A few days ago, I stumbled on a great YouTube video; Urgh! A Music War (1980) - Full Movie (1080p Upscaled & Enhanced).
I remember buying the double LP soundtrack in 1981, playing it quite a bit for certain tracks, but I'd never seen the movie itself...
For those who have no idea about this cult piece, it consists of live recordings of alternative bands at that time, so no prog or 'classic' Led Zeppelin rock.
Instead, you got punk (999, a.o.), rockabilly (The Cramps), new wave (Devo, a.o.), reggae (Steel Pulse, a.o.), and even borderline performance art (Klaus Nomi!).
Most of the bands were relatively unknown; the biggest names were probably The Police and Gary Numan, others were on the edge of breaking through (GoGo's, Joan Jett, XTC, OMD, etc.), and a few just faded away (Klaus Nomi, Skafish, etc.).
The 27-track soundtrack was released on vinyl and cassette in 1981.
Other formats followed later:
Once (1988) on CD (with only 21 tracks)!
The film itself has been released on videocassette, CED, LaserDisc, and DVD.
Much later, a DVD on demand was available for a while from Warner Bros, but that's all; no official digital version was ever released afterwards. The DVD had, weirdly enough, the Slodgenessabounds track missing...
Due to various reasons, chances of an official rerelease in whatever form is unlikely as an exclusive contract to publish this movie was on a now dead format (CED) and the contracts for the individual artists are missing. Everything is still owned by its original producer, Miles Copeland (founder of IRS Records), but whether he will do anything with it seems highly dubious due to the legal mess.
The singer of Skafish wrote a detailed article about this in 2009...
Despite that, several blogs have posted this soundtrack over the years, most though using the 27-track version.
I remember buying the double LP soundtrack in 1981, playing it quite a bit for certain tracks, but I'd never seen the movie itself...
Instead, you got punk (999, a.o.), rockabilly (The Cramps), new wave (Devo, a.o.), reggae (Steel Pulse, a.o.), and even borderline performance art (Klaus Nomi!).
Most of the bands were relatively unknown; the biggest names were probably The Police and Gary Numan, others were on the edge of breaking through (GoGo's, Joan Jett, XTC, OMD, etc.), and a few just faded away (Klaus Nomi, Skafish, etc.).
The 27-track soundtrack was released on vinyl and cassette in 1981.
Other formats followed later:
Once (1988) on CD (with only 21 tracks)!
The film itself has been released on videocassette, CED, LaserDisc, and DVD.
Much later, a DVD on demand was available for a while from Warner Bros, but that's all; no official digital version was ever released afterwards. The DVD had, weirdly enough, the Slodgenessabounds track missing...
Due to various reasons, chances of an official rerelease in whatever form is unlikely as an exclusive contract to publish this movie was on a now dead format (CED) and the contracts for the individual artists are missing. Everything is still owned by its original producer, Miles Copeland (founder of IRS Records), but whether he will do anything with it seems highly dubious due to the legal mess.
The singer of Skafish wrote a detailed article about this in 2009...
Despite that, several blogs have posted this soundtrack over the years, most though using the 27-track version.
I only post here the missing 10 VHS/DVD tracks (with thanks to the original uploader):
John Cooper Clarke – Health Fanatic
Chelsea – I’m On Fire
Dead Kennedys – Bleed For Me
Surf Punks – My Beach
Invisible Sex – Valium
Splodgenessabounds – Two Little Boys
UB40 – Madame Medua
The Police – Roxanne (extended version!)
The Police + Jools Holland + members of UB40, Skafish and XTC – So Lonely
Klaus Nomi – Aria from Samson and Delilah (End Credits Music)
Almost forget, do see that movie, it's excellent, just music, no talking!
Link: https://pixeldrain.com/u/xms4i8Bu
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Do you know any obscure (but interesting!) soundtracks that haven't been (re)released?