Music Movies
Breaking Glass (1980)
Breaking Glass is the story of punk singer Kate and her meteoric rise to stardom. Starting out in the rock pubs of London, Kate, assisted by her manager Danny, becomes…
Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise (1980)
Robert Mugge filmed jazz great Sun Ra on location in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. between 1978 and 1980. The resulting 60-minute film includes multiple public and private performances, poetry…
Playing for Time (1980)
When a Jewish songstress is plucked from the stage and sent to Auschwitz, she and other musicians find themselves assigned to a terrible task—using their talents to soothe fellow prisoners…
Divine Madness (1980)
Divine Madness is a 1980 concert film directed by Michael Ritchie, and featuring Bette Midler during her 1979 concert at Pasadena’s Civic Auditorium. The 94-minute film features Midler’s stand-up comedy…
D.O.A. (1980)
Documentary chronicling the rise and fall of the punk movement with rare interview footage of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Also concert and news footage.
The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle (1980)
A rather incoherent post-breakup Sex Pistols “documentary”, told from the point of view of Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose (arguable) position is that the Sex Pistols in particular and punk…
AC/DC: Let There Be Rock (1980)
1. Live Wire 2. Shot Down In Flames 3. Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be 4. Sin City 5. Walk All Over You 6. Bad Boy Boogie 7. The…
Those Lips Those Eyes (1980)
A small-town star helps a young apprentice land the girl of his dreams.
Rude Boy (1980)
Rude Boy is a semi-documentary, part character study, part ‘rockumentary’, featuring a British punk band, The Clash. The script includes the story of a fictional fan juxtposed with actual public…
Honeysuckle Rose (1980)
Buck Bonham is a country singer on the road caught in a romantic triangle with Dyan Cannon and Amy Irving, the daughter of one of his longtime musical sidekick.
Can’t Stop the Music (1980)
A loose biography of seminal disco hit-makers The Village People and their composer Jacques Morali.
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.
Bob Marley: Uprising Live! (1980)
Roadie (1980)
A young Texas good ol’ boy has a knack with electronic equipment, and that talent gets him a job as a roadie with a raucous traveling rock-and-roll show.
Fame (1980)
A chronicle of the lives of several teenagers who attend a New York high school for students gifted in the performing arts.
Die Laughing (1980)
A San Francisco cab driver find himself in possession of a monkey that is carrying a formula for turning atomic waste into a plutonium bomb. He finds himself framed for…
Nijinsky (1980)
A ballet dancer struggles with his homosexuality and the increasing allure of a young ballerina who seeks to draw him away from his domineering lover.
Forbidden Zone (1980)
A mysterious door in the basement of the Hercules house leads to the Sixth Dimension by way of a gigantic set of intestine. When Frenchy slips through the door, King…
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)
Biography of Loretta Lynn, a country and western singer that came from poverty to fame.
Solo Sunny (1980)
Sunny is the singer of band trying to establish itself in the music-scene of East-Berlin. They play regular gigs in small towns, but Sunny feels out of touch with the…
Frank Zappa: Baby Snakes (1979)
Rock artist Frank Zappa hosts a concert in New York City. This movie contains tons of on-stage footage, off-stage footage, and animation.
John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together (1979)
In this beloved holiday classic, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and all the Muppets join the singer for a heart-warming Christmas celebration, with traditional carols as well as lesser-known holiday…
The Rose (1979)
Rock-and-roll singer Mary Rose Foster’s romantic relationships and mental health are continuously imperilled by the demands of life on the road.
Don Giovanni (1979)
Screen adapatation of Mozart’s greatest opera. Don Giovanni, the infamous womanizer, makes one conquest after another until the ghost of Donna Anna’s father, the Commendatore, (whom Giovanni killed) makes his…
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979)
A collection of Warner Brothers short cartoon features, “starring” the likes of Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Wile.E.Coyote. These animations are interspersed by Bugs Bunny reminiscing on past events and…
Quadrophenia (1979)
Based on the 1973 rock opera album of the same name by The Who, this is the story of 60s teenager Jimmy. At work he slaves in a dead-end job….
The Muppet Movie (1979)
The Muppets gather to watch their newly-finished big-budget rich-and-famous feature film: a talent agent persuades Kermit the Frog to leave the swamp to pursue a career in Hollywood. On his…
The Who: The Kids Are Alright (1979)
Through concert performances and interviews, this film offers us a comprehensive look at the British pioneer rock group, The Who. It captures their zany craziness and outrageous antics from the…
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979)
A group of rock-music-loving students, with the help of the Ramones, take over their school to combat its newly installed oppressive administration.
Hair (1979)
Upon receiving his draft notice and leaving his family ranch in Oklahoma, Claude heads to New York and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to boot camp.
Elvis (1979)
This biopic traces Elvis Presley’s life from his impoverished childhood to his meteoric rise to stardom to his triumphant conquering of Las Vegas.
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
Big Bird worries when Oscar tells him that if Santa Claus can’t fit down the chimney on Christmas Eve, nobody would get presents.