Links added below including a video of HELLO in the film.... ~
STEPHANIE de SYKES starred in the film, theme song was sung by LYNSEY de PAUL, and BARRY BLUE *
this page and review of 'SIDE by SIDE', was made on july 24th '04, because we think this musical comedy is one of the greatest unheralded films of all time !
u can see the full cast/credits here on this link
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0075217/fullcredits#writers
starring ( STEPHANIE de SYKES ) as JULIE FORRESTER, a rivalry between 2 clubs the GOLDEN NUGGET ran by old-timer MAX NUGGET ( TERRY THOMAS ), RODNEY ( BARRY HUMPHRIES aka Dame Edna ) and VIOLET ( JENNIFER GUY ), and SOUND CITY ran by FLIP ( DAVE MOUNT, drummer for MUD ), and GARY ( BILLY BOYLE), and friends is the main plot of the movie,, there is also romance and a great moral in the ending of the film,
amongst the musicians are ; HELLO, FOX, MUD, STEPHANIE de SYKES, KENNY, the RUBETTES, DESMOND DEKKER and the ISRAELITES, MAC and KATIE KISSOON, and allthough not appearing ; LYNSEY de PAUL and BARRY BLUE and also SKYBAND have songs played in the film, there are a few more bands, but these above mentioned names are the big attractions....
in the first scene u can hear LYNSEY de PAUL and BARRY BLUE singing in the background, the theme song 'SIDE by SIDE'......TOGETHER FOREVER, WHEN YOUR IN LOVE EVERYONE KNOWS'....and....'EVEN WHEN OUR SNEAKERS ARE WORN I'LL BE LOVING YOU LIKE IT's TODAY'.......... CRUMB the old crow of the movie delivers court notices to each club which happen to be - side by side - by knocking on the door of each and stuffing the paper into the faces of each person who greets him, seconds later scenes of the inside of each club are shown, slow piano music played by RODNEY from the Nugget, and a sort of glam-disco coming forth from Sound City with dancing girls...........VIOLET lusts after RODNEY here as she does all throughout the film, he tries to aviod her advances.........
in court Crumb brings up the issue of each club being a disgrace to the city, Violet calls him a parrot face........after some arguing the judge tells them they appear to be able to live SIDE bY SIDE......then he pulls out an old dusty scroll, and declares 'according to the bylaws of 1628 that the township of Sludgely must have only one club where people can attend, he then informs each owner that their club must be brought up to standards of the city so as not to disturb people, and that they must be able to fulfill their obligations as entertainment, then afterwards he will award one club the right to stay open.......
outside the courtroom the Nugget gang pleads with Crumb not to close their club, the janitor/maid Betty played by SHEILA COLLINGS ( is that right ? ) is a good actress and she pleads with Crumb to let the club remain open too, she makes appearances throughout the film,..........Crumb informs here and the gang that england must be saved from the decadent morals of such people and that if there is one thing he hates more than strip shows and variety acts, it is pop music....his phrasing represents that of the ultra-conservative england and is SCARY, BETTY looks frightened......( as were we :) )
GARY tells FLIP he go out searching for some rock groups to play in their club, he jumps on his motorcycle, and ( to our surprise ) comes on SKYBAND's 'BANG OOHHH U GOT ME' ! (a glam track reviewed on page 12 of the 70s invasion ).......
one thing u notice is that FLIP, and GARY's girlfriends who attnd the court hearing and help them out setting up the club and are in most scenes in Sound City are underused, meaning they only utter a line or 2 in the whole film and are only seen smiling or agreeing, Debbie and her friend could have been given some dialogue.......??
back at the Nugget, MAX, VIOLET, and RODNEY are doing an old dance.........forward to SOUND CITY where HELLO are rehearsing 'BEND ME SHAPE ME'.......there is a forgettable scene of slapstick comedy with FLIP and another actor doing slapstick comedy with paint being spilled everywhere.......
back at the Nugget they discuss getting a comedian, RODNEY suggests cousin JULIA, max says but she is 7 yrs old, RODNEY says that was 15 yrs ago, so MAX calls her at her office, the office scene shows a poster of SLADE guitarist DAVE HILL, and finally JULIA ( MRS de SYKES ) enters the picture, she mentions something like 'MR LEERY was gangbanged by JERRY SPANGLED and the DEVIANTS' to someone on the phone, then afterwards MAX's call comes thru........
