American Hot Wax
Mar 17, 1978 | IMDB 5.6
91 min Watch NowDrama, History, Music
This is the story loosely based on Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed, who introduced rock'n'roll to teenage American radio audiences in the 1950s. Freed was a source of great controversy: criticized by conservatives for corrupting youth with the "devil's music"; hated by racists for promoting African American music for white consumption; persecuted by law enforcement officials and finally brought down by the "payola" scandals.
MOVIE COMMENTS
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The Sparks Brothers
Show!
BadPuss: A Popumentary
Heaven Tonight
King of the Hill: A 70th Anniversary Retrospective of Cincinnati’s King Records
Elvis
American Pop
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee
Trajectoire
Welcome to Death Row
Hitsville: The Making of Motown
Slave Trade: How Prince Remade the Music Business
La corte de Ana
I Need That Record!
Saving Dreams
If It Ain't Stiff: The Stiff Records Story
Spike Island
Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow and All Music Has Disappeared
Money for Nothing: Behind the Business of Pop Music
SIMILAR MOVIES
The Sparks Brothers
IMDB 7.3 | Jun , 2021
Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.Show!
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2013
A surprisingly intimate portrait of how the dream of running one’s own business can take on monstrous contours. Managed by the father of one of the singers, over the course of five years the girl band 5Angels had reached the gates of pop fame. But it is a path paved not only with the songs of Michal David, but also with the dogged determination of a man who loses any notion of where his role as manager ends and his role as parent begins. An emotionally moved Karel Gott, five angelic girls, and one overly involved father, thanks to whom the behind-the-scenes pre-Christmas atmosphere melts away just as rapidly as the fat should disappear from the belly. “A singer can’t be a lard bucket!”BadPuss: A Popumentary
IMDB 0 | Nov , 2014
An Honest and hilarious look at the music industry through the eyes of an all girl rock band.Heaven Tonight
IMDB 3 | Nov , 1990
The film covers the conflict between a father and his son both being musicians. The father is the leader of a band making rock-music from the 60s but his son becomes a star of techno-pop music.King of the Hill: A 70th Anniversary Retrospective of Cincinnati’s King Records
IMDB 4.6 | Aug , 2014
James Brown was the jewel in the crown, but the throne of Cincinnati’s King Records always belonged to its irascible founder, Syd Nathan. This is the 70th anniversary of the legendary record label and studio. It closed shop nearly 40 years ago, in a now long-neglected warehouse on the neighborhood border of Evanston and Walnut Hills, but its impact still reverberates across today’s music.Elvis
IMDB 7.5 | Jun , 2022
The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.American Pop
IMDB 6.9 | Feb , 1981
The history of American popular music runs parallel with the history of a Russian Jewish immigrant family, with each male descendant possessing different musical abilities.Standing in the Shadows of Motown
IMDB 6.9 | Sep , 2002
In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit's thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown's Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined - which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee
IMDB 6 | Oct , 2009
An improvised comedy, shot over five days by Shane Meadows, devised with and starring Paddy Considine. Rock roadie and failed musician, Le Donk has lived, loved and learned. Along the way he's lost a girlfriend but he has found a new sidekick in up-and-coming rap prodigy Scor-zay-zee. With Meadows' fly-on-the-wall crew in tow, Donk sets out to make Scor-zay-zee a star...Trajectoire
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2025
Montreal, June 2025: Clémence, a young emerging musical artist, discovers the existence of her twin brother Simon, separated from her at birth. Eager to help her brother financially, Clémence naively falls for an online scam. The film explores the themes of family resilience and fraternal solidarity, while following the journey of Clémence, who is desperately trying to break in the music industry.Welcome to Death Row
IMDB 7.7 | Sep , 2001
