strange. A shocking study in sexuality. A metaphor for the campy excess of the 1970s. A cult movie that continues to grace midnight-movie screens 36 years after its release. A cultural phenomenon among fans who don fishnets and shout back at the actors during breaks in the dialogue.
But tonight, on Halloween, I have a suggestion for you. Instead of dressing up as Magenta or popping in the DVD at 11:59, simply play the soundtrack instead.
Because to me, more than anything, Rocky Horror is a fantastic album.
I know Rocky Horror is about more than the songs. It’s about embracing rebellion and curiosity by striking out at midnight and dressing up like a sex-shop mannequin. It’s about discarding your inhibitions for a few hours. And I love that. But its music deserves more credit.
Along with David Bowie and T. Rex, Rocky Horror was one of the defining statements of the glam rock movement that swept through Britain in the early 1970s. English actor/musician Richard O’Brien wrote the original play in 1973 — a time when glam was filling the country’s pop scene with sexual ambiguity, glitter-speckled faces and an exciting sound that mixed punk charm, crunchy riffs and doo-wop melodies.
Rocky Horor was glam on the stage. Men in drag. A wild plot that paid loving tribute to low-budget horror films. And yes, kitschy rock songs that strutted with attitude. No surprise that it was a hit in London in 1973 and a year later in glitzy Los Angeles. It’s also no surprise that it bombed when it made its debut on stuffy Broadway in 1975 and bombed again when it was turned into a movie in 1975. It wasn’t until midnight-movie audiences embraced it that Rocky Horror became a classic.
But the first time I caught a midnight showing, I remember thinking something that must be sacrilege in the Rocky Horror universe. While I fully understood that shouting at the screen and tossing props around the theater were part of the experience, I was irked by how loud the crowd was.
They were drowning out the music.
And oh, how the music begins. The opening number is a ‘Science Fiction, Double Feature,’ a pretty tune built around piano and acoustic guitar that name-checks a string of sci-fi films. The movie version opens with an iconic image: a pair of red lips on a black screen, mouthing the words.
From there, O’Brien’s soundtrack never slows. ‘Dammit, Janet’ has the wordplay of a Cole Porter tune — only with more sexual frustration. ‘Over At The Frankenstein Place’ has harmony and high notes that would make Brian Wilson proud. ‘The Time Warp’ — Rocky Horror‘s most famous song — sounds like a lost Bowie single. ‘Sweet Transvestite’ is a master class in singing from lead actor Tim Curry, whose accent and annunciation are an underrated delight. ‘What Ever Happened To Saturday Night?’ features a smashing vocal from Meat Loaf — and a saxophone-laced melody that wouldn’t have been out of place on Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run.
Then, there’s ‘The Floor Show’ — a medley of tunes at Rocky Horror‘s climax. There’s the bluesy groove of ‘Rose Tint My World.’ A stately, Freddie Mercury-like ballad called ‘Don’t Dream It, Be It.’ The heroic tearjerking of ‘I’m Going Home.’ It’s like the second side of The Beatles’ Abbey Road. Only with makeup.
You can call Rocky Horror out for having a ridiculous plot. You can say the production values weren’t on par with Orson Welles. But pound for pound, I don’t know many musicals that have as consistent a flow of catchy, clever, scintillating songs.
It’s astounding ….
A good article but I’d take out the line about ‘that many who flock to see the movie in Aberdeen view it as’. It just makes you think – why are you mentioning Aberdeen? Because you’re from Aberdeen? Who cares- this isn’t the Aberdeen Local news- it’s an article about Rocky Horror.
It’s far too specific- as if Aberdeen as any more unenlightened an outlook than anywhere else might.
‘A different set of jaws’ was a terrible tagline wasn’t it- really dated now and needlessly tries to tie itself in with the populist film of the time, Jaws, like some straight to bargain bin video.