Rob Bagnall - Still the Beast is Feeding: The definitive guide to everything you need to know about the first 40 years of The Rocky Horror Show phenomenon, on both stage and screen.

STILL THE BEAST IS FEEDING:

40 YEARS OF ROCKY HORROR

Rob Bagnall and Phil Barden

First published in the UK in 2013 by

Telos Publishing Ltd

www.telos.co.uk

Telos Publishing Ltd values feedback. Please e-mail us with any comments you may have about this book to: feedback@telos.co.uk

Research and text by Rob Bagnall

Research and new interviews by Phil Barden

Still the Beast is Feeding: 40 Years of Rocky Horror 2013 Rob Bagnall and Phil Barden

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This ebook is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO:

MY BELOVED CAROL: For your never-ending love, support and belief in me and everything I do; and for not only accepting and tolerating my quirks and obsessions, but for sharing, embracing and encouraging them from the moment we met. You continue to Rose Tint My World every single day.

AND TO :

DAD: For introducing me to the joys of late night monster movies at a very early age; and for those very first Rocky Horror Show tickets. You definitely started something.

AND TO:

ROCKY HORROR FANS ALL OVER THE WORLD: For continuing to Dream It and Be It in equal measure; and for endlessly living and breathing our favourite obsession. After 40 incredible years, Still The Beast is Feeding. And its all because of you. Let The Party and the Sounds Rock On

Rob Bagnall, 2013

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For kindly consenting to be interviewed, and for being so generous with their time and precious memories, special thanks must go to: Daniel Abineri, Perry Bedden, David Bedella, Jay Benedict, Peter Blake, Zalie Burrow, Ziggy Byfield, Ellie Chidzey, Derek Griffiths, Anthony Head, Kara Lane, Christopher Luscombe, Neil McCaul, Yasmin Pettigrew, Belinda Sinclair, Anthony Topham, Mark Turnbull and Toyah Willcox.

For their indispensable contributions, support and advice, heartfelt appreciation is gratefully extended to the following individuals: Stewart Bagnall, James Bainbridge, Peter Cliff, Rob Cope, Bruce Cutter, Dawn Evans, Marty Fairgrieve, Graham Fletcher, Norman Forster, David Freeman, Stephanie Freeman, Vicky Hawkins, Tony Johnson, Edward Marlowe, Kevin McEwen, Carol Mulhern, Jayson Noble, Claire Potter and Justin Ward.

CONTENTS

AUTHORS NOTE

THIS WASNT SIMPLY A CHANCE MEETING

While it may be true that life is full of coincidence, accidents and random encounters, the evidence for hypothetical predestination is occasionally hard to dismiss for even the most rational of thinkers.

For instance, having grown up (in the loosest sense of the term) watching vintage science fiction and monster movies, most often in the company of my dad, on late night television in the 1970s the original version of King Kong (1933) and the intellectually stimulating The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) were much-loved favourites from a very young age I strongly believe that it was inevitable that I should discover The Rocky Horror Show just as adolescence was beginning to tighten its hormonally confused grip on my youthful mind and body.

For a lover of tacky sci-fi, horror movies, comic books, juvenile rock n roll, 1950s Americana and camp comedy never feeling obligated to bow to peer pressure by robotically following the contemporary youth trends, modern music and sporting pursuits dictated by my classmates Rocky Horror (already more than a decade old before I encountered it) was a revelation.

It was (quite unfeasibly) geeky and sexy in equal measure a rather epic paradox in itself and with teenage hormones racing, and even the briefest glimpse of a ladys stocking tops under a short skirt having a profound effect on my horny young desires, I found that The Rocky Horror Show skilfully and uniquely merged these newfound urges with the puerile pop-culture pursuits of my childhood. It stamped its spangled platform heels all over tiresome stereotypes and somehow made being a movie geek, comic book fan and sci-fi aficionado cool and sexy although these werent the only barriers that this amazing work of contemporary entertainment helped to relax of course which would never have seemed possible before.

When I first heard the mesmerising lyrics to Science Fiction Double Feature sung by an alluring 1950s style cinema usherette in a local performance of a mid-1980s touring production I did so in open-mouthed wonder. Here was a witty and touching tribute to those late night monster flicks I had adored as a child. The song, and indeed the show, spoke to me like nothing I had ever seen before.

Who could possibly have tapped into my psyche and envisioned a work of entertainment so deeply personal to me and so perfectly in tune with my obsessions and enthusiasms?

Only someone who shared those same passions of course; an unashamed eternal adolescent by the name of Richard OBrien a man who, along with Jim Sharman (director of the original stage production and subsequent film version) and, as I learned shortly thereafter, countless others (both fans and contributors to the show itself), helped prove that I wasnt alone. That it was okay to be yourself and dance to your own tune, and yet still be socially accepted and confident.

A long time coming, the book you hold in your hands is largely the result of two things. First, my unending thirst for more and more reading on the subject began to reveal that, while other authors may have covered the humble origins of The Rocky Horror Show and, in particular, the development of its celluloid adaptation most notably Jim Whittaker in his excellent self-published 2004 book Cosmic Light: The Birth Of A Cult Classic writers rarely chose to continue the story beyond the late 1970s and the early stages of the films belated cult success as an interactive midnight matinee.

The reason for this, in my opinion, is that a lot of people probably do not even realise that there is a story beyond the late 1970s, and assume, erroneously, that the show simply rattled along in its original form for revival upon revival in the decades that followed. The truth however, as we shall discover, is that, while its classic story and utterly timeless music have, quite rightly, remained unaltered, the ways in which the show has been presented and even the manner in which audiences have responded to it have continued to evolve, constantly transcending current trends and keeping a 40-year-old rock musical fresh and exciting for new generations of followers.

Secondly, when I met Phil Barden (at first online via the UK Rocky Horror fan clubs discussion forums and later in person at performances of The Rocky Horror Show itself) I was instantly thrilled and entranced by his memories of seeing the original London stage production years before I had even become aware of the shows existence.

Phil had started to satisfy some of the nostalgic yearnings he was feeling for countless nights spent in the darkened confines of the Kings Road Theatre by tracking down a number of previous cast members from the shows early days and conducting his own personal informal interviews with these fascinating individuals.

When I revealed my desire to see a book that chronicled the entire history of the Rocky Horror phenomenon taking in the touring productions and revivals of the 80s and 90s, not only in the UK but around the world, the making of the film version and its subsequent cult success, spin-offs, homages and parodies, in addition to the shows own impact upon 20 th Century popular culture ultimately bringing the story completely up to date for the very first time, Phil realised that such a volume might be a way of getting the enthralling memories and innumerable amusing anecdotes revealed by his more than accommodating interviewees into the open, and he suggested that I should write the book myself.