|
Post by fourlittlediamonds on Jan 11, 2017 4:06:51 GMT
Just recently I watched Slade In Flame, the 1975 movie Slade starred in about the rise and fall of a fictitious rock band. It was surprisingly good and grittily realistic in its portrayal of the exploitation and conmen that infest the music business. It reminded me about the story Bev tells in his book about how he and the band in the early days got roped into some dodgy film shooting around what was then the under construction Barbican Centre in the City of London. It was meant to be some kind of futuristic Sci-Fi epic and they thought they were all going to be film stars. It never saw the light of day apparently and I wonder where it is now; probably sitting on a shelf in rusting cans in an archive somewhere, if it still exists? It would be fascinating to see it now, though, perhaps an undiscovered classic?
Slade in Flame was apparently based on anecdotes told to the filmakers by the band and others about real life characters and incidents in the music business. What interested me most was the character of the crooked violent gangster-type manager who had the band under a dodgy contract. In the film he was called "Ron Harding"! Is it just me or does that name sound just a little similar to the former manager of a band we all know and love? Just wondering....... smiley-music025
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2017 17:06:48 GMT
As far as I've seen only Jeff, Bev, and Roy hold copies of the highly-sought "Freedom City", and from the way it sounds, good luck getting any of them to show theirs off. I do know the British Film Institute has held a master copy under "restricted" access for about 15 years. What a treasure that would be for fans if it ever did see the light of day.
|
|
|
Post by ShardEnder on Feb 15, 2017 20:25:33 GMT
I'm not doubting that Freedom City is stored in the BFI archives, but it's definitely not complete as the entire project was shelved after just a few days of shooting. Jeff and Roy do indeed still have the rushes from this firmly locked away in their vaults, while my understanding is that Bev had to surrender his own copy of whatever had been finished when he gave up his share in the ELO name... As someone who was no longer a shareholder, there were fears Bev may later try selling this on along with other rare items to keep personal funds coming in. Just a few months earlier, Richard was only allowed to auction a large part of his keyboard and memorabilia collection because some of the proceeds were intended for to a local charity. Speaking of ELO-related rarities, I've managed to find out that certain members of ELO Part II were forced to hand over their CBS branded promotional cassettes of the complete Secret Messages double album for similar reason, with only engineer Bill Bottrell still having this in his possession - of course, Jeff has access to both the digital multitracks and analogue safety tapes used to mix the eventual single disc version, plus we know that Rob Caiger owns at least one set of the unmatched acetates.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2017 22:46:23 GMT
At this point I think most fans would be thrilled with a 15-second clip or even some still shots. Who knows... maybe someday, but until then I won't be foolish in my optimism.
|
|
|
Post by ShardEnder on Feb 15, 2017 23:44:18 GMT
I think even stills would expose just how embarrassing this project was for everyone involved... From what I've read on the subject, the band agreed to wearing "sci-fi" outfits (in addition to letting music from the first ELO album be used extensively in the soundtrack), yet were puzzled when they received a set of bus conductor uniforms, or at least Jeff and Bev did - Roy was instead forced to dust off an old black coat he'd previously worn for an appearance on Top Of The Pops! Since a copy supposedly exists in the BFI archive, maybe it's just a case that nobody has thought to license the remaining footage to form part of a documentary on the history of ELO? Alternatively, how many researchers know about this, and what length of a project would they need to make for such a minor detail about the group's overall history to feature in the form of a brief mention?
|
|
|
Post by BSJ on Feb 16, 2017 18:06:14 GMT
I wouldn't blame Jeff or Bev for burning it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2017 20:14:28 GMT
From what I've read as well, it does sound like some effort was put into finding the film back when the 30-year remasters where being worked on, but at some point it was encouraged to focus that energy elsewhere. Or in other words they probably got the Whether or not that supposed copy was known to exist at the time is not clear. If it was ever to be included in a documentary I would think only a small amount of time would be needed to cover the basic points and show some visuals... wouldn't even need to be the feature. Personally I've heard the 10538 Overture cello overdubbing story enough times to where that could be condensed a little to make room. But at the same time, if this is still a source of embarrassment, or those involved don't want to open up the inevitable questions about it, I can certainly understand and respect that. Any release would need to be something they are agreeable to and comfortable sharing with us.
|
|
|
Post by elophile on Feb 16, 2017 20:15:13 GMT
I wouldn't blame Jeff or Bev for burning it. no! i would kill to see it. It sounds fantastically weird!
|
|
|
Post by BSJ on Feb 16, 2017 20:19:00 GMT
Oh, sure. I would love to see it too! Painful as it might be to watch!
|
|
|
Post by unomusette on Feb 16, 2017 21:46:51 GMT
I'm right there in the front row with you - get that popcorn hopping...
|
|
|
Post by Timeblue on Feb 17, 2017 19:41:53 GMT
The thing is,the slade film was made because at the time they were THE biggest band in the UK so it was bound to be a hit no matter how bad the band might have been at acting. ELO on the other hand were not hip and never were hip and so the film was doomed to failure from the start....
|
|