Seven must-see rock and roll movies from the 1970s

In the early days, rock and roll musical films fell mainly into one of two categories. There were the revues – often built around pioneering DJ Alan Freed, and featuring cameo performances by many early giants of the field. Then there were the star vehicles, projects designed to take advantage of the earth-shattering popularity of Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

The pattern was not new. When motion pictures began talking in the late 1920s, the first “musicals” tended to be revues, like the second movie to win the Best Picture Oscar, 1929’s The Broadway Melody. As the musical grew more sophisticated, it relied on stars like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to do much of the heavy lifting.

A few decades in, the Hollywood musical exploded out in all directions so that anything – from serious to silly, from factual to fantasy – became fair game.

Seven can't-miss rock films from the 1970s

In many ways, the rock and roll musical followed a similar path. By the time 1970 arrived, rock music had been showing up in movies for about fifteen years. It was ready to explode. There were innovative, exciting rock musicals prior to 1970, and there would certainly be a great many more when the calendar flipped to the 1980s and beyond, but the decade of the ‘70s has a special place in the history of rock and roll movies.

What follows is a countdown of the six best rock and roll movies of the decade, along with six honorable mentions that are worth a look. And, since I always believe that more is better, there will be a bonus pick along the way, which will leave you with a baker’s dozen of great 1970s rock and roll movies.

HONORABLE MENTIONS (these go in chronological order)

200 Motels (1971) – Frank Zappa’s weird, wild, at times incoherent mock documentary showed up more than a decade before This Is Spinal Tap, and featured Ringo Starr and Keith Moon, both of whom will be appearing up later.

Tommy (1975) – I find the Who’s sprawling rock opera to be somewhat of a mess, but a fairly spectacular one, which is pretty much SOP for its director Ken Russel. Russell made loads of music movies about classical composers and rock and rollers alike. Roger Daltrey starred in the director’s Lisztomania right playing Tommy.

The Song Remains the Same (1976) – One of several important concert films from the second half of the decade. This one, as you can probably guess, is about a Led Zeppelin show. It is uneven and experimental at times but serves up a lot of great music.

The Buddy Holly Story (1978) – Gary Busey was nominated for an Oscar in this biopic. He didn’t win, but the movie did nab the Best Musical Score Oscar. Holly’s widow, Maria Elena Holly, was involved in the production which is always a double-edged sword. It gives the filmmakers great access to the subject, but also may restrict them in what they can and can’t put on screen. That may soften the portrait and account for a less-appealing final act, but it is still a fine film.

The Rose (1979) – The Rose is not as good a biopic as The Buddy Holly Story, nor can it name the performer upon whom it is based. But it has an extraordinary performance by Bette Midler as a fictionalized version of Janis Joplin which makes it worth watching.

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1979) - David Bowie shockingly announces this as his final performance in D.A. Pennebaker’s concert film, but we come to understand that this is his final performance as his Ziggy Stardust persona. Pennebaker was one of the greatest practitioners of “direct cinema,” a term we will examine a bit more later. His 1967 documentary about Bob Dylan, Don’t Look Back, helped invent the rock doc.

And now, with apologies to Europe, the final countdown…