Travis W Redfish (Meat Loaf) is a backward country boy from Texas who drives a beer truck, has never heard of Alice Cooper, talks about “John Travolto” and has a knack of being able to fix almost anything.
He puts this talent to use in mending a stalled van belonging to a rock group. Along the way, he demonstrates his talents as a roadie and, after rock promoter Mohammed Johnson (Don Cornelius) calls him “the best roadie in the world”, becomes a superstar in his own right.
He also falls for Lola (Kaki Hunter), a 16-year-old groupie (“That’s right, honey – jailbait,” she tells him) whose big aim in life is to surrender her virginity to Alice Cooper. She, in turn, has a thing going for Travis.
But deep down, Travis is just a good old Texas boy, and you know how patriotic those Texans are. They’d rather stay in the Lone Star State than be the world’s greatest roadie.
Roadie features a number of musical acts. Some of them (Alice Cooper and Deborah Harry of Blondie) even get to speak a few lines.
The jokes are stale: Travis and Lola accidentally trade a Tide box full of cocaine for the real thing (that one came from Up In Smoke), an earthquake shakes up a rock concert in Los Angeles (which is no laughing matter in California, friends) and Mohammed keeps mispronouncing Redfish’s name.
Some of the musical numbers, though, are rather good. Hank Williams Jr. shines in an early scene, and Roy Orbison breaks up a honky-tonk fight by singing The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You. Blondie perform a spirited New Wave version of the Johnny Cash classic Ring of Fire.
Despite his gelatinous appearance, Meat Loaf displays charm, if not legitimate acting talent, as Travis. Art Carney – who apparently believed any kind of movie work was better than none at all – goes through the paces as Travis’ gadget-crazy father.
Kaki Andrews does the most credible job of all while Alice Cooper demonstrates that acting is definitely not his forte.
Travis W. Redfish
Meat Loaf Lola Bouilliabase
Kaki Hunter Corpus C. Redfish
Art Carney B.B. Muldoon
Gailard Sartain Mohammed Johnson
Don Cornelius Alice Poo
Rhonda Bates Ace
Joe Spano George
Richard Marion Bird
Sonny Carl Davis Weather Girl
Ginger Varney Mohammed’s Bodyguard
Al Mays Prom Queen
Cindy Wills Tiny
Allan Graf Merle Kilgore
Himself Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
Himself Roy Orbison
Himself Hank Williams Jr.
Himself Hank
Hector Britt Jerry
Larry Lindsey Blondie
Themselves Peter Frampton
Himself Alice Cooper
Himself Sheryl Cooper
Herself Alice Cooper Band
Themselves Asleep At The Wheel
Themselves The Pleasant Valley Boys
Themselves The Bama Band
Themselves Spittle
Standing Waves
Director
Alan Rudolph
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He also falls for Lola (Kaki Hunter), a 16-year-old groupie (“That’s right, honey – jailbait,” she tells him) whose big aim in life is to surrender her virginity to Alice Cooper. She, in turn, has a thing going for Travis.
