# Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, and...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2018, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229 "2018-11-28T22:11:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/81 "2018-12-01T20:19:29Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > He produced consistently interesting work in a number of fields for many years and knew and worked with lots of similarly talented and colorful people, true. But there isn’t a lot of drama in his life story, is there? Even his Berlin phase and drug problems didn’t cause him to ever hit rock-bottom, so there’s no redemption arc. No adversary to overcome, not even himself, really. > > So I’m not sure how you’d keep people engaged. So, Bowie is too decent a person and too consistently successful in his career to warrant a Hollywood smear-job? Well, I’ll be leaving now, I’ve seen it all. Just kidding; thanks for the explanation. It seems solid. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/82 "2018-12-01T20:24:43Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Maybe The Brothers McLeod could do an animated Bowie biopic. I know I’ve posted this before, but it’s pretty funny if you haven’t seen it: [David Bowie, Brian Eno And Tony Visconti Record ‘Warszawa’](https://youtu.be/FODvjYoVEi8) That was great! ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/83 "2018-12-01T20:38:22Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > He produced consistently interesting work in a number of fields for many years and knew and worked with lots of similarly talented and colorful people, true. But there isn’t a lot of drama in his life story, is there? Even his Berlin phase and drug problems didn’t cause him to ever hit rock-bottom, so there’s no redemption arc. No adversary to overcome, not even himself, really. I think the recording of Ziggy Stardust might make a good movie: one hit wonder and serial chancer comes off a couple of flop albums and has one last throw of of the career dice. Naturally, he decides that commercial success means dressing up as a hermaphroditic alien rock star messiah and hiring a bunch of brickies from Hull. And the rest is musical history. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/84 "2018-12-01T21:14:02Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Maybe The Brothers McLeod could do an animated Bowie biopic. I know I’ve posted this before, but it’s pretty funny if you haven’t seen it: [David Bowie, Brian Eno And Tony Visconti Record ‘Warszawa’](https://youtu.be/FODvjYoVEi8) I love that video! > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > So, Bowie is too decent a person and too consistently successful in his career to warrant a Hollywood smear-job? Well, I’ll be leaving now, I’ve seen it all. > > Just kidding; thanks for the explanation. It seems solid. 😛 > [@Penfeather](#): > > I think the recording of Ziggy Stardust might make a good movie: one hit wonder and serial chancer comes off a couple of flop albums and has one last throw of of the career dice. Naturally, he decides that commercial success means dressing up as a hermaphroditic alien rock star messiah and hiring a bunch of brickies from Hull. And the rest is musical history. See, now you’ve isolated a struggle and triumph, so yeah, _Ziggy Stardust_ could make a compelling film. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/85 "2018-12-01T21:27:11Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > because the life of a reaper man is always intense. By any chance would reaper man have all night every night? I just ordered the Criterion blu-ray of the movie. As far as bands that would make for an awesome bio-pic, how about Parliament-Funkadelic? Just imagine the scene when the band is tripping balls and then drive into the middle of a hoard of zombies that are filming Night of the Living Dead. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/86 "2018-12-01T21:41:25Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I can affirm that he did not get arrested _every_ time he performed. I can also affirm that yes, he did do everything you ever heard about him doing. > > ETA: Which reminds me, I think movie about Tesco Vee (The Meatmen) would be a fantastic film, or about Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi). I’ve heard of the Meatmen but not familiar with their work. I am, slightly, with Ian MacKaye and Fugazi; their music isn’t my cup of tea but I admire MacKaye for standing up for what he believes in. As for the one-day BOC biopic “More Cowbell”, today is Eric Bloom’s 74th birthday. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/87 "2018-12-01T22:01:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > As for the one-day BOC biopic “More Cowbell”, today is Eric Bloom’s 74th birthday. 🆒 Boards Of Canada get a picture now? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/88 "2018-12-01T22:05:29Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’ve heard of the Meatmen but not familiar with their work. The Meatmen were/are a punk rock band focused on being as gratuitously offensive as possible, but with a sick sense of humor about it all too. For instance, their song about John Lennon, [One Down Three To Go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNRXEGzKa5s). Their shows didn’t devolve into riots, tho, because of the obvious tongue-in-cheek nature of their lyrics and stage presence (think of Fear, but without the relentless direct antagonization of the audience). Tesco also started Touch and Go, a punk rock fanzine which he eventually sold to a friend (Corey Rusk of The Necros) who turned it into a record label that did quite well for 25 years or so before being significantly downsized by Rusk about 10 years ago now. Tesco moved to DC when he sold the zine to concentrate on music and fronted a number of bands over the years, often reforming The Meatmen. So tangential people include Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Henry Rollins, Steve Albini, Jesus Lizard, etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/89 "2018-12-02T02:57:49Z")