she says 'uncle max i thought u were dead'........ after talking JULIA agrees to help MAX out and get some comedians for his Nugget club, allthough she explains that they really just deal with funky rock bands in their office, but she'll try...........then GARY pulls up on his motorcycle and proceeds to enter the office to try and possibly talk to someone who heads this office , as he is trying to get some bands to play at SOUND CITY.........a prett brunnette co-worker ( who was that ) asks if JULIA will take lunch into the boss' office, it is at this moment that GARY has been stopped by the security guard who is rude to him, and won' t let him inside, he sees JULIA come out of the boss' office, thinking she is the boss, and says he is to talk with her, the security guard shakes his head and orders him out, he persists and the guard takes him to the door and throws him several feet where he lands on top of JULIA who has just left
akwardly he tries to get off of her, their first meeting and they exchange glances, and he apoligizes , but explains the guard threw him out, she walks away and he chases her down the street, eventually he asks her if she knows any rock bands he could get for his club, he asks him if he knows any comedians he could get for her, he says YES, so they began talking, he imitiates some comedians, she laughs, she says ok she you later, he grabs her in a crowd and insists she go out with him that nite, JULIA agrees, and GARY goes running and jumping yelling, obviously happy......
HELLO passed thru the wall into the club NUGGET in this scene here
the next scene is UNFORGETTABLE, .....JULIA enters a studio and begins to sing 'BORN WITH a SMILE ON MY FACE', the BIG hit she had in ' 74 as herself (STEPHANIE de SYKES), she steals the show for a while at least singing this sunshine-glam-pop, really something else, and with her looks, one can't help but take their eyes off her..........ok stop here, if you really love 70s pop, and want to see the best perfomance by a female ever recorded singing a pop tune from that year, this scene is it, STEPHANIE has so much sex appeal, and charm, just by singing and dancing naturally she turns out an AMAZING performance....
'BORN WITH a SMILE ON MY FACE' '74
I was born with a smile on my face, the whole of my life's been a pantomime. Born with the need to embrace, the life of a clown telling rhymes...
I'm here to help you leisure, give you pleasure! Practice to please you, try to tease you. Make you feel fine, inject some sunshine. Make you feel good, I knew it would!
I was born with a smile on my face, the whole of my life's been a pantomime. Born with the need to embrace, the life of a clown telling rhymes....
Forget the politicians, Nuclear visions, the gloomy headlines, official deadlines, let it all go now, let me show how - its oh so easy to stay with me...
I was born with a smile on my face, the whole of my life's been a pantomime. Born with the need to embrace, the life of a clown telling rhymes...
I was born with a smile on my face, the whole of my life's been a pantomime. Born with the need to embrace, the life of a clown telling rhymes. I was born with a smile on my face, the whole of my life's been a pantomime. Born with the need to embrace...la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,
that evening JULIA and GARY have their big date, they go out on the town and MAC and KATIE come on and sing during their date a sweet soul number, not sure of the title ?.............they proceed to JULIA's apt. where GARY starts to kiss the back of her neck, she tells him to stop, well kinda, she says they are there to watch some of the latest groups, she pops in the video into the vcr and on comes FOX singing 'IMAGINE ME, IMAGINE U', what a GREAT number, NOOSHA is a real standout in her white face makeup, and vintage dress the band all looks high :)............unfortunately the producers cut the clip short, seems only about 2/3 of the song is played.......
next GARY and JULIA are in a fancy restaurant she knows, after ordering she asks him if he knows JOE BAKER the comedian, he says sure, allthough he is lying, she says great, he is sitting right behind you, can you get him to star at the club ? stunned, he hesitates then decides to write him a note, the note says 'the girl i'm with thinks i know u, can u come over and say hello'- ( signed Gary )...... the waiter takes it and hands it to JOE BAKER, and pints to GARY, JULIA proceeds to tell GARY that uncle MAX will be thrilled, all of a sudden GARY says MAX ?, MAX NUGGET ?? is your uncle, she says yes, he begins to get loud and yell saying this is a set up, JULIA says no, no it's not, JOE BAKER comes over and GARY appears very upset, he picks up a pie from the waiter and smashes into JOE's face, JULIA begins to cry hysterically, this is a very funny moment in the film,
GARY splits and heads back to the club where BOB KERR's WHOOPEE BAND are playing an old-time jazz number with improvisation, he tells FLIP about what happened, FLIP says the band are rubbish, BETTY the maid gives GARY some advice on love, he thanks her........
onto the BIG night, to the left the NUGGET announces on it's billboard JOE BAKER as starring comedian, hoards of people are lined up to get into both clubs, the NUGGET will feature acts such as RODNEY on piano, a stripper, JOE BAKER comedian, MAX imitating bird calls, whereas SOUND CITY features all the latest groups......inside the NUGGET RODNEY, plays the keys, inside SOUND CITY DESMOND DEKKER and the ISRAELITES open with a GREAT reggae dance number with cool vocals, DESMOND puts on some good dance moves, the crowd dances along,
at the NUGGET, CRUMB comes in and says he will be judging them very closely and making an inspection to their surprise, MAX tells the bar to give him a stiff drink and to keep them coming, CRUMB starts downing drinks, and begins to get drunk......... VIOLET comes to MAX and says the stripper had the flu and had to take a cab home, MAX insists VIOLET take the job and go and get into costume, she agrees.................
