February 3, 2011

Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains

The 1981 film Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains has been called the link between punk rock and the 1990s riot grrrl movement. I won't go that far. The movie is more of a novelty—a hilarious page in the cult cannon of fictionalized rock and roll films. If seeing a barely 15-year-old Diane Lane and 13-year-old Laura Dern decked out in punk clothes, red eye-shadow, and bleached hair yelling "we don't put out!" isn't entertaining enough for you, take a listen to the Stains' fellow touring band the Looters. The fictitious English punk group is a spinoff of the post-Sex Pistols group the Professionals and features actor Ray Winstone on vocals, the Clash's Paul Simonon on bass, and the Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook on guitar and drums. Below, listen to Winstone hold his own alongside the punk rock royalty and Lane wax poetic on "Wast of Time."

The Stains - "Waste of Time" (from Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains)
The Looters - "Conned Again" (from Ladies and Gentleman, The Fabulous Stains)

Here's the Stains covering the Looters' song "Professionals" at the end of the film, after the band has "sold out" and the major label marketing machine has taken over. The film is streaming now on Netflix.



The Clash

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