"He gave me the once-over twice." "She's a white girl/But I'm living with a white girl." "It's very bad luck to draw the line on the night before the world ends/We should draw the line some other time." Fans of X--the L.A. dawn-of-punk quartet comprised of John Doe (bass/vocals), Exene Cervenka (vocals), Billy Zoom (guitar), and D.J. Bonebrake (drums)--all have their own favorite quirky lyrics. W.T. Morgan's 1985 documentary X: The Band--The Unheard Music takes viewers behind the scenes to chronicle the band's career, from their Ray Manzarek (The Doors)-produced 1980 first album Los Angeles, to their critically acclaimed 1981 follow-up Wild Gift, and their efforts--beginning with 1982's more hard rock Under the Big Black Sun and 1983's more acoustic More Fun in the New World--to find a wider audience. Morgan's visually kinetic film bounces back and forth between live performances, music videos, archival news and commercial footage, and interview clips with band members, fans, and music executives (the clip with an MCA executive who passed on X but signed a band called Point Blank--followed by footage of an Edsel commercial--is pretty funny). Highlights include rousing versions of "Year One," "We're Desperate," "Soul Kitchen," "White Girl" (in the recording studio), "Johnny Hit & Run Paulene," and the various TV jingles that Bonebrake plays on xylophone. A cool portrait of the lives and times of one of the seminal bands of the early '80s, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)
X: The Band--The Unheard Music
(1985) 84 min. DVD: $19.99. Image Entertainment (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. Volume 20, Issue 3
X: The Band--The Unheard Music
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