This ran in the US as "The Rock Follies" on Public Television and is probably the best dramatic series ever made about the rock industry. It followed the rise and inevitable disintegration of a female pop trio called the Little Ladies (not the Follies as described in the previous comments) and was totally unflinching in its portrayal of the greed, sleaze, egos, illicit sex and drugs and all of the stuff that goes with rock stardom, particularly 1970's rock stardom. The songs themselves are seen in fairly elaborate production numbers and are pretty weak (except for the ass-kicking theme song found at the start of each episode and heard in its entirety at the end of the series), but if this comes on again, do not miss it. It's 13 60 minute episodes long so have the necessary number of tapes at the ready! And if you recall those ads i the late 1970's with a woman turning to the camera and proclaiming "I'm Rula Lenska," this is where you can finally answer the question "Who the #*&@ is Rula Lenska?"
5 Reviews
Quite perversely tears apart all the good feeling left over from Season 1
210west1 February 2023
Warning: Spoilers
God bless the Little Nell Fan Archive, a YouTube channel, for making all six episodes available after all these years.
That doesn't mean watching this series, four decades after I first did, was an unalloyed pleasure. It is still, basically, a downer. It leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. It ends up crushing, destroying, almost all the good feeling inspired by the first season. One might even say that the self-destruction of this show -- engineered by its creator, Howard Schuman -- echoes the self-destruction of the Little Ladies.
Still, it's quite watchable, continually absorbing, and filled with colorful characters, albeit far less likable than the first season's. (I was glad to see a lot more of Little Nell herself than I'd remembered. She's a refreshing presence, one of the few things in this series to smile at.) Similarly, some of the songs are good, though once again not as many as in the first season.
The two intrusive characters that stuck in my craw 40 years ago are still pretty unwelcome. The crass American manager Kitty Schreiber is as grating as I'd remembered, the sort of caricature dreamed up by a self-hating Jew. She isn't actually malevolent (as is the rock star played by Tim Curry), but she's obnoxious and by her own admission greedy; and while a good actress might perhaps have been able to make her a tad more convincing and even sympathetic, Beth Porter plays her like someone in an amateur production. Inexplicably, this off-putting cartoonish character is allowed to take over and dominate the series.
The other unwelcome character is Rox, the new addition to the group, played by Sue Jones-Davies. We don't get to know much about her except that she's a good gutsy singer and has a thick Welsh accent. Still, strong voice or not, it makes little sense -- in fact it's plain weird -- that she would abruptly be brought in to turn the trio, in its brand new lead-singer/backup-duo configuration, into a quartet.
Introduced into the plot, Rox and Kitty are the means by which Schuman destroys what he created in "Rock Follies."
However, as someone remarks, perhaps the true villain of the piece, which leads to the group's downfall, isn't so much Kitty as sheer logic. As a singer, Julie Covington was simply a far bigger talent than her two partners (and her talent even animates her acting); she simply outshone them. Rula Lenska, in particular, had a notably weak voice. As characters that Season 1 made us care about, the three women, each so different, had terrific chemistry together; it was what made the show such a joy. But in real life, given the nature of the rock world, it would probably have been only a matter of time before the group failed or before Dee became the lead singer, as happens here. And that same logic suggests that, in real life as in the TV series, one of her two fellow members would have balked at being relegated to backup singer and, humiliated, might well have quit.
What's downright perplexing, though, is why Schuman chose to be so cynically realistic so quickly -- in the show's second outing, no less -- throwing away in Season 2 the extremely winning trio he'd created in Season 1.
That doesn't mean watching this series, four decades after I first did, was an unalloyed pleasure. It is still, basically, a downer. It leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. It ends up crushing, destroying, almost all the good feeling inspired by the first season. One might even say that the self-destruction of this show -- engineered by its creator, Howard Schuman -- echoes the self-destruction of the Little Ladies.
Still, it's quite watchable, continually absorbing, and filled with colorful characters, albeit far less likable than the first season's. (I was glad to see a lot more of Little Nell herself than I'd remembered. She's a refreshing presence, one of the few things in this series to smile at.) Similarly, some of the songs are good, though once again not as many as in the first season.
