Roadie (1980 film)
| Roadie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Alan Rudolph |
| Written by | Big Boy Medlin Michael Ventura Zalman King Alan Rudolph |
| Produced by | Zalman King Carolyn Pfeiffer John E. Pommer |
| Starring | Meat Loaf Kaki Hunter Don Cornelius Gailard Sartain Art Carney |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 105 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Roadie is a 1980 film directed by Alan Rudolph about a truck driver who becomes a roadie for a traveling rock and roll show. The film stars Meat Loaf and marks his first starring role in a film. There are also cameo appearances by musicians such as Roy Orbison and Hank Williams Jr., and supporting roles played by Alice Cooper and the members of Blondie. The film was marketed with the tagline "Bands make it rock...Roadies make it roll."
Plot
Travis W. Redfish (Meat Loaf) is a beer-drinking, bar-brawling, fun-loving distributor of Shiner beer. He also helps his father, Corpus C. Redfish (Art Carney) with the family salvage company, whose motto is "Everything will work if you let it!" B.B. Muldoon (Gailard Sartain) is both his best friend and business partner.
In the opening scene, B.B., driving their Shiner beer truck, arrives at the Redfish family home and business to pick Travis up for work. A short time later, after embarking on their daily delivery route, they notice an RV that has broken down on the side of the road. At first, they laugh at the thought of helping the stranded motorists. Until, that is, Travis sees wannabee groupie Lola Bouliabaise (Kaki Hunter) smile at him through the rear window of the RV. Redfish slams on the brakes and decides to help, hoping to get a closer look at Lola. Lola is a big Alice Cooper fan and Travis has never heard of "her". 'Ace' (Joe Spano), a road manager, and his assistant George, try to talk Travis into driving them to Austin for a show to be played by Hank Williams Jr. and put on by music mogul Mohammed Johnson. He meets Bird Lockhart, a hippie and lifelong roadie in the music business. After repairing the RV Lola is able to talk Travis into coming along where he ends up becoming the "greatest roadie that ever lived" with his unusual techniques on fixing things.
On the road, Redfish gets into a bar fight with "Tiny" Thompson after Lola accidentally ruins his little sister's hair by dumping beer on it in an attempt to meet Roy Orbison. After knocking heads, Travis ends up with "Brain-Lock" that he developed in the war and only a pitcher of beer will cure him.
Cast
- Meat Loaf – Travis W. Redfish
- Kaki Hunter – Lola Bouilliabase
- Art Carney – Corpus C. Redfish
- Gailard Sartain – B.B. Muldoon
- Rhonda Bates – Alice Poo
- Joe Spano – Ace
- Richard Marion – George
- Sonny Carl Davis – Bird (as Sonny Davis)
- Hamilton Camp – Grady
- Don Cornelius – Mohammed Johnson
- Alice Cooper – Himself
- Alvin Crow – Himself
- Rick Crow – Asleep At The Wheel
- Smoothie – The Pleasant Valley Boys
- D.K. Little – The Pleasant Valley Boys
- Pete Finney – The Pleasant Valley Boys
- Tiny McFarland – The Pleasant Valley Boys
- Roger Crabtree – The Pleasant Valley Boys
- Chris O'Connell – Asleep at the Wheel
- Bobby Black – Asleep at the Wheel
- Pat Ryan – Asleep at the Wheel
- Daniel Levin – Asleep at the Wheel
- John Nicholas – Asleep At The Wheel
- Francis Christina – Asleep At The Wheel
- Dean DeMerritt – Asleep At The Wheel
- Deborah Harry – Herself (Blondie)
- Chris Stein – Himself (Blondie)
- Clem Burke – Himself (Blondie)
- Jimmy Destri – Himself (Blondie)
- Nigel Harrison – Himself (Blondie)
- Frank Infante – Himself (Blondie)
- Roy Orbison – Himself
- Hank Williams, Jr. – Himself
- Ginger Varney – Weather Girl
- Al Mays – Mohammed's Bodyguard
- Cindy Wills – Prom Queen
- Allan Graf – Tiny
- Merle Kilgore – Himself
- Jack Elliott – Himself (as Ramblin' Jack Elliott)
- Hector Britt – Hank
- Larry Lindsey – Jerry
- Conrad E. Palmisano – First Cop in Chase (as Conrad Palmisano)
- Tim Chitwood – Second Cop
- Bobby Sargent – Third Cop
- Rick Seaman – Fourth Cop
- Lenore Woodward – Little Old Lady
- Terry Wills – First Narc
- Chuck Bulot – Second Narc
- Helena Hurmann – Manager
- Marcy Hanson – Groupie
- Carole McClellan – Sheriff
- Rudy Ortiz – Soundman
- Bruce Patron – Blondie Road Manager
- William Hanna – Tire Salesman
- James Lewis – Lil Pete
- Ray Benson – Himself
- Richard Portnow – First New York Wino
- Anthony Casertano – Second New York Wino
- Kurtwood Smith – Security Guard
- Sheryl Cooper – Herself
- Joe Gannon – Spittle Manager
- Jesse Frederick – Alice Cooper Roadie
- Larry Marshall – Second Roadie
- Rick Brunt – Third Roadie
- Eric Gardner – Concert Promoter
- Fred Mandel – Alice Cooper Band
- Davey Johnstone – Alice Cooper Band
- Roger Powell – Alice Cooper Band
- Kasim Sulton – Alice Cooper Band
- John Wilcox – Alice Cooper Band
- Kerry Craig – The Bama Band
- Joe Hamilton – The Bama Band
- Warren Keith – The Bama Band
- Charles Smith – The Bama Band
- Dale Stratton – The Bama Band
Home Media
On August 20, 2013, Shout! Factory released Roadie on Blu-ray.[1]
References
External links
- Roadie (1980) at IMDb (link for this arictle)
- Roadie at the TCM Movie Database
- Roadie at AllMovie
- Roadie at Rotten Tomatoes
