“1979”

c. 2018 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

(9-18)

My life as a movie script.

It is a concept I have pondered ever since entering the ‘Learning Web’ apprenticeship program, sponsored by Cornell University, in 1978. I landed that year at Channel 13, a local public access television outlet. After learning the various duties involved with local broadcasting, I inquired about hosting a program of cutting-edge, Rock music. The result was a live show which began at 11:30 p.m. on Friday night.

With raucous sounds of Patti Smith, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash and Devo redefining the genre, I decided to call our new series ‘Punk-Out!’ It debuted on January 5^th, 1979, at the Cerrache Cablevision studio on West State Street, in Ithaca, New York.

Over the decades that followed, much of Punk culture has been reviewed, recycled and revived in books, videos and documentary films. Long-lost clubs like CBGB’s have been elevated to the holy status of a church sanctuary. Figures like Sid Vicious have inherited a place in counterculture iconography, after death.

Yet for myself, there has been a sense of work left unfinished. The notion that our story could be told - indeed, should be told - in a motion picture of some kind. Perhaps a historical dramatization, one spiced with artistic embellishment and seeded with requisite points of reference from that period.

I sometimes imagine approaching a film studio or a director with this idea in hand. It is a dream no less surreal than the actual program we created so many years ago:

CAYUGA FILMS: “Hello, this is the office of Cayuga Films, Limited. A division of Mixtar One Entertainment. May I help you?”

ME: “This is Rod Ice, calling from Cleveland, Ohio. I sent you a package of material about my Punk Rock television show...”

CAYUGA FILMS: (Laughing) “Oh, hello Mr. Ice! Yes, we saw your DVD. Quite primitive, it was evident that you shot everything with a single camera.”

ME: “That’s right. We had one color camera at Channel 13. And, I believe, one old black-and-white camera for backup. Did you have a chance to read the information packet I included?”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Mr. Solomeski looked through everything. He is in charge of acquisitions. I was instructed to get more in-depth analysis when you called.”

ME: “I didn’t include enough details?”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Mr. Solomeski wanted to know if this was intended to be a comedy film like ‘Wayne’s World?’

ME: “No, no, not a comedy. Everything I describe, everything on the video is real.”

CAYUGA FILMS: (Pausing) “Okay… the show was hosted by a teenage kid with an armload of vinyl albums and a Japanese, Teisco guitar?”

ME: “I hosted the show. I was 17 at the premiere.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “You did?”

ME: “Yes. After the first week, other people from the station and the community joined our team.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “So, this would be a spoof of television broadcasting? Like a New Wave Seinfeld?”

ME: “No, more of a documentary. Or a historical recreation.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Mr. Solomeski was confused. This is an act you created?”

ME: “No, I was a senior in high school. Class of 1979.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “You would play a high-school kid in this movie?”

ME: “No, I was a high-school kid. The youngest member of the crew at Channel 13. Luckily, a fellow we nicknamed ‘The Guru’ was in charge of the station. He had a lot of patience. And, a lot of knowledge to impart about television production.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “This is a real story? Not a comedy??”

ME: “Yes.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “You actually drove Mr. Guru’s Volkswagen into the studio for a live broadcast?”

ME: “Yes!”

CAYUGA FILMS: “You had bands with names like Anti-Life, Rugcheeze, the Embarrassing Pinworms and S & M with Invisible Dick?”

ME: “S & M was Rod Swindle and Manic McManus. Myself and co-host David Bly. Dick was in a working group at the time and remained invisible so as not to piss off his bandmates.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Your writing is hilarious, we must admit.”

ME: “It isn’t writing. That was what happened on the air in 1979 and 1980.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Mr. Solomeski said he needed a few mixed drinks to get through your video. The look was very authentic, though...”

ME: “Those were VHS outtakes from actual broadcasts. Not an affectation made to look genuine.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Okay, so your idea is to make a movie about a TV show.”

ME: “Yes.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “A TV show hosted by a teenage kid in a leather jacket, mirror sunglasses and chains.”

ME: “Yes.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “That sounds perfect for a comedy film to us, perhaps Jack Black could play the lead?”

ME: “No!”

CAYUGA FILMS: “What do you suppose the target audience might be for a film with that kind of lead character? Fetishism? Bondage enthusiasts? Unemployed musicians?”

ME: “Ma’am, the audience would be middle-aged people like me who remember that era. Or youthful fans seeking to uncover what we experienced.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “I haven’t been called ‘ma’am’ before. That is odd to hear on the telephone.”

ME: “Sorry, I am from Ohio. I spent 33 years in retail management after coming home.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “You did what??”

ME: “I managed grocery stores. It paid the bills while working on my career as a professional writer.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “So, you did not stay in television?”

ME: “No.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you continue studying at Cornell?”

ME: “I wanted to be a Rock & Roll star. Like everyone in my generation.”

CAYUGA FILMS: (Snickering) “Wouldn’t that have conflicted with the Punk ethos?”

ME: “I reckoned it would be ‘cash from chaos’ like the Swindle movie. A way to avoid regular employment.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “I see. But that didn’t work out…?”

ME: “No, I ended up living under a bridge and staying with friends.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “And going home to Ohio?”

ME: “Yes.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Mr. Solomeski said you claimed to be connected to Tommy Hilfiger, the fashion designer?”

ME: “That came after the TV show. I was in a group called Absolute Zero. Tommy’s brother, Andy, played bass. We recorded two 45s and were working on a third. The project never went anywhere.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Okay, and then you went into the newspaper business?”

ME: “I was with two different publications in the Cleveland area. My writing career started in earnest, in 1982.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “What about now?”

ME: “I had to retire at 55 due to health reasons.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “So now, you want to make a comedy film...”

ME: “Not a comedy! I want to tell my life story. I believe it reads like a movie script, word-for-word.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “Do you know how many ideas are submitted every year to our company?”

ME: “I do not. But this one has to be unique.”

CAYUGA FILMS: “I think Mr. Solomeski would agree on that...”

ME: “Then, we can make a deal?”

CAYUGA FILMS: (Laughing) “You’ll get a follow-up call if there is any interest. We have a stable of low-budget directors who work for us, who knows what might transpire...”

ME: “You don’t want to miss an opportunity to be ahead of the curve.”

CAYUGA FILMS: (Snorting) “Don’t call us, we’ll call you. Have a nice day, Mr. Ice!”

My idea for the film would be titled ‘1979.’ This concept has lingered for many years. Perhaps, in time, it will become more than a writing project for my personal column series, here on the Internet.

Comments about ‘Words On The Loose’ may be sent to: icewritesforyou@gmail.com

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