Rock Ridge Music to release MDB's new 70's cover album "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" October 11th 2024
Think of “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” as Michael Des Barres’ musical autobiography, the soundtrack of his youth and the songs that shaped him in the spirit of classic cover albums like Bowie’s Pin Ups or Bryan Ferry’s These Foolish Things, both released within weeks of one another in October, 1973. That places it smack in the middle of the dozen covers on this album, all originally released between 1971 and 1975 (with the exception of the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting for My Man,” which was arguably the inspiration for everything that followed on this collection).
Des Barres’ love letter to the ‘70s and his own entry into the rock ‘n’ roll circus includes stateside classics like Iggy and the Stooges’ “Search & Destroy” and Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen,” along with U.K. stalwarts [Mike] Chapman & [Nicky] Chinn (Mud’s “Dyna-mite” and Sweet’s “Fox on the Run”), Roxy Music (“Love is the Drug”), Bowie (“Moonage Daydream”), T. Rex/Marc Bolan (“20th Century Boy”), Mott the Hoople (Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes”), the Faces (“Stay with Me”), Slade (“Cum on Feel the Noize”) and the Stones’ title track. All were released within a four-year period when Des Barres was forming Silverhead in London before leaving for Los Angeles to form Detective. And while he remains true to the songs’ hook-filled origins, he makes each track vocally his own.
“These 12 songs represent chapters in my life,” he explains. “It is a look back from someone who was not only there but was the most stoned person in the room. I still remember these songs. If it was Christmas, they’d be my carols. What they all had in common was melodies, a big chorus and plenty of eyeliner, with all that sensuality. That was what that era was all about. It was an epic moment in my life that I wanted to pay homage to.”
MDB Documentary
WHO DO YOU WANT ME TO BE? MICHAEL DES BARRES' NEW DOCUMENTARY FOLLOWS A MASTER OF REINVENTION.
Rugged Releasing, a subsidiary of Rugged Entertainment, is proud to announce the worldwide release of the documentary feature film Michael Des Barres: Who Do You Want Me To Be? from director J. Elvis Weinstein on July 10, 2020 on Amazon Prime Video, FandangoNow, iTunes, Google Play, YouTube Rentals, Vudu and more.
Michael Des Barres has carved a path through show business and life like no other. He has played rock stars and been a rock star. He’s been a fictional DJ, and a real DJ with millions of listeners on Sirius XM. A singer with record deals over the course of five decades and an actor in over a hundred TV and movie appearances, chances are you know him and don’t know it. Michael Des Barres: Who Do You Want Me To Be? allows Michael, the son of a junkie aristocrat and a schizophrenic showgirl, to tell viewers his story from it’s very high highs to its very low lows (and some very high lows too). A host of eyewitnesses including Gabriel Byrne, Steve Jones (The Sex Pistols), Don Johnson, John Taylor ( Duran Duran), Allison Anders, Ed Begley Jr., Pamela Des Barres, and Steven Van Zandt all join in to corroborate Michael’s wild tale.
Director J . Elvis Weinstein , a veteran television writer/producer ( MST3K , Freaks and Geeks ) says: ”I’d never met anyone quite like Michael, he confounded my expectations. In an age of ‘toxic narcissism,’ I found instead in Michael what I would call ‘a benevolent narcissist,’ someone who rewards your attention by reflecting his attention and enthusiasm back on you. He is a man in constant search of a true moment with anyone willing to share it. Of course, that’s who he is now, I was interested in the journey it took to grow into that.”
Executive Producer and Rugged CEO Peter Spirer says, “Michael, unlike the nondescript enigma Zelig, has attacked life with ferocity and flamboyance. He has done everything and been everywhere. Yet he still embraces life with the enthusiasm of a teenager which is magnificently captured in this bio pic.”
In a time where the world has come to a screeching halt, this is a film about moving forward. Michael Des Barres is not a man mired in nostalgia. For him, the past is just prologue for right now...and the next moment.
Streaming on Amazon Prime, FandangoNow, Vudu and YourTube Rentals. Also available for purchase in Blu Ray and DVD. Released in 2020.
MDB Doc to be screened at DKTR streaming film festival 2024
Don't Knock The Rock- A festival dedicated to music films co-founded by Allison and Tiffany Anders
STREAMING FESTIVAL HOSTED BY CINEVILLE.COM MAY 23- JULY 31
The American Cinematheque is proud to present the return of Don’t Knock the Rock, a music-driven documentary and narrative film festival founded in 2003 by filmmaker Allison Anders (GAS FOOD LODGING, GRACE OF MY HEART, MI VIDA LOCA) and musician/music supervisor Tiffany Anders (RESERVATION DOGS, PEN15, BEEF). Paying special attention not only to the icons and legends in music history but also to artists who blazed trails but may have fallen into obscurity, Don’t Knock The Rock brings fascinating stories both big and small for music and film lovers alike.
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