Top 10 Pop-Music Movies
By Rob Stevens
2nd July 2009

1 The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash
The Rutles are of course, not a real band at all. But the line between reality and fiction has always been a bit blurred for Eric Idle’s loving tribute to The Beatles. The most lasting legacy is All You Need Is Cash a documentary on “The prefab four” an alternative version of The Beatles story. Real life friends of The Beatles turn up, including Mick Jagger and mug along gamely, but the best cameo is saved for none other than George Harrison himself. One of those great parodies, that’s deeply loving and the more you know about the Beatles the more of a kick you’ll get from it.

2 Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
One of those rare, brilliant moments of inspiration from conception that must have made every other filmmaker wish they’d come up with it first. It’s a biography of cult AORers The Carpenters, via the medium of intracently redesigned Barbie dolls. Karen Carpenter of course famously died of anorexia. Unfortunatly Richard Carpenter (who isn’t exactly given a loving portrayal in the film) objected, and sued as Haynes hadn’t obtained permission to use The Carpenters music, so its never seen a formal release.

3 A Hard Days Night
The Beatles themselves, being The Beatles themselves. A semi-fictional day-in-the-life of the worlds most famous band, it is with 45 years hindsight a fascinating look at the Beatlemania craze at its height. Its also a funny, charming script, and it still feels like a privildge to watch The Beatles perform their magic all these years on.

4 High Fidelity
Not about any band, but this list wouldn’t be complete without the best analysis of the people who enjoy music, the fans. Nick Hornby’s novel was a brilliant account of what its like to be a listmaking man in the modern age, and despite the films reconfiguration across the atlantic, nothing is lost in translation.

5  Purple Rain
One of the most enigmatic figures in modern music, Prince’s music has always sustained him. And he was never, ever better than on Purple Rain, his most enduring legacy. Much like 8 Mile, the story is hardly an acting stretch for Prince (talented young musician tries not to repeat mistakes of alcoholic father) but the music is what makes it masterful.

6 One Plus One/Sympathy for the Devil
An interesting inclusion for this list, if only because as you’d typically expect from a director like the New Wave enfant terrible, its absolutely nothing like the other films in the list. Its ostentationaly an exploration of The Rolling Stones in the studio, recording arguably their greatest song, the Milton-esque Sympathy for the Devil. Godard intersperses this with news footage from other events from around the world, creating and odd collage, and an ode to the function of teenage rebellion.

Bob Dylan in "No Direction Home"

7 No Direction Home
Martin Scorsese directs this epic trawl through the work of Bob Dylan takes in everything from his folky roots up to his upsetting everyone by plugging in his electric guitar in the mid 1960s. While not exactly candid, Dylan is a bit more open than he usually is, and the live footage alone makes it indispensable for any fan.

8 Born To Boogie
The obligatory concert movie, Born To Boogie just about shades out Ziggy Stardust, as Bowie gets enough props as it is. Marc Bolan’s cinematic legacy, left right at the height of T-Rexstacy is a film of two parts really. While the faux-Alice-in-Wonderland Marc going around makes it all seem a bit dated, the concert is spine tingling, and timeless. Appropriately directed by Ringo Starr, handing the baton over to a new generation.

9 Head
The weirdness of Head is not to be underestimated. Co-written by a very young Jack Nicholson, Head is a film about the original manufactured pop-group, The Monkees. This is them trying to self-conciously break out of that straightjacket though, and 40 years on, its as fascinating, and downright bizarre as it ever was.

10 Moonwalker
Little more than a celebration of the King of Pop, but MJ knew how to make a music video. And as that’s pretty much all this is, its perfect fluff. The story concerns Micheal Jackson saving some children (surprisingly) from the clutches of an evil Joe Pesci. You don’t want to think about that though – just concentrate on the music, from Leave me Alone to Smooth Criminal, its all gold.
.