Tapeheads, 1988

                                         Directed By Bill Fischman

Making it in the world of entertainment has never been easy, compromise of vision, thieving producers, and being broke have always been major roadblocks. The protagonists of Tapeheads, played by John Cusack and Tim Robbins, face every conceivable obstacle toward their goal of success in the music video world. Released in 1988 the film serves as a time-capsule of some of the era, and while some of it’s jokes about Reaganism and early era music video may have dated, it’s critique of the entertainment industry as being full of minimally talented artist and thieving producers, is still spot on.

The film tells the tale of Ivan (Cusack) and Josh (Robbins) star as a pair of lovable losers, after losing their security jobs for turning their building into a party/music video shoot, they decide to break out and launch Video Aces. Their company struggles at first, early gigs are paid in fried chicken or on-spec (no money), however following and editing mistake the two are dubbed geniuses and may soon be on the way to fame and fortune. That is if they can avoid the secret service hitmen sent after them by Congressman Norman Mart (Cult Hero Clu Gulager). 

          
            Tapeheads came about primarily due to writer/director Bill Fishman and producer Michael Nesmith. Fishman only directed a few films besides Tapeheads and most of his career has been spent on music videos. Michael Nesmith had been a member of the pre-fabricated pop group The Monkeys and in early 80s he helped launch MTV. These two bring a lot of insider knowledge, and helped make the film’s numerous cameos possible, giving the film’s satire a good deal more bite.  Soul-Train founder Don Cornelius (R.I.P) appears as a producer who believes all jobs are on-spec, Ted Nugent (before threatening Obama) appears as a stereotypical rockstar, and Punk-Icon Jello Biafra mocks his obscenity bust, by appearing as an FBI agent.

Tapeheads did terribly upon it’s initial release grossing less then half a million dollars on a budget of ten million. It’s not hard to see why this film had difficulty finding an audience; it’s filled with insider jokes, episodic, and never takes itself seriously. That being said the movie is a blast, unlike so many movies where the actors seem to be mailing in their performance, you can see how much fun everyone involved is having. While some of the movies targets are now extremely dated, the notion of the entertainment business being run by sleazy crooks, and populated by naïve dreamers, seems as prescient as ever. So why not take a trip back to the 80s, as one character puts it “Let’s get into trouble baby!”