Well, so much punk rock in this thread, even New York punk rock, but nobody suggested a Ramones biopic yet? You’d have the whole New York punk scene, the CBGB’s, high drama, an almost dysfunctional bunch of people making some of the greatest noise in rock ever, bandmates stealing each other’s girlfriends, almost too much for one movie. I believe you could tell a similarly great story about Richard Hell, too. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/90 "2018-12-02T03:28:34Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Well, so much punk rock in this thread, even New York punk rock, but nobody suggested a Ramones biopic yet? You’d have the whole New York punk scene, the CBGB’s, high drama, an almost dysfunctional bunch of people making some of the greatest noise in rock ever, bandmates stealing each other’s girlfriends, almost too much for one movie. I personally know so much about the Ramones that no dramatization would ever appeal to me, so I didn’t suggest it. I know that my perspective isn’t nearly universal tho. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I believe you could tell a similarly great story about Richard Hell, too. Now you’re talking! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/91 "2018-12-02T04:30:42Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I believe you could tell a similarly great story about Richard Hell, too. Would it include his brief marriage to Patty Smyth, singer of the 80s pop band Scandal who is now Mrs. John McEnroe? 😃 Factoid: When they met, neither had ever heard of the other. They met at a record industry function and married a few months later; she had never followed the punk scene, and he did not watch MTV or listen to Top 40 radio. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/92 "2019-02-21T20:34:01Z")
Looks like we’ve got our answer: [Motley Crue: The Dirt](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/motley-crue-the-dirt-biopic-trailer-796217/). Coming to Netflix next month. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/93 "2019-02-22T14:55:06Z")
Piano Man Billy Joel does not get the accolades he deserves, being overshadowed by he two other B’s (Bob & Bruce). ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/94 "2019-02-22T18:35:43Z")
Now that could actually work, if it focuses on the circumstances that led to his writing the song “Piano Man”. For those who don’t know it, BJ got some kind of record contract that hamstrung him: they didn’t allow him to record or perform, but because he was under contract, he couldn’t work for anyone else, or work independently. So he worked independently anyway, under the name Bill Martin, in a bar where all the stuff in the song played out. (I especially like this idea, because it would officially settle the question “What is a real estate novelist?” Duh: a guy who works in real estate and claims to be writing a novel. Which never gets finished because he’s always at the bar. But I’ve seen people come up with the most ridiculous interpretations.) P.S. Do you mean Bob Seger? Bob Dylan’s not a contemporary of BJ or Springsteen, though I admit he casts a long shadow. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/95 "2019-02-22T19:08:43Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > How about something on Fleetwood Mac? I’d at least watch the first half with Peter Green… before the entire band other than Mick & John went bonkers/burnout/addicted. But we don’t need to encourage Hollywood. They just love to jump on a bandwagon, even as a result of one successful film. So I’m betting the “suits” there are fast-tracking as many Band Bios as they can. In time for Christmas, watch for: **“The Karma that Bit the Chameleon”** _“Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd”_ “Tangled Up In Blood On The Tracks” _“Bay City are-they-really-Rollers?”_ **“Oy, mate! Dunna pronounce the K!: The Mark Nopfler Story”** And a gritty Netflix film, _“Scotch & Soda: the dark truths behind The Kingston Trio”._ By the way, here’s Scotch & Soda… pretty tasty for 1958. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UoWfDw-v4DM/hqdefault.jpg "Kingston Trio-Scotch & Soda") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoWfDw-v4DM) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/96 "2019-02-22T19:09:33Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I think that a movie about Debbie Harry, and Blondie, could also be pretty awesome. > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye; there’s a good story there too. I know a fair bit about Blondie and yeah, it would make a compelling film. There was the movie [CBGB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1786751/?ref_=nv_sr_1) from a few years ago with Malin Akerman as Debbie Harry. Of course setting it in CBGB allows for some amazing cameos. FTR, the movie was directed by Randall Miller. He was the shitstain who was directing the Allman brothers based movie _Midnight Rider_. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/97 "2019-02-22T19:21:23Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > That’s the major problem with any movie about Janis, she was so powerful and bigger than life when she was on stage and so incredibly insecure off stage, getting someone to capture both sides of her is near impossible. Joss Stone? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/98 "2019-02-23T01:46:36Z")
How about Phil Ochs biopc [Power and Glory](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DZelYGi5ZTPw&ved=2ahUKEwjA8OnM3dDgAhWvmuAKHV10DigQjjgwCXoECAMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0yfWA4Q5YXxLn3VMEKqJaU)? I’d like to know more about his life, because I have been a big fan of his music for years. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/99 "2019-02-23T05:50:44Z")
I’d love to see a biopic on Eric Clapton, but it would have to be fairly long to stuff in everything. His musical affiliations alone would be a full movie: Cream, Derek and the Dominoes, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, the Yardbirds, John Mayall, Blind Faith. Add in that his “sister” was actually his mother, the romantic relationships, the addictions, and his crash and resurgence after the death of his little boy, and you’ve got yourself a movie. I’d go to see it twice, I would. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229/100 "2019-02-23T06:57:13Z")
> [@digs](#): > > But we don’t need to encourage Hollywood. They just love to jump on a bandwagon, even as a result of one successful film. So I’m betting the “suits” there are fast-tracking as many Band Bios as they can. Hasn’t Hollywood been producing musician and band biopics since forever? Off the top of my head, I can think of the following: _The Buddy Holly Story_ (Buddy Holly, 1978) _La Bamba_ (Richie Valens, 1987) _Great Balls of Fire_ (Jerry Lee Lewis, 1989) _The Glenn Miller Story_ (Glenn Miller, 1954) _Amadeus_ (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1984) _Ray_ (Ray Charles, 2004) There are undoubtedly others I cannot think of right now, but those should provide good examples of how Hollywood is not currently producing musician/band biopics because of a bandwagon. It’s just doing a genre of films that it’s been doing for years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bohemian-rhapsody-rocketman-and/825229.md?page=6)