The two intrusive characters that stuck in my craw 40 years ago are still pretty unwelcome. The crass American manager Kitty Schreiber is as grating as I'd remembered, the sort of caricature dreamed up by a self-hating Jew. She isn't actually malevolent (as is the rock star played by Tim Curry), but she's obnoxious and by her own admission greedy; and while a good actress might perhaps have been able to make her a tad more convincing and even sympathetic, Beth Porter plays her like someone in an amateur production. Inexplicably, this off-putting cartoonish character is allowed to take over and dominate the series.
The other unwelcome character is Rox, the new addition to the group, played by Sue Jones-Davies. We don't get to know much about her except that she's a good gutsy singer and has a thick Welsh accent. Still, strong voice or not, it makes little sense -- in fact it's plain weird -- that she would abruptly be brought in to turn the trio, in its brand new lead-singer/backup-duo configuration, into a quartet.
Introduced into the plot, Rox and Kitty are the means by which Schuman destroys what he created in "Rock Follies."
However, as someone remarks, perhaps the true villain of the piece, which leads to the group's downfall, isn't so much Kitty as sheer logic. As a singer, Julie Covington was simply a far bigger talent than her two partners (and her talent even animates her acting); she simply outshone them. Rula Lenska, in particular, had a notably weak voice. As characters that Season 1 made us care about, the three women, each so different, had terrific chemistry together; it was what made the show such a joy. But in real life, given the nature of the rock world, it would probably have been only a matter of time before the group failed or before Dee became the lead singer, as happens here. And that same logic suggests that, in real life as in the TV series, one of her two fellow members would have balked at being relegated to backup singer and, humiliated, might well have quit.
What's downright perplexing, though, is why Schuman chose to be so cynically realistic so quickly -- in the show's second outing, no less -- throwing away in Season 2 the extremely winning trio he'd created in Season 1.
It is on DVD...
TheEnglishman13 August 2005
...well, it is in the UK anyway. My wife brought both Rock Follies series back from the UK this summer. Excellent. When they were originally shown in the UK, the second series had some associated industrial dispute and I never got to see the last episodes.
The music is great, Andy Mackay (Roxy Music) showing a huge range of styles. Only JC can actually sing, but the band holds it together. Well worth a watch. I think the songs are better in series one, the "single" in RF77 is okay, though the B side is more to my taste, despite Charlotte's dodgy voice.
There are obvious comparisons with other fictional rock-mock-umentaries, but for my money this is up there with "The Commitments".
The music is great, Andy Mackay (Roxy Music) showing a huge range of styles. Only JC can actually sing, but the band holds it together. Well worth a watch. I think the songs are better in series one, the "single" in RF77 is okay, though the B side is more to my taste, despite Charlotte's dodgy voice.
There are obvious comparisons with other fictional rock-mock-umentaries, but for my money this is up there with "The Commitments".
Rock Follies DVD Please!
AustinKatAnne18 March 2004
I agree with the previous poster, and wish this were on DVD. Is there a master "Wish List" anywhere?? I'd also want to add "My Mother Fred" to that list if it exists!
Rock Follies was a wonderful series, and I would dearly love to revisit it. It played on PBS in the Chicago area, I think. It was worth the trouble to juggle schedules in order to enjoy this one as a couple, since it was romantic, dramatic, musical, and funny. I do remember the hair commercials by Rula Lenska, who was quite a character.
One song that has always haunted me was sung by the group while dressed in WW2 uniform - something like "Glenn Miller is missing, why do I feel so cold?" There were recent articles about the centenary of Glenn Miller's birth, which made me remember this show.
Rock Follies was a wonderful series, and I would dearly love to revisit it. It played on PBS in the Chicago area, I think. It was worth the trouble to juggle schedules in order to enjoy this one as a couple, since it was romantic, dramatic, musical, and funny. I do remember the hair commercials by Rula Lenska, who was quite a character.
One song that has always haunted me was sung by the group while dressed in WW2 uniform - something like "Glenn Miller is missing, why do I feel so cold?" There were recent articles about the centenary of Glenn Miller's birth, which made me remember this show.
Rock On!!
buckaroobanzai5029 April 2003
This was a brilliant series about a trio of young women who form a group, the Follies of the title, and become hugely successful. We follow their ups and downs as they perform on numerous tours and venues. The actresses actually sang to live music, quite an achievement compared to the boy and girl bands of today, who can only manage to mime during P.A.'s (Pah!). One of them, Julie Covington, had a solo number one hit in England during the '70s. Rula Lenska, a real life member of the Russian royalty, went on to star in many TV shows including Minder, among others.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
