Fans of off-the-wall, obscure '80s flicks, take notice, cuz chances are good you've never heard of "
Voyage of the Rock Aliens." Matter of fact, in 26 years it never even blipped on my radar until I recently discovered it for download at
Sunglasses After Dark. It's cult movie gold.
Like so many other bad '80s sci-fi comedies that followed in the wake of "
Star Wars," the movie's short on plot. A crew of aliens arrive on earth and soon a loopy singer (Pia Zadora) with a greaser boyfriend (Craig Sheffer) falls in love with one of them. Sounds like "
Earth Girls Are Easy" until you factor in all the film's randomness: there's a $2 sea serpent prop loose in town; two homicidal escaped lunatics -- one on life support (yep, he drags his machine around) and Michael Berryman as the chainsaw killer (who neglected to lubricate his 'saw); Ruth Gordon as a tactless sheriff who's convinced that the recent string of killings were committed by aliens; an alien robot who takes the form of a robo-fire-hydrant; Craig Sheffer strutting and posing and pretending to be a cougar-man; Allison LaPlaca as a bobby-socks-wearing mechanic who finds love in the most unlikely circumstance.... and one
actual music video that has nothing whatsoever to do with anything.
Directed by James Fargo ("
Any Which Way But Loose") with cinematography by Gil Taylor ("
Star Wars," "
Flash Gordon"), the movie was intended to be an '80s spoof of movies like "
Grease" and "
Beach Party." But once they threw in the Devo-wannabe aliens, an
endless string of musical numbers and corny one-liners, hellaciously huge and hard hair, a frightening amount of spandex and pleather outfits, "
Flashdance" headbands, horrendous lipsynching and ridiculously dated choreography, it seemed to be less of a movie and more of an '80s musical infomercial for Curb Records.
Pia Zadora had moderate success as a singer and actress and it seems this film was intended to showcase both talents... particularly since the movie was primarily financed by her wealthy husband, Meshulam Riklis. The new wave band
Rhema (whose management insisted they rip-off Devo) and the rockabilly-punk band
Jimmy and the Mustangs both signed contracts with Curb Records which included a clause that they would star in this film, and the rest of the artists whose music was used in the movie were also under contract to Curb (3-Speed, Neil Sedaka, Mark Spiro, etc.). Unfortunately, due to the lack of success(/release) of the film, most of the artists were quickly dropped from the label.
Filmed in November and December 1983, the movie was intended for release in 1984. Unfortunately, it was quickly apparent that something was amiss. In April 1984, Pia headed off to Italy to shoot a music video with Jermaine Jackson for their duet "
When the Rain Begins to Fall," a song which was featured in the film. Before a single frame of the music video was shot, Riklis announced that he planned to have this video tacked on to the end of the film... which makes its inclusion in the movie even stranger. The plot of the "
Rain" video (which ultimately wound up being placed immediately after the opening credits) has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot of "
Rock Aliens." Matter of fact, it's a bit odd to see Pia swooning over Jackson when it's established a few minutes later that she has a jealous boyfriend. And, of course, Jackson simply vanishes without mention. If they'd brought in Craig Sheffer or had
any through-line other than Pia, it might not seem so oddly out of place in the movie.
Around the same time the music video was shot, there were big color ads in the trade papers declaring "the spaciest comedy ever launched" (appropriate tagline) was forthcoming... but alas, the movie didn't come. By September 1985 the movie had been tentatively retitled "
When the Rain Begins to Fall" (playing up on the song, which was a hit around the world) and a PR man revealed its greatest appeal was to "very young audiences," so they intended to launch it as a TV movie... which ultimately happened in Canada.
The film was released in West Germany in April 1985 under the title "
Voyage of the Rock Aliens: Let's Dance Tonight," and it got screenings in a few sporadic American cities. In March 1986 the movie began airing on Canada's First Choice Superchanel. It aired routinely on the Superchannel through September 1986, then vanished into oblivion. In '87, it made its way across the globe to France and Finland, then was finally dumped on video in the USA with little fanfare in 1988.
Not surprisingly (and much like the equally off-the-wall obscurity "
The Apple"), "
Rock Aliens" began garnering some cult movie notoriety after the turn of the century. And deservedly so. It's not a
good film by any stretch of the imagination, but it is likable and a helluva lot of fun. Should be noted that the German DVD (available on a torrent at
The Pirate Bay) is better quality than the UK DVD... and it doesn't look like it's
ever gonna get a DVD release here in the USA.
