Roadie

This was a great movie and if you're into American pop music culture and history I think you would enjoy this movie greatly.

Meatloaf stars as Travis W. Redfish, an engineering genius who ends up being a rock and roll roadie and gaining the reputation as the greatest roadie that ever lived. He ends up in this situation when the bus carrying groupie Lola Bouilliabase breaks down on a stretch of road near Travis' home town.

Art Carney is wonderful as Travis' father and junkyard owner and the movie is full of cameo appearances by the likes of Debbie Harry, Roy Orbison, Alice Cooper (who Lola is in love with) and has music from a wide variety of 80's artists.

I was so impressed when I saw this movie I went out and bought the soundtrack, which is a double fold out album with pictures and some background information.

I also liked the movie slogan "The Bands make it rock, but the Roadies make it roll"

I think "Roadie" is deserving of cult-classic status, but unfortunately I don't think very many people saw it. I have not seen it in a video store to buy or rent in over 10 years.

So if you do see it, grab it! (and tell me where you found it!)

I saw this movie in the theatre (independant movie house), in 1980. I loved it. It is a very fun movie, filled with the rebellious spirit of rock & roll. I hope, by some miracle, it comes to DVD. With all the great music, this movie would make a great sountrack (isolated score, hmmm).

What can be said about a movie where Meat Loaf plays the most intelligent and sanest character? Maybe that was the one joke of Alan Rudolph's endurance-testing and thoroughly bizarre comedy. The characters here are totally unappealing and Meat Loaf doesn't even sing (except for one brief moment for a characteristic "duel" with the female lead, which is the high point of the movie). The rock star cameos--Roy Orbison, Hank Williams Jr., Alice Cooper, Blondie--look uninspired, as if Rudolph had no idea what to do with them. Only Debbie Harry and co. seem to be making the most of this mess, but even they look baffled. I have nothing against the "free form" style that Rudolph appeared to be aiming for--a movie with a real "rock and roll" spirit. But Rock and Roll High School (which came out one year before this) and Almost Famous (which came out 20 years later) did this much better mainly because the characters were interesting and likeable and we really cared about what happened to them. In this movie, we get a bunch of drunken, whacked-out rednecks with bad teeth. The final shot of the film sheds some light on the strange 90 minutes that preceded it, and Meat Loaf manages some inspired moments. But all in all, this is just a few notches above the "awful" mark and nothing like Rudolph's restrained later work.

Roadie is a silly movie, but it has its moments. My husband & I still have our occasional brain locks. We saw this on HBO in about 1980, and hadn't seen it since, but still talked about it. We found it on DVD last month and we laughed and sometimes said oh--didn't Blondie look really good then, and Hank Williams Jr. was kinda tame. We liked it. Some times it is over the top, but most times is kinda sweet and the music is not bad, except the title version of Everything Works if you Let It (there is another version which is not so bad in the movie) by Cheap Trick. Alice Cooper is fun to watch, but not as much fun as Meatloaf, and luckily they got Art Carney to play Dad.

'Roadie' is an absolutely awful and unfunny road movie about a country hick (Meatloaf) who inadvertently becomes "the world's best roadie" while pursuing a wanna-be groupie (Kaki Hunter) whose ambition is to lose her virginity to shock rock legend Alice Cooper. Cooper plays himself and performs, as do Hank Williams, Jr, Blondie and Roy Orbison. The rest of the very odd cast includes 'The Honeymooners' Art Carney (as Meatloaf's Dad), Joe Spano ('Hill Street Blues') as a clueless road manager, and 'Soul Train's Don Cornelius as a flamboyant promoter to name just a few familiar faces. Also keep an eye out for a very brief appearance by Kurtwood Smith ('Robocop'/'That '70s Show') in a gaggle of security guards who chase Meatloaf towards the end of the picture. The eclectic cast is one of two reasons to sit through this crud. The other, main reason is the soundtrack which is an eclectic and interesting musical snapshot of Top 40 America circa 1979/1980. Cheap Trick's obscure 'Everything Works If You Let It' is the unofficial movie theme, and their 'Gonna Raise Hell' also features. Blondie cover Johnny Cash's 'Ring Of Fire', which is lots of fun. Alice Cooper performs with members of Utopia. Roy Orbison duets with Crystal Gayle. And we also hear Styx, Eddie Rabbitt, Joe Ely and The B52s. The only thing missing is Devo! Most movie goers will find 'Roadie' a pointless exercise, but obsessive musical nerd record collector types (like me) will be entertained. The movie stinks, but the soundtrack is fascinating!