American Hot Wax (1978)

Directed by

Floyd Mutrux

Genre

biographical film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 33m

Rated

PG

Rating

5.7 of 10 from 20 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

The film follows Alan Freed a 1950s radio disc jockey who popularized rock and roll music. It shows his career including concert shows and behind the scenes struggles.

energeticnostalgicbouncylivelyupbeatreverentgritty

What happens

American Hot Wax is a 1978 biographical film directed by Floyd Mutrux with a screenplay by John Kaye from a story by John Kaye and Art Linson. The film tells the story of pioneering disc jockey Alan Freed, who in the 1950s helped introduce and popularize rock and roll, and is often credited with coining the term "rock 'n' roll". The film starred Tim McIntire, Fran Drescher, Jay Leno, Laraine Newman, Jeff Altman, and Moosie Drier. It also featured musical performances by Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Ford, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Brooklyn Dreams as "Professor La Plano and The Planotones". The film was not a box-office success. A&M Records released a two-record soundtrack album featuring the film's live Brooklyn Paramount performances on record one (in stereo) and the film's soundtrack (the original monophonic hit recordings) on record two. The LP reached number 31 on the Billboard charts. Producer Art Linson discusses the movie's production and its box office failure in his book What Just Happened? Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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