So on to the share! Here's a big, expanded 53-track soundtrack! Admittedly, the quality varies a bit. The one and only Rhema song that was officially issued was "21st Century," which appeared on the soundtrack. The rest of the Rhema songs aren't great quality, but props to the band for leaking them. There's also some DVD rips of alternate/unreleased songs, an assortment of remixes (a few of which I ripped myself but most that I obtained from a variety of sites and blogs) and extra Jimmy and the Mustangs songs that I snagged from
Sons of the Dolls. There's three missing songs that were credited ('Rhema's "
Get Out and Dance," Michael Bradley's "
Bobbie Ann" and Cliffe Sarde's "
Before the Jupiter Effect") and two other background songs that weren't credited, but with
all this music, you'll hardly miss the missing tunes.
Voyage of the Rock Aliens
Expanded Motion Picture Soundtrack
01. Openhearted - Real Life
02. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Soundtrack Version) - Jermaine Jackson & Pia Zadora
03. 21st Century - Rhema
04. New Orleans - Neil Sedaka with Gary U.S. Bonds
05. Real Love - Pia Zadora
06. Back on the Street - 3 Speed
07. Justine - Jimmy and the Mustangs
08. That's Life - Rhema
09. You Bring Out the Lover in Me - Pia Zadora
10. Always - Real Life
11. Combine Man - Rhema
12. Little Bit of Heaven - Pia Zadora & Mark Spiro
13. She Doesn't Mean a Thing to Me - Mark Spiro
14. Come On - Jimmy and the Mustangs
15. Trouble Maker - Jimmy and the Mustangs
16. Let's Dance Tonight (Medley) - Pia Zadora; Jimmy & the Mustangs; Rhema
17. My World Is Empty Without You - John Farnham & Rainey
18. Nature of the Beast - Michael Bradley
19. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Movie Finale) - Pia Zadora & Jermaine Jackson
20. End Credits Medley
MOVIE VERSIONS:
21. When the Rain Begins to Fall - Pia Zadora & Jermaine Jackson
22. 21st Century - Rhema
23. Real Love - Pia Zadora
24. Justine - Jimmy and the Mustangs
25. Combine Man - Rhema
26. Little Bit of Heaven - Pia Zadora & Mark Spiro
27. Nature of the Beast - Michael Bradley
REMIXES:
28. Combine Man (2009 Marc Jackson Remix) - Rhema
29. Little Bit of Heaven (Solo Version) - Pia Zadora
30. Let's Dance Tonight (Soundtrack Version) - Pia Zadora
31. Let's Dance Tonight - Pia Zadora
32. New Orleans (7" remix) - Neil Sedaka with Gary U.S. Bonds
33. New Orleans (12" remix)
34. New Orleans (Instrumental Mix)
35. Openhearted (Remix) - Real Life
36. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Alternate Version) - Pia Zadora & Jermaine Jackson
37. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Single Version)
38. When the Rain Begins to Fall (First Mix)
39. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Remix 84)
40. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Remix)
41. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Extended Remix)
42. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Club Mix)
43. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Ultrasound Long Winter Mix)
44. When the Rain Begins to Fall (Spanish Version)
RHEMA
BONUS TRACKS:
45. Big Town
46. Whether It Out
47. Living for Today
48. Soo Bawls
JIMMY AND THE MUSTANGS
BONUS TRACKS:
49. Bad Detective
50. The Pressure's On (Stop the Clock)
51. It's All Over Now
52. I'll Steal for Your Love
53. Stomp
In 1998 -- long before his musical talents were well-known -- Jamie Foxx performed his original composition "Let's Make Love Like They Make Love in the Movies" on an episode of "The Roseanne Show." Despite the jokey title, it's a beautiful song and a shame that he never recorded and released it. I posted the clip on You Tube a billion years ago, where it was quite a sensation. After I lost my original You Tube account, someone re-posted the clip -- the quality of my rip wasn't stellar to begin with but being a generation or two off my original file, the quality of the clip currently on You Tube really sucks. Re-ripping it has been on my to-do list for quite some time, but it just hasn't happened... until now. So, beneath the video of the song (which blogger has again pixelated) you'll find the complete episode with Mr. Foxx's appearance for download....
