Bryan Ferry & The Roxy Horror Picture Show
Jan 15, 2022 0:20:09 GMT
staggerstag, DrKrippen, and 1 more like this
Post by petrolino on Jan 15, 2022 0:20:09 GMT
1978 : Bryan Ferry, Pete Walker & The Sex Pistols
Seasoned genre filmmaker Pete Walker directed a string of controversial horror movies set in modern England in the 1970s. He'd already directed several crime films, including the European go-go girl adventure 'Die Screaming, Marianne' (1971) which saw him melding crime and horror elements together, something that would come to characterise all his horror outings in the 1970s.
Walker directed the seaside theatre mystery 'The Flesh And Blood Show' (1972) which became a British slasher prototype, the W.I.P. ("women in prison") shocker 'House Of Whipcord' (1974), the rural terror tract 'Frightmare' (1974), the religious horror 'House Of Mortal Sin' (1976), the psychological study 'Schizo' (1976), and finally 'The Comeback' (1978) which documented a vaunted singing star's attempts to dodge death while recording his latest album at a country manor retreat.
Walker first offered the role of singer Nick Cooper in 'The Comeback' to pianist Bryan Ferry, frontman of rock 'n' roll group Roxy Music. At the time, Walker was considering shooting 'The Comeback' in the United States of America. Ferry declined the offer. Walker then considered Cat Stevens and Ringo Starr for the part which eventually went to veteran American pop idol Jack Jones.
'Brighton-born independent director Pete Walker blazed a stylish and successful trail of mayhem through the flailing British cinema industry of the 1970s with a string of ‘terror’ pictures which delved further into the dark side of the human psyche than Hammer dared venture.
Beginning his filmmaking career in the early 1960s producing short ‘nudie-cutie’ films, graduating to sexploitation features, and soon spotting a gap in the market for grimy, gritty contemporary horror features, Pete Walker was a gifted director on an unashamed mission to provide cinema-going punters with the lurid thrills they wanted – as far as he was able given the constraints of British censors and slender budgets.
The son of flamboyant music hall comic Syd Walker, Pete was something of a showman himself, and delighted in playing the pantomime villain of the British film industry, outraging the moral majority – especially self-appointed guardian of British morals, Mary Whitehouse, and tabloid newspaper readers – with his oft-grisly, taboo-busting films. He once told Film Illustrated: ‘I don’t want people coming out of the cinema saying “what a lovely well-made picture”… the truth is that people don’t go to see lovely, well-made pictures.’ They may not have been lovely – it isn’t generally the first word that springs to mind when you consider Pete Walker’s films – but they were consistently well-made – and in contrast with much British movie-making at the time – highly profitable. What’s more, they still pack a punch today.'
Beginning his filmmaking career in the early 1960s producing short ‘nudie-cutie’ films, graduating to sexploitation features, and soon spotting a gap in the market for grimy, gritty contemporary horror features, Pete Walker was a gifted director on an unashamed mission to provide cinema-going punters with the lurid thrills they wanted – as far as he was able given the constraints of British censors and slender budgets.
The son of flamboyant music hall comic Syd Walker, Pete was something of a showman himself, and delighted in playing the pantomime villain of the British film industry, outraging the moral majority – especially self-appointed guardian of British morals, Mary Whitehouse, and tabloid newspaper readers – with his oft-grisly, taboo-busting films. He once told Film Illustrated: ‘I don’t want people coming out of the cinema saying “what a lovely well-made picture”… the truth is that people don’t go to see lovely, well-made pictures.’ They may not have been lovely – it isn’t generally the first word that springs to mind when you consider Pete Walker’s films – but they were consistently well-made – and in contrast with much British movie-making at the time – highly profitable. What’s more, they still pack a punch today.'
- The Barbican
'Love Is The Drug' - David Bowie [EDIT : ? _ Please see staggerstag's helpful and informative postings on this thread for more information ...]
