never too young to rock (1975)

"Not like in my day...real bands then..."
The near future, not that you'd know it, and all pop music has been banned. Our hero, named imaginatively... Hero (Peter Denyer) works with Mr. Rockbottom (Freddie Jones) seeking out these renegades to put on a concert on TV.
A lamentably bare script whose only objective is to move from one band to another, as we get to watch Mud, the Rubettes, and the Glitter Band amongst others. View if you want to know what was wrong with the seventies and why punk rock was so necessary, or if you like glam rock.

remember me this way (1974)

"You don't think of yourself as a sex symbol...but if someone thinks of you in this way, then fine."
A documentary that looks into the preparations for a Gary Glitter concert and the daily routines that Gary and his management team have to go through to maintain his pop star status, from photo shoots, record company meetings, sound checks and finally the recording of a live concert.
Filmed when Gary was at the height of his stardom, this doesn't delve too deep into the process or Gary himself, but does show the mundane routines that go into making a pop star. Glitter had become an institution in Britain, having survived the industry since the 60's, but then in the late 90's he took his laptop to get fixed and his downfall was swift. The title of this then became very prophetic, I'm sure he would rather us remember him this way.

side by side (1975)

Max Nugget (Terry-Thomas) and Gary (Billy Boyle) run rival clubs, next door to each other. Max and his son (Barry Humphries) compare a variety show featuring strippers and comedians. While Gary's club puts on the latest groups. Unfortunately they don't get on, and even more unfortunately the local magistrate has decided that only one club will get a new license. Which one will survive? They both set out to out do the other with their acts and both unwittingly approach Julia (Stephanie De Sykes) to help them.
This is a string of lame gags and set ups used as a way to show as many pop acts of the day as possible. If the music of Fox, Mud, The Rubettes, Desmond Dekker, Kenny, Hello, Stephanie De Sykes, and Mac and Katie Kissoon means something to you then you'll want to sit through the uninspired plot. Otherwise its just a curio of its time.

slade in flame (1975)

Slade play a fictional band called Flame. We meet the band members as they struggle to make it in the working men’s clubs of the midlands in separate bands. Once they meet and become Flame, everything starts to happen for them, fame, money, woman. But they soon learn that what goes around comes around and there are many people making claims on their talents. What usually happens when bands decide to do a film is that you get a bit of fluff, made to make as much out of the gullible fans for as cheaply as possible, but what the record company got in this case was a gritty look at the price of fame, marked all the way through with a desperate depressing air of the inevitability of failure. This is definitely the darker side of rock and roll, but all the better for it. An interesting film that plays with themes of gritty northern England, gangsters and band in-fighting. Not your average fluff piece by any means.