Side by Side

"There's something about a girl's earlobes that really turns me on!" That quote, spoken by one of the lavishly-side-burned, flared-collared and doubtless Watney's-drinking lad-about-town heroes of this celluloid time capsule, seems as good a place as any to start this review. But then again, I could have kicked things off with a mention of the Biba cosmetics factory, Terry-Thomas gleefully slumming it, the Rubettes rocking out, Stephanie De Sykes in the vocal booth, Fox doing their skewered-pop schtick, Mac and Katie Kissoon doing 'Sugar Candy Kisses', the marvellous Desmond Dekker singing 'The Israelites'...there's much to enjoy here, but to be brutally honest, you have to sit through a HUGE amount of crap in order to get to the priceless memory bank joggers. If a DVD of this glittery bauble of a glam cash-in flick is ever released, snap it up and prepare for an unexpectedly potent hit of nostalgia. If the Goodies, Suzi Quatro and the Hi-Karate girl (Valerie Leon) had made cameo appearances, this would have been perfect. Well, maybe not, but if Ken Russell had directed it...