Around the same time Pete Walker was preparing to shoot 'The Comeback', he was also planning to make a musical starring the Sex Pistols called 'The Star Is Dead', having been in talks with the band's manager Malcolm McLaren. The project got postponed due to emerging splits in the band and the group collapsed completely in 1978.
Bryan Ferry had been working with guitarist Chris Spedding in the mid-1970s, while developing solo material during breaks from Roxy Music. In 1976, Spedding had produced some early recordings of the Sex Pistols.
"I was really hoping to get into trouble on that one. I mean, he kills people with a communion wafer, which is meant to be the body of Christ in Catholicism. I made that film because I went to a Catholic school where hellfire and damnation were rammed down my throat. I was waiting for a blasphemy charge from the Vatican. But it never came."
- Pete Walker discussing 'House Of Mortal Sin'
'Maybe You're Right' - Cat Stevens
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Pete Walker's Shock Stock Company
Actress Luan Peters, star of 'The Flesh And Blood Show', was a successful recording artist. Actress Lynne Frederick, star of 'Schizo', sometimes sang on stage and television. Actress Susan Penhaligon, star of 'House Of Mortal Sin', shared a flat for six months with guitarist Peter Hammill, which led to her becoming the subject of some of Hammill's songwriting for the group Van Der Graaf Generator.
"The Kinks' 'You Really Got Me' ... Somebody's elder brother had it, I remember it was on Pye Records, and my God, that insane guitar started it all for me. But I have to be careful about sharing my tastes in music because it comes back to haunt you. I said once that I liked Van der Graaf Generator and before I knew it I was accused of ripping them off. Perhaps it's safer to state that I like Steeleye Span. Mind you, I shared an Irish coffee with them in Vienna once and left them with the bill, so maybe not.
Roxy Music's 'In Every Dream Home' ... I get what Bryan Ferry is trying to do – experimenting in a bizarre world and then couching what he finds in the style and language of the hunting set. It's an exotic, intriguing concept and he's the only one doing it. This song [about a love affair with a blow-up doll] reveals a corner of your psyche that not many people would like to admit exists: that the mind wanders into dark places and the body follows. It's a romantic delusion and it's fascinating material for a song."
- John Lydon, The Guardian
Roxy Music's 'In Every Dream Home' ... I get what Bryan Ferry is trying to do – experimenting in a bizarre world and then couching what he finds in the style and language of the hunting set. It's an exotic, intriguing concept and he's the only one doing it. This song [about a love affair with a blow-up doll] reveals a corner of your psyche that not many people would like to admit exists: that the mind wanders into dark places and the body follows. It's a romantic delusion and it's fascinating material for a song."
- John Lydon, The Guardian
Susan Penhaligon
'Re-Make/Re-Model' (1972, 'Roxy Music')
'Grey Lagoons' (1973, 'For Your Pleasure')
'Amazona' (1973, 'Stranded')
Pamela Stephenson, who starred in 'The Comeback', was a comedienne known for creating musical parodies, like the 'Unusual Treatment' (1982) 4-track EP. Actress Susan George, star of 'Die Screaming, Marianne', had a relationship with Jack Jones, star of 'The Comeback'. Actress Penny Irving, star of 'House Of Whipcord', was also a figure model; she appeared on the front cover of the bestselling compilation LP, 'Top Of The Pops : Volume 27' (1972), and played a singer in 'The Comeback'.
"I was born in Scotland. My family were originally from the Paisley area in Scotland, you know the place famous for the design. I had a brother who still lived in Scotland but sadly he passed away last year. I used to fly up to see him from time to time."
- Penny Irving, RetroBoy
Penny Irving
- Penny Irving, RetroBoy
Penny Irving
'A Really Good Time' (1974, 'Country Life')
'She Sells' (1975, 'Siren')
'Trash' (1979, 'Manifesto')
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'The Comeback'
'One Night Stand [Extended Remix]' - Bryan Ferry ft. Sewuse Abwa, Michelle John, Hannah Khemoh, Ronnie Spector & Shar White
