I can see where many people would walk away from this movie thinking it was stupid. Well, in some ways it IS stupid. It's not highbrow after all.Here's the skinny...* It's a rock and roll movie (you kind of have to get rock and roll I think) * It's got Blondie (what more do you want? And the band does a cover of Ring of Fire...what more do you want??) * It's a romance of sorts, intermingled with silly craziness...you sort of have to like silly craziness in movies... * It's got the makings of a cult classic, IMO; You can revel in it's offbeat characters and plot and thinking is highly discouraged * Meatloaf is really charismatic in it...hard to not fall in love with his innocence and integrity as portrayed * The countless mispronunciations of Redfish by the promoter are great - they bring to mind Guybrush Threepwood in the computer games series Monkey Island...does he EVER pronounce it right? * What's her name is pretty damn cuteHere's what you won't get - * A coherent plot (like I say, thinking is optional) * Depth of any sort (don't go looking for it, it's a shallow movie, nothing wrong with that) * Mainstream appeal (some people will never like it, it's too offbeat, but fans of offbeat comedies may love it)Anyway, you know who you are. Some people like offbeat rock and roll comedies and some don't. Don't bother watching it if you don't.

The first look on the cover of this picture, it looks like a good rock n roll movie. But don't let the cover fool you, or the fact that Alice Cooper and Blondie is in it. The storyline is just horrible, and so is the acting. Plain and simple: BADIt's not a movie about a roadie, its just a thin love story, so awful that you see right through it. The only good thing about this movie, is the soundtrack.Some good songs, and that is why I give 2 out of 10. If it wasn't for the music, it would of been 0 out of 10. Meat Loaf is a horrible actor(at least he was in 1980), and the girl who plays the groupie isn't even good looking! This movie was a huge disappointment for me, because it makes a lot of good promises.

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.

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).