50th Anniversary: Brinsley Schwarz and the Fillmore trip

Main image L-R Billy – Bob – Brinsley – Nick (NYC 1970).

The preposterous 1970 launch of the band Brinsley Schwarz – affectionately known to its participants as ‘The Hype’ – is the stuff of rock legend. To describe it in the briefest way possible, its movie logline might read: ‘Over ambitious pop managers launch incompetent beat group by sending a plane-load of drunken journalists to review their debut in New York… hilarity ensues.’

The Cadillac Allocation List

Of course, as we all know, Brinsley Schwarz returned from America with their tails between their legs. Shunned by the media and disillusioned by the outcome of their disastrous launch, they soon adopted a crucial anti-showbiz ethos that gave rise to the London Pub Rock Scene, from which… [cont on P248]

Fame Pushers Ltd previously Wornet Ltd

I wrote about it all in No Sleep Till Canvey Island – The Great Pub Rock Revolution (Virgin Books 2000, 2003, Amazon Kindle 2016) following many years of research, during which I interviewed most of those who took part and assembled the story in minute detail. An abridged version of the story appears in my more recent Cruel To Be Kind – The Life and Music of Nick Lowe (Constable UK, Da Capo Press USA 2019) for which I revisited the story and continued to uncover additional, pertinent detail. By the way, it was great to hear Russell Clark telling the story on the radio (BBC Radio London: The Roberts Elms Show).

Airline dining 1970

A listener to the Elms show called in and said he thought the story would make a great film. Well… many years ago I was approached by a film production company in Hollywood who wanted to option the story for a proposed dramatisation. Lawyers were engaged and draft contracts were faxed back and forth, but nothing came of it. I remember telling Nick Lowe about the possibility of his portrayal in a dramatic reconstruction of ‘The Hype’, to which he replied: ‘Yeah! With Johnny Depp as Dave Robinson!’

Then, as recently as 2017, a film production company in London got in touch and this time No Sleep was optioned as the basis of a movie that would tell the story – ‘based on true events’ – for cinema audiences. Seed money was put up by a prominent film development organisation and US trade publication Variety announced the forthcoming movie in its pages. A scriptwriter was hired and the plot was sweated over for many months. Although I had also been hired as a ‘consultant’ on the project and was asked to provide some facts and figures, I wasn’t allowed to see the script but was assured it was developing nicely. I heard about some of the gags that were being incorporated and laughed. This promised to be entertainment with a capital E, but it doesn’t do to get one’s hopes up especially where ‘movies’ are concerned; last I heard, the film had been axed despite quite a lot of money having been invested and a fair degree of excitement expressed. Never mind. At the time of writing a new treatment is in development.

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