The record label Death Row Records has, since its creation in 1993, been synonymous with the American hip-hop climate. Formed by ex-bodyguard Suge Knight, the label has released seminal rap albums from luminaries including Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, and the famous hip-hop martyr Tupac Shakur. WELCOME TO DEATH ROW is a fascinating, well-researched documentary which explores the history of this intriguing and incredibly significant company.Hitsville: The Making of Motown
IMDB 7.6 | Aug , 2019
The remarkable story of the legendary Motown Records is told through exclusive interviews with the label’s visionary founder, Berry Gordy, and many of its superstar artists and creative figures, as well as rare performances and behind-the-scenes footage unearthed from Motown’s vaults and Gordy’s personal archives.Slave Trade: How Prince Remade the Music Business
IMDB 6.3 | Jul , 2014
In the mid-1990s reports emerged that Prince had fallen into dispute with his record company. Having signed what was ostensibly a new, 100 million dollar contract just a couple of years before, Prince was now demanding - not unreasonably to most commentators - control of his masters and the freedom to release what he wanted when he wanted. After a bitter war of words, during which the star scrawled Slave across his cheek whenever he appeared in public and routinely dissed his label, the parties finally settled and Prince henceforth was free to take full control of his music and the way it was sold to consumers. Prince approached this task with devastating foresight as he routinely created new marketing concepts which, with time, became the norm across the music world.La corte de Ana
IMDB 8 | Mar , 2020
She appeared when Spain was waking up from a long post-war period and crying with melodramas starring children, a child prodigy unlike any other; a girl who, in time, would become a symbol of freedom and a total artist. Actress, singer, friend, lover. This is the story of Ana Belén.I Need That Record!
IMDB 6.4 | May , 2008
Guerilla filmmaker Brendan Toller unleashes I NEED THAT RECORD! THE DEATH (OR POSSIBLE SURVIVAL) OF THE INDEPENDENT RECORD STORE, "an elegy for a vanishing subculture...a lively, bittersweet film that examines - with caustic humor, brutal candor, and, ultimately, great affection - why roughly 3,000 indie record stores have closed across the nation over the past decade," (Johnathan Perry, Boston Globe). A tour-de-force tale of greed, media consolidation, homogenized radio, big box stores, downloading, and technological shifts in the music industry told through candid interviews, crestfallen record store owners, startling statistics, and eye-popping animation. Fat cats or our favorite record stores? You decide. Featuring- IAN MACKAYE, NOAM CHOMSKY, MIKE WATT, THURSTON MOORE, LENNY KAYE (Patti Smith), CHRIS FRANTZ (Talking Heads), GLENN BRANCA, PATTERSON HOOD (Drive By Truckers), PAT CARNEY (Black Keys) , LEGS MCNEIL, BOB GRUEN, BP HELIUM, and many indie record stores across the U.S.Saving Dreams
IMDB 0 | Sep , 2017
A naive girl with dreams of stardom, marries a powerful man, who abuses her while running a foundation that protects abused women.If It Ain't Stiff: The Stiff Records Story
IMDB 7 | Dec , 2007
Adrian Edmondson narrates a documentary chronicling the story of Stiff Records, a tiny independent that took music out of the boardroom and gave it back to the fans. Stiff's successes included Nick Lowe, the Damned, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Madness, Tracey Ullman and the Pogues. Contributors include Captain Sensible, Jonathan Ross, Suggs, Shane MacGowan and label founders Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson.Spike Island
IMDB 6.3 | Oct , 2012
Teenage musicians travel to England's Spike Island in the hope of attending an outdoor performance by their favorite band, the Stone Roses.Imagine Waking Up Tomorrow and All Music Has Disappeared
IMDB 6 | Apr , 2015
Imagine waking up tomorrow and all music has disappeared. Just like that. What will remain when it is all gone: CDs, iPods, instruments?Money for Nothing: Behind the Business of Pop Music
IMDB 0 | Jan , 2001
The hallmarks of popular music - artist independence and diversity of voices - are threatened by a contracting marketplace of record companies, radio ownership and playlists, as well as increased use in advertising. Big-name artists, historians and economists explain how popular music is produced and marketed and critique its current state.