Cotton Candy

The guys that played the bad guy band Rapid Fire in the movie were 4 guys from MacArthur High School (Irving, TX...Morgan, John, Mark, and Tad) and the drummer was from Dallas (Oak Cliff - David J...) Marty Bongfelt was from Mac as well (always had a crush on her - there, the cat's out). While it really was/is a cheesy flick, we got out of 2 weeks of school, received A's, and were local heroes for awhile. And it's still great at a party when someone is spewing garbage, to throw out "I was in one of Ron Howard's" movies. After the wrap, Ron took us out to Campisi's for dinner (if you're from Dallas you know of where I speak)... I have LOTS of funny stories from the shoot but would have to incriminate myself as well : )

What a great, great underdog band movie! I remember seeing this in grade school and, to this day, it still stuck with me. I would love to be able to get a copy of this Ron Howard bad boy on DVD and drift back in time to 4th grade and watch Cotton Candy rock the house and take over the senior prom! Remember Clint Howard as the bands manager after he got thrown out for starting the fight with Torbin? As Rapid Fire leaves the stage and Cotton Candy starts to win over the Rapid Fire crowd, there's Clint, looking through the door and crying at the fact that the band is becoming a hit. Chalk one up for Cotton Candy, the little band that could! STAND UP AND SHOUT!!!!!!!

My friend and I watched this cheesy movie because we were 14 and had our own band together. My Dad was watching it with us, and being the experienced professional singer he was, he was pointing out the importance of vocal harmonies. We listened and related to the shaky starts and ruined rehearsals...but I was most interested in the drums, as they were the popular Vistalite series made by Ludwig. I had my own set of them, the same era too, only mine were not the spiral pattern like those used in the film; they were "smoke" black (thus, my kit was cooler). We realized it was a bit of a stupid movie, but we were early high-schoolers and inspired by anything we could catch on TV that involved bands (of course MTV changed that soon after). I loved Smith in American Graffiti but he was MORE of a dork in this one. We howled laughing when he resents his nosy old neighbor complaining about the noise and says disgustedly, "rinky-DINK!" We knew WE would have said something far worse! Corny music, some fair acting, but a pleasant film. But I always wondered...was "I Shot The Sheriff" the only damn song Rapid Fire even knew? I couldn't figure out why they had FANS, when they knew only one song and were lousy at it to boot!

I saw cotton candy when I was just a kid, and never forgot it. It may be a bit cheesy by today's standards, but I think the naivete just adds to the innocent magic of the film. Although the movie has been locked away since Disney aquired it and hasn't seen the light of day, this film will always be a special part of my youth, and just thinking about it all these years later still manages to make me smile. From the melodramatic performances of the Howards to the fully overblown character of Torbin Biqette, this film was what most movies of today just aren't anymore...FUN!

"Cotton Candy" is typical of most 1970s juvenile movies: bad clothes, bad hair and a typical plot. Ron Howard's first attempt at directing fared well, and this story of B.M.O.C. vs. regular Joe to get the girl is predictable. "CC" was filmed in Dallas in June, 1977 at Town East Mall and Lake Highlands High School to enormous local fanfare (remember that this is before "Dallas" and the Ewing family gave the town an identity!) Unfortunately, "CC" is not available on tape; it rarely is shown but will most likely pop up on an independent TV station's "Afternoon Movie" or the like. Great piece of history for Dallasites, but not much else there for a moviegoer seeking an intriguing story.