A time capsule of late ’70s Detroit punk is being dusted off for a rare public screening.
“Face the ’80s,” a 1979 film that chronicled more than 20 Detroit bands and the local music scene in 1978-79, will screen for free at Hamtramck’s Outer Limits Lounge on Friday.
Don’t expect any polish on the movie. “Like your memories, it’s kind of out of focus and a little murky,” says Paul Zimmerman, who is featured in the film, interviewing bands and fans. He’ll host Friday’s screening, during which he’ll interview with Dana Novak, who shot, co-edited and co-produced the film.
“Face the ’80s” is a pre-MTV document, shot on Super 8 film stock, and it has rarely been since since it originally screened locally at Bookie’s Club 870 in 1979. “It was never released in any way,” says Zimmerman, an entertainment journalist who spent much of his career in Los Angeles. “A couple copies were floating around, but it’s not even on YouTube.”
The version that will play on Friday “has been cleaned up some,” Zimmerman says, thanks to work by Richard “Tex” Newman (R.U.R. band) and Lance Rosol, but it’s far from a 4K restoration. “It’s still pretty muddy,” he says. “This thing’s got sweat all over it.”
Mark J. Norton directed the movie, which was shot at local haunts such as Bookie’s Club 870, Aruba Palace and the New Miami.
Among the bands featured in the film are the Romantics, Fred Smith’s Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, the Pigs, the Cadillac Kids, Cinecyde, the Mutants and more. The bands in the film are presented, more or less, in alphabetical order.
Novak says after the film first showed, the Romantics and Sonic’s Rendezvous Band wanted out of the movie. But they’re still there, as is the feel of a time and a place in Detroit rock history.
“It’s a mix of all the people that were there,” says Novak. “It’s a good representation of that period. It was by the seat of your pants. You just kind of did what you were living.
“It’s a little funky,” Novak says. “I think people will like it.”
‘Face the ’80s’
8:30 p.m. Friday
Ages 21 and over
Free
Outer Limits Lounge, 5507 Caniff Ave., Detroit
outerlimitslounge.com or 313-826-0456
agraham@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Rare document of ’70s Detroit punk scene to screen at Outer Limits
Reporting by Adam Graham, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adam Graham, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
