Tommy in Quintophonic Sound!

[mousepod]

I think the "purchase tickets" link always said "surprise guests". Ken Russell is still mentioned in the event page.

[flippyshark]

I just confirmed through a close source that he's going to be there. If you see him, say hi to his lovely wife Lisi. She'll be the petite, almost fairy-like one hanging out with him. She is incredibly sweet. (Though currently dealing with a broken hip.)

[innerSpaceman]

What a surreal evening.

Tommy was better than I remembered it. When I first saw it in the mid-seventies, I was disappointed in the inferior renditions of the music, and the corny performances and visuals. But as an artifact, it has aged rather well. Gotten better with time, in fact - - and seems a more delightful depiction of a certain era than it was during that actual era.


The Q&A with Ken Russell afterwards was nothing short of surreal, but also quite disappointing. The interviewer was a senile, lame old fart who couldn't form a decent question. And Russell was having none of it, refusing to respond to the absence of questions.

So basically NOTHING was revealed about the making of Tommy. And it was most painful to watch, though at times really funny - and for one moment I thought Russell and the interviewer were going to come to blows - that's how hostile it was.

After far too long, the interviewer decided to call it quits. Whew. But one of the more "interesting" Q&A's I've witnessed. Certainly surreal to match the film, and the evening was worth every penny of the five dollar admission fee.

The print was beautiful, btw. And, ahem, despite a specific announcement before the film, an actual screen credit shows the proper spelling to be "Quintophonic."



A lovely midnight snack at Dupars with great company, and off-duty-bartender band with fog-enshrouded, bikini-clad go-go dancers for entertainment, completed a wonderful night.

[flippyshark]

Wow, wish I had witnessed that bizarre scene. When Russell was here last year for the Florida Film Festival, he was interviewed by a capable person, and the whole thing went just fine. I'm glad you enjoyed the film. I like it more each time I watch, including my sympathy viewing last night. Also, I am always struck by the mega-Oedipal undertones in the scenes between Daltrey and Ann Margret just after he wakes up. Good grief, they look like they're going to go all "From Here To Eternity" in the surf. I was a mere ten years old when I first saw Tommy, and it was a bracing jolt of "dreaming with eyes wide open," as my young brain went into a state of "Wow, am I really seeing this?" I treasure it for helping me to have an appetite for the unconventional.

[€uroMeinke]

Oh, I don't know that the interview was "disappointing" per se, I mean it think it revealed more about Ken Russell than some sharing of anecdotes. The interviewer was clearly out of his league though, and had me wondering if he was channeling the spirit of Chris Farley - "remember the Marilyn Scene? That was cool" nto to mention Abbot and Costello when we were on the verge of "Who was in the film." I believe Ken Russell mercifully put an end to the Q&A with a "I think we're done now," but I wonder how it would have gone if Ken Russell's cane did connect to the interviewers head, of if he might have taken a clue from the Oliver Reed tidbit and just said, "Piss off Ken."

In any event, the night felt like a Ken Russell film and I smiled broadly through the night. Loved Tommy but now I feel the need to go back, and have a personal Ken Russell film festival to fill in my Ken Russell gaps.

[innerSpaceman]

Heheh, and I feel like I need to go re-listen to the original Tommy album, which I've not heard in over 30 years. I liked it enough to be disdainful of the movie soundtrack when it first came out, but not enough to have ever purchased it post-LP. I suppose I still have the album somewhere and could dust off my turntable.

But since it's not on my iPod, I listened to a similarly-themed quasi-rock opera while lying in the sun this morning - Pink Floyd's The Wall - which covers some of the same ground and is, imo, a better piece of music. When I returned from my swim, there was a voicemail informing me that my tickets to see Roger Waters perform The Wall live in December had arrived in the mail.




And as for film, I'm more of a mind to see Quadrophenia - a far better movie based on one of The Who's works.

But I'm eager to see Liztomania for the first time, so I hope mousepod screens that before too long.

There were times when the Russell interview made me decidedly uncomfortable. Thank god for twitter. And it all worked out in the end, as it segued from painful to oddball to hysterical.

[Not Afraid]

The last time I saw Quadrophenia was at The Balboa from the front row with a bottle of spirits and the need for a translator (I had a hard time with the accents). The last viewing of Tommy was from the same era at the same place (and probably with spirits as well - we did a lot of that back then).

But, the REAL Tommy memory was of me in my bedroom at age 10 or 11 pretending I was the Acid Queen (I really don't know why the hired Tina Turner over me). I realized last night how all of the lyrics to Tommy are forever ingrained in my brain. For someone who can't remember a lot of events, the place where I store lyrics is as sharp as a tack!

Now, the big question is....should I watch Women in Love or Lair of the White Worm today?

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Aww, Quadrophenia isn't on Netflix or Amazon Unbox. I've never seen it.

[flippyshark]

Quadrophenia is a terrific film, but it backgrounds The Who's music (it's in no sense a rock opera) using it as a score for a very well done period piece about mods and rockers in Brighton. The DVD is no longer in print, though Amazon has copies starting at eighty-some bucks.

I agree that Pink Floyd: The Wall is a more powerful album, and film, than any version of Tommy. But it isn't nearly as fun. Roger Waters has talked about The Walls origins in his own utter contempt for his audience and the emptiness he felt at the height of the Floyd's success, and the resulting work, though brilliant, is awfully bitter. Tommy is by turns moving, preposterous, catchy, thrilling, pretentious and uplifting. It's a mess that somehow captures the imagination and leaves plenty of room for "roll your own" interpretation. The Wall is more focused, and a bit like taking repeated hammer blows to the head. (not saying I don't like those hammer blows, mind you.) Tommy has leftover hippie vibes, The Wall has a hangover and painful withdrawal symptoms. They do make a good double feature.

iSM - the original Tommy album is well worth revisiting, but it's spare and minimal compared to later incarnations. For an overblown but sometimes exciting variation, check out the London Symphony Orchestra version with The Who and guest stars like Sandy Denny, Rod Stewart and Ringo Starr as perky Uncle Ernie. It is this version that convinced Ken Russell to take on the film, as his musical interests were with classical, not rock. And while you're at it, the Broadway version provides some interesting variations and has some nifty vocal arrangements, most memorably on "Tommy Can You Hear Me." (a song that is all but thrown away in the movie.) there are also a few different live Who performances, including the Isle of Wight festival recording, which is wonderful, and some much later revivals with various guest stars. Let Tommy become your obsession for a while, and you'll find plenty to keep you busy. Personally, none of these versions seems definitive or ideal to me, so I merrily go through them all now and then.

[flippyshark]

I meant Pervy, not perky, in the above comments about Ringo Starr in Tommy.