I just sat through this vampire/ disco/ belly-dancing fiasco, and must admit that the story behind the film is a thousand times more interesting than the film itself, and here it is, according to Vinnie Rattolle:
I am of the opinion that this film is probably one of the more under-rated comedies around, and have been a fan of it for years.
I love this little gem of a forgotten film (which has never had a DVD release, and quickly went OOP shortly after it's early 1980s VHS release). Vince Van Patten as a hillbilly kid, a crazy midget, a visit to a whorehouse, slow motion chicken fights...what else could anyone want from a hixploitation flick (my word)?
I love this film, just for the sheer ridiculousness of it, and a plot so awful, it whips other films' ass.
Track Listing:
"Harper Valley PTA" is a country music song written by Tom T. Hall. It was a major hit single for country singer Jeannie C. Riley in 1968, and crossed over to the pop charts as well, eventually selling over six million copies as a single, making Riley the first woman ever to top the U.S. pop and country singles charts with the same song. (Her accomplishment would not be repeated until 1981, when Dolly Parton topped the country and pop singles charts with "9 to 5".)
The song tells the story of a junior high student who is sent home with a note to her widowed single mother from the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the school decrying her scandalous behavior by small-town standards. The mother decides to speak to a meeting of the PTA where she addresses various episodes of misbehavior on the part of several of its members, concluding, "This is just a little Peyton Place / And you're all Harper Valley hypocrites."
In an interview, Hall admitted his inspiration for the song was passing by the Harpeth Valley Elementary School in Bellevue, Tennessee, not far from his then-home in Franklin. He liked the sound of the name and decided to write a song using a similar place name. He also reportedly wrote the song about Olive Hill, Kentucky where Hall grew up.
The song was later the inspiration for a 1978 motion picture and a 1981 television series, both starring Barbara Eden, playing the heroine of the song, Stella Johnson.
Other songs on the album tell more about some of the people who are members of the Harper Valley P.T.A., including Mayor Harper and Widow Jones.
Jeannie C. Riley's recording of the song won her a Grammy for the Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.
1. Harper Valley P.T.A.
2. Widow Jones
3. No Brass Band
4. Mr. Harper
5. Run Jeannie Run
6. Shed Me No Tears
7. The Cotton Patch
8. Sippin' Shirley Thompson9. The Little Town Square
10. The Ballad of Louise
11. Satan Place
From Wikipedia:Piledriver: The Wrestling Album 2 was an album released by the World Wrestling Federation in 1987. It featured actual vocal performances from several of the wrestlers themselves.
The original vinyl LP release of Piledriver featured a head shot of Hulk Hogan wearing a construction hard hat on the front cover. As of 2007, the 20th anniversary of the original album's release, it has not yet officially appeared on the CD format in the USA, whereas every other WWF/WWE album has. It was, however, released in a small print run, distributed at WWF shows in the UK. In addition to the album, a VHS videotape version was also issued in 1987 by Coliseum Video. This tape featured music videos for 8 of the songs from the album (the songs "Crank It Up" and "Waking Up Alone" did not have music videos made for them).
Roth is best known for his grotesque caricatures — typified by Rat Fink — depicting imaginative, out-sized monstrosities driving representations of the hot rods that he and his contemporaries built. Although Detroit native Stanley Mouse (Miller) is credited with creating the so-called "Monster Hot Rod" art form, Roth is certainly the individual who popularized it. Roth is less well known for his innovative work in turning hot rodding from crude backyard engineering, where performance was the bottom line, into a refined art form where aesthetics were equally important, breaking new ground with fiberglass bodywork.
In the 1960s, plastic models of many of Roth's cars, as well as models of Rat Fink and other whimsical creatures created by Roth, were marketed by the Revell model company.
Numerous artists were associated with Roth, including painter Robert Williams, Rat Fink Comix artist R.K. Sloane and Steve Fiorilla, who illustrated Roth's catalogs.
Roth was active in the field of counterculture art and hot-rodding his entire adult life. At the time of his death in 2001, he was working on an innovative hot-rod project involving a compact car planned as a radical departure from the dominant "tuner" performance modification style. In his later years, Roth's telephone number was listed in the directory, and he encouraged fans to contact him: he was always generous with his time and enthusiasm.
A Roth custom feared lost for many years was the subject of a number of articles in automotive enthusiast magazines in the summer of 2008. The Orbitron, built in 1964, was discovered in Mexico in late 2007. The car, in dilapidated, inoperative condition, had been parked for quite some time in front of an adult bookstore in Ciudad Juárez. The owners of the shop were also the owners of the car. It was purchased by Michael Lightbourn, an American auto restorer who did extensive business in Mexico and who in turn repatriated the car to the United States. The Orbitron has since been restored to its original condition by present owner Beau Boeckmann.
Mr. Gasser & the Weirdos was a 1960s novelty group led by Roth, who himself was known as Mr. Gasser. Formed in the early 1960s, they released a few bizarre surf rock albums, most notably 1963's Hot Rod Hootenanny. One Way Records released a 2CD-set (S22-18319) which contains the 3 LPs and the original artwork.
Special Bonus!!!!!!
It seems that the documentary in it's entirety has been posted by the DVD manufacturer, The Shout Factory, on their official YouTube channel.....enjoy!
Digging around in some old stuff while cleaning house, I ran across my copy of the 1958 SHOCK! press book that was released to television stations by Universal Pictures to promote and sell their syndication package of classic horror and suspense films. I decided to share a scan of it, and while trying to track down some suitable audio to go along with it (so's I could post it at this blog, which is, after all, a music sharing blog), I broke out my copy of 1999's Dead Man's Ball, because nothing says syndicated horror film packages like a horror host....and nothing says horror host more than Zacherley....