MAX bores the crowd with bird calls for a couple of minutes, then comes on VIOLET in an unforgettable scene, GARY GLITTER's 'I LOVE U LOVE ME LOVE' plays in the background comeplete with disco lights and VIOLET begins to strip down to leather underwear and slashes a whip all over the place, all over RODNEY who can't believe what he is seeing, let it be said JENNIFER GUY steals the show for a couple of minutes in this raunchy scene,........after she is down to her underwear, she stops, and CRUMB begins to lunge forward to try and grab her, by now he is smashed, MAX grabs CRUMB and tells VIOLET, and RODNEY to help him get rid of CRUMB, so they take him out back and toss him over the wall into a trashcan, he gets up with the trashcan on his head, and can' t see where he is going, this is very funny, somehow he barrells into SOUND CITY with the trashcan on his head as HELLO are finishing up a number - 'GAMES UP', this scene is hilarious........over come FLIP, and GARY, CROM says it's his birthday and is so drunk he is not making too much sense, they laugh and said MAX must have did this to CRUMB, FLIP tosses a pie which lands onto CROM's face, he screams i'll have u deported for this, GARY says ' it's the thought that counts' :)
at this point JULIE enters the NUGGET and greets MAX, and RODNEY, over at SOUND CITY glam band KENNY do a super version of 'FANCY PANTS' ! love those shirts with the 'K's'.........a little later FLIP, and GARY decide to go to the NUGGET to wreck the place, they go around back, JULIE enters SOUND CITY from the front at this point, after JOE BAKER's comedy routine GARY says from behind the counter 'champagne on the house', many people get up he gets up and throws a pie and hits JOE BAKER in the face AGAIN, they run over the place, , a guy accidentally grabs VIOLET, and she says'what kinda gal do u think i am' ? and punches his lights out..........and a fight breaks out, soon a bunch of people jion in and chaos is everywhere,......MAX declares 'This is the end, it's the twilght nursing home for me'.........the wall breaks thru from someone being thrown thru and now folks can see both clubs thru the wall, HELLO were playing 'BEND ME SHAPE ME' at this point, but decide to go thru the wall to the NUGGET due to the fight having spilled over into SOUND CITY.....
this is it, this is anarchy in pre-punk england taking place as everyone begins to fight, even BETTY can be seen beating someone over the head in the background with her mop.......and as the walls begin to get torn down and punches and being traded everywhere, makes one imagine that this could have been based on a true story....
MUD had the closing scene singing their 'SIDE by SIDE'
( Actress JENNIFER GUY, and actor/singer BARRY HUMPHRIES ( RODNEY) are in the background behind MUD dancing in this photo, today Barry is well known as DAME EDNA......)
go onto our SIDE by SIDE page 2 for the rst of the review, or maybe buy the film watch it, then come back here...
something else was going on in london around this time too, read below....
July 7-8, 1973, London Rathayatra Festival
The second half of yesterday's story about the katchori took place in Calcutta during the first week of July. This is significant because after this episode Srila Prabhupada was deciding where he would travel to next. This was always an exciting adventure. On this occasion the senior devotees were suggesting that perhaps Srila Prabhupada should go to Hawaii or Los Angeles so that he could rest. However, there was an invitation from the devotees in London to attend the Ratha Yatra festival.
Srila Prabhupada was very expert in engaging his disciples so that they could develop their love and attachment for him. The process of deciding where to travel occurred over and over again, wherever Srila Prabhupada was staying. He would allow his disciples to suggest places and reasons why he should go there. Hawaii was mentioned often because of the nice weather and good fruit. He would listen to his disciple's opinions and then do whatever he wanted. It was a great deal of fun, once I became acquainted with the process.
Sometimes, he would travel to cities all over the world without ever leaving his sitting room. The most important thing for his secretary to know was that until he said, "send a telegram" or "tell them to send us tickets" it was only a suggestion by Srila Prabhupada. It kept his disciples around the world busy painting temples blue and white as these were considered Srila Prabhupada's favorite colors.
