X: The Unheard Music (1986)

Director:

W.T. Morgan

Writer:

W.T. Morgan
(more)

Release Date:

March 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

This film is a documentary about the personalities in, and the music of, the early 1980's Los Angeles punk band X...

Plot Keywords:

Band | Punk | Interview | 1980s | Performance

Cast

John Doe	...	Himself
Exene Cervenka	...	Herself
Billy Zoom	...	Himself
D.J. Bonebrake	...	Himself
Ray Manzarek	...	Himself
Rodney Bingenheimer	...	Himself
Brendan Mullen	...	Himself
Frank Gargani	...	Johny
Alizabeth Foley	...	Pauline
Denise Zoom	...	Herself
Diana Bonebrake	...	Herself (as Dinky Bonebrake)
Bob Biggs	...	Himself
Al Bergamo	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jello Biafra	...	Himself
Tom Hadges	...	Himself
Robert Hilburn	...	Himself
Martin Luther King	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ronald Reagan	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
W.T. Morgan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Christopher Blakely		uncredited
Alizabeth Foley		uncredited
Everett Greaton		uncredited
W.T. Morgan

Produced by
Christopher Blakely	....	producer
Everett Greaton	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
John Monsour		(as Karem John Monsour)

Film Editing by
Kent Beyda
Curtiss Clayton
W.T. Morgan
Charlie Mullin

Production Design by
Alizabeth Foley

Sound Department
Matthew Iadarola	....	sound effects
Matthew Iadarola	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alan Kutner	....	live sound recordist

Visual Effects by
James Balsam	....	visual effects
Les Bernstien	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Rick Schmidlin	....	concert lighting director

Production Companies

• Angel City Media
• Angel City

Distributors

• Skouras Pictures (1986) (USA) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• MVD Entertainment Group (2011) (worldwide) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"The Unheard Music" - USA (informal alternative title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

6-Track Stereo | Dolby

Certification:

USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Angel City Media

Quotes:

Billy Zoom:I have read a review of the Ramones in some trade paper, I think it was Rolling Stones or something like that, and they trashed them, said they were awful, the guy really hated them, he said they were dumb, they played these... He said all their songs were too fast, too short, only had three chords, no guitar solos, the lyrics were dumb, and it just all sounded like real positive things to me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen (2005)

Soundtrack:

Because I Do

Not up to the music

I love X, I love seeing them live, but this movie added very little to the music. The band seems kind of halfhearted about doing the film, their stories are not that interesting. When they go out on tour trying to get their music heard, there's not a single foot of film from the tour; instead, there's a cutesy montage of postcards.

As for the live footage, a good portion of it is from a shoot made expressly for the film, and to judge by the credits, at least half the songs are either videos or lip- synched.

On the whole, the live X in Decline of Western Civilization is far more compelling than the whole of The Unheard Music.