Rock of Pages/Spins: The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Mick Rock
Rocky Horror: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Cult Classic
(HarperPop)
Original Cast
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
(Ode)
Let’s do the Time Warp again! These two complementary projects arrive in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the grandaddy of all B-movie cult films.
Famed rock photographer Mick Rock (1948-2021) was on set for the creation of director Jim Sharman’s and screenwriter/actor Richard O’Brien’s musical midnight movie mainstay. Within the 256 pages of Rocky Horror: A Behind the Scenes Look at the Cult Classic, Rock and O’Brien both comment that all involved seemed to be having an exceptionally good time throughout the making of the film. The hardback documents the campy, glammed-up, and lowbrow activity on-set and behind the scenes as Rocky Horror transitioned from stage to screen. The book is populated with rarely seen and never-before-seen photos, character profiles, cast and crew interviews, essays, celebrity testimonials, and more.
Rock’s potent photographer-and-subject relationship with lead actor Tim Curry is evident in every still, whether Curry is in or out of his makeup and outrageous attire as Dr. Frank-N-Furter. Meat Loaf describes meeting Elvis Presley after an RHPS screening at the Roxy on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Joan Jett tells how her teenage experience with the movie impacted her worldview and led to her performance as Columbia on Broadway. “It made me realize there was more than one way to present yourself in your life,” she writes. O’Brien provides a wry and fond forward, referring to himself as “a major perp of vanity crimes.” In the final pages, author/photographer Rock sums up the film’s appeal. “It’s a bit cartoony, a bit sci-fi, a bit horror, a bit drag, a bit 1950s, a bit glam, a bit punk, and totally rock ‘n’ roll,” he writes.
The book is packaged in a slipcase emblazoned with the image of Tim Curry’s face as the kinky Dr. Frank-N-Furter, complete with glittering lips. O’Brien calls the character “a monster of self-regard.” The package even includes a sheet of stickers for your lunchbox, with choices ranging from unsuspecting innocents Brad and Janet to a high-stepping O’Brien as the resentful and hunchbacked butler Riff Raff.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was famously a flop upon release but now stands as the longest-running theatrical release in cinematic history. It’s also easily the most interactive, drawing legions of fans into communal audience participation at every screening. Of the film’s lasting presence, Rock writes, “Rocky Horror is as pure as ‘cult’ gets, because it was all word of mouth. It’s the fans that made it happen, not the hype.” “It’s a Halloween dance party classic,” says Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. “You’d have to try really hard not to like it.” (harpercollins.com)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack puts the focus on the film’s indelible songs, particularly “The Time Warp,” the surefire glam-rocker that brings moviegoers into the aisles to dance and sing along. Barry Bostwick as earnest paramour Brad professes his love in “Dammit Janet.” Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter kicks up his platform heels and introduces himself in “Sweet Transvestite.” Meat Loaf as lobotomized delivery boy Eddie barrels through “Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul.” Susan Sarandon, as once demure Janet, sheds her inhibitions in “Touch-a, Touch-a, Touch Me.” The set concludes with O’Brien’s space oddity “Science Fiction/Double Feature: Reprise.” All in, the soundtrack has plenty to please fans of showtunes, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mott the Hoople, or Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars. The album is pressed onto heavyweight red-and-gold vinyl. The original cover is revised with gold foil accents. The updated inner sleeve includes production notes and previously unseen photos by musical arranger Richard Hartley. Spin the platter and take the film’s central message to heart: “Don’t dream it, be it.”
– Jeff Elbel
Category: Featured