I'm not sure, but sometimes I think Srila Prabhupada considered all temples outside of India had the fragrance of an M.A.B. paint store.
On this occasion he said to me, "Srutakirti, what do you think? Should I go to London and attend the Ratha Yatra festival or should I go to Hawaii and rest." I had been with Srila Prabhupada for almost one year and I knew he would do whatever he wanted. I was thrilled that he would even ask for my opinion. Just that one acknowledgment by him was enough to last for my entire life. I responded quickly, "Srila Prabhupada, if you go to the Ratha Yatra festival in London so many people will be benefited by you association." He smiled broadly and said, "Yes, I think your observation is correct." After listening to everyone Srila Prabhupada said, "Thank you for the advice. I am going to London for the Ratha Yatra."
It was an amazing festival. My perspective was limited, since I stayed by Srila Prabhupada's side but it was filled with adventure. Srila Prabhupada was very enthusiastic. His Vyasasana was available on the Ratha cart but he decided to walk with the devotees. Srila Prabhupada was walking in front of the cart clapping his hands to the beat of the kirtan. He would raise his hands in the air encouraging everyone to dance. He looked like the supreme puppeteer. As he raised his hands everyone would leap into the air in ecstasy. It didn't require any purification. If you were near him, you were in bliss. Except for the bobbies (policemen). They were looking for someone in charge. They wanted to calm everyone down. They were keen enough to realize that if they could control Srila Prabhupada, they could control the "unruly" crowd.
Somehow or other they thought I was an 'associate' of Your Divine Grace. One of the bobbies said, "You'll have to tell your leader to sit down. He's causing too much of a disturbance. Everyone is becoming wild and we can't control the crowd." I said, "All right" and then did nothing. It was apparent that Srila Prabhupada was in charge of this festival. I had no idea who was attending but Srila Prabhupada was visibly ecstatic. They approached me again, more firmly, saying, "You must tell him. He'll have to sit down." Again I agreed. With fear of reprisal I tapped Srila Prabhupada on his shoulder and said, "Prabhupada, the policemen, they want you to sit down. They say that you are creating havoc here in the parade." Srila Prabhupada looked through me for a brief moment. He quickly turned away with his arms still raised in the air. Smilingly majestically, he continued walking with a bounce in his step. He allowed everyone present to enter into his world of bliss. He never stopped. He walked the length of the parade. The bobbies gave up their attack. They were no match for the pure devotee and the Lord of the Universe.
Srila Prabhupada, when I said that so many people would be benefited by your association, I had no idea of the plans you had. You were an ocean of mercy, that was being freely given to everyone attending. Please forgive me for tapping you on your shoulder that day. Due to my dullness I attempted to distract you from your mission. Thank you for ignoring my countless shortcomings.
this small story was taken from one of Prtha's newsletters, please see her sites from this link, if u like u can write her and jion her HARE KRSNA newsletter group
http://www.geocities.com/priitaa/krishna_conscious_web_sites.htm
Side By Side
Well we ain't got a barrel of money... We may look ragged and funny... But we're travelin' on... Singing our song... Side by side...
Through all kinds of weather... What if the sky should fall? As long as we're together, It doesn't matter at all. So we ain't got a barrel of money...
We may look ragged and funny... But we're travelin' on... Singing our song... Side by side...
Through all kinds of weather... Drought, flood, rain and snow, We will be together... So it just don't matter at all...
Oh we ain't got a barrel of money... We may look ragged and funny... But we're travelin' on... Singing our song... Side by side...
Don't know what's comin' tomorrow... maybe it's trouble and sorrow... but we'll travel the road... sharin' our load... side by side...
Oh we ain't got a barrel of money... We may look ragged and funny... But we're travelin' on... Singing our song... Side by side...
When they've all had their quarrels and parted... we'll be the same as we started... just travlin' along singin' a song...side by side....!!.....
we'll be bringing more to this page, including many of the credits mentioned at the end of the film such as 'SECOND GENERATION'.........
SIDE by SIDE LINKS;
1 review of SIDE by SIDE at a MUD site -
http://home.hccnet.nl/paula.versnick/mud/films.html
2 HELLO 'BEND ME SHAPE ME' from SIDE by SIDE -
http://www.helloband.co.uk/
if you'd like to ADD anything to our review and have more pictures and/or info ( especially on STEPHANIE de SYKES ) please email the 70s invasion at either -
alan75x@yahoo.com
or
skyelight7@yahoo.com
70s invasion home -
https://www.angelfire.com/vt2/70sinvasion/
'........JUST REMEMBER ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL, EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING........' *
