Flame (1975)

British glam rock superstars Slade made their collective acting debut in this drama about a pop group’s struggles with success.

In the late 1960s, Barry (Dave Hill), Paul (Jim Lea) and Charlie (Don Powell) are musicians who are barely making a living playing pub dates, weddings, and socials in The DTs led by ineffectual and egocentric vocalist Jack Daniels (Alan Lake).

Stoker (Noddy Holder) replaces Daniels and a talent spotter from London sees potential in the band and signs them up, projecting a special image and working numerous publicity stunts.

The group gets big, and the point is admirably and very simply made: the group is more or less the same but once they have been packaged to fit the audience – the market – the scene is a very different one.

Flame (the name, also, has been thought up for maximum impact) find that though they are now making plenty of money, their private lives are still as turbulent.

The story ends with the split of the group, who have found the pressures intolerable.

The movie commented cleverly on the pop scene, combining the reality of the mob scenes that greeted the live gigs (familiar to all concert-goers) with the high tension, disagreements and strife behind the scenes.

Whichever way you look at this movie it was a worthwhile venture, even if it was in the public eye for only a limited period. It was a publicity blast for Slade, it was a perceptive look at the supposed glamour of the pop star’s life – and as a movie in its own right, it was very entertaining.

Stoker
Noddy Holder
Barry
Dave Hill
Charlie
Don Powell
Paul
Jim Lea
Jack Daniels
Alan Lake
Robert Seymour
Tom Conti
Angie
Sara Clee
Julie
Nina Thomas
Ricky Storm
Tommy Vance
Emperor Rosko
Paul Eric Bosko
Roy Priest
Michael Coles
Tony Devlin
Kenneth Colley
Ron Harding
Johnny Shannon

Director
Richard Loncraine

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