Hello everyone! I just saw Bandwagon last night and some things clicked
with me. Overall, I enjoyed the movie, although I got a little tired of
the two main songs. Seeing a movie filmed in your hometown and featuring
people you have known all of your life is pretty neat, so I must admit
prejudice.
  For instance, the businessman who fired the songwriter in the beginning
is a good friend of my parents. His name is K.D. Kennedy and one of his
businesses is that he owns some mult-use buildings in north Raleigh which
he named the "Kennedy Space Center" (ha ha). Also, one of his daughters
is Lauren Kennedy. You WILL know her one day b/c she is phenominal. She
went to Broughton High School (in the '74-'75 video) and went on to the
Cincinatti Conservatory of Music. After 2 years, she quit because she got
a speaking role in the American debut of "Sunset Boulevard", Andrew Lloyd
Webber's recent hit. She did Sunset in L.A. and NY, then hit the road
with the company. She most recently sang with her boyfriend, Alan ______
(from Jake and the Fatman), at the N.C. Symphony's Pops in the Park on
Labor Day. I say you will know her in the way that you know Sharon
Lawrence (from NYPD Blue), another BHS grad-gone-star.
  Bandwagon stays pretty close to fact geographically. The Brewery IS a
band place in Raleigh, while the Cat's Cradle is in Chapel Hill.
Schoolkids records is right across the street from N.C. State. Many of
the other places were in Raleigh, too. The pool hall is actually the back
room of the "Stingray Lounge", a smoky bar that feels like Pulp Fiction.
The front room was also used in the movie as the place where the first
talked to the fat big-record guy. (you can see the scoreboards of all the
old pinball machines lined up high on the wall. The Stingray is ACTUALLY
next door to the Rialto Theater, the site of the final scene. The Rialto
is Raleigh's big indy movie house, and is currently undergoing a stepwise
renovation. Once they get the new seats, it will be incredible. It does
have a stage, but it is mainly used for movies. (BE SURE TO SEE A NEW
PAGE ON MY WEB SITE:  http://www.unc.edu/~umccall/1987/raleigh.htm  or
raleigh.html, I can't remember!)
  These two places are at a big intersection in Raleigh called "Five
Points". Other places used in the movie from FP are the Hayes Barton
Pharmacy (in the intro), and the place on the street where the redneck
drug dealer revealed to the bassist that the bass was stolen.
  The skyline shown when they returned to Raleigh was indeed Raleigh's.
The one shown on the road (I think Nashville???) was not Raleigh. On the
other hand the bridge where the drummer and Ann hung out for the day was
actually across the Neuse River in north north Raleigh. It is just below
the dam for Falls Lake. It is really a neat place, and was a perfect
setting for that scene.
  By the way, the Brewery was where the crappy heavy metal band played
(F.youF.youF.you...). When the "frat" guys came in and charged the future
bass player after the metal show, they ran out of the back door of the
Brewery. Then they showed the outside scene which was indeed the back of
the Brewery. I'm pointing this out because usually in movies the
geography does not jibe with that shown in the movie.  (In other words,
The Delicate Art of the Rifle was definitely juxtaposed. BTW ..Rifle is a
really good movie. It is not as polished as Bandwagon, but it left me
thinking about some REALLY cool scenes. It is currently on a college tour
which the name escapes me. Go to
 
          http://www.radzone.org/clcfilms/themap.htm
 
to learn about this GREAT movie. I urge all of you to see it.)
 
  So, this brings me to my second point: I have seen both George and Doug
in the last week. Stuck in the middle of old Raleigh, is a shopping
center named Cameron Village. Bound by NCSU student neighborhoods, a
black neighborhood (owned by descendants of the Cameron's slaves),
Broughton High School, and some nice post WWII starter homes. Cameron
Village was supposedly the South's first "shopping center". It consists
of 5 large square, 1-story buildings with all stores accessible to the
parking lots in between. It is not a "mall". While Cameron Village
underwent a major renovation in 1991 and is now one high-falootin'
shopping area, one thing has never changed: Balentine's Cafeteria.
Balentine's has been there since the shopping center was built and from
one menopause green wall to the other it is full of old people. One of
the happy patrons last week wasn't old at all: George Huntley. He was
there with his wife, and looked pretty normal; maybe even a future
meat-two-vegetables-and-a-geritol-er himself (sorry Wilson!).
  The old General Food Stores is now an enormous Eckerd's Drugs. As I was
getting out of the car, up drove an old yellow Duster; the one I later
saw featured in Bandwagon. Who was driving? Of course it was Doug.
  One of the things that drives me crazy about seeing these guys around
is that I never know what to say to them. Are there any questions out
there that I can ask for you??? I will most likely see one of the guys
tomorrow at Oktoberfest, a yearly german festival in Cameron Village.
Please reply SOON if you want me to see it (before 4:00pm ) (I couldn't
even think to ask Doug how his diverticulum was!)
 
 
  One fact I don't think I ever mentioned: If you saw Jerry Macguire, you
may remember that Jerry had a batchelor party where a video was shown
featuring all of his X's. I bet you didn't catch that Mark Pellington,
'74-'75 video director, also directed that video! Incidentally, one of
the girls was actually my neighbor from two doors away growing up. She is
going to be in a movie on HBO soon called "Breast Men". She is realy HOT,
so check her out (her name is Emily Proctor).
  Also, I noticed that the sound for Bandwagon was done by Wally Gagle.
HE is the bass player for a phenominal band named Orbit (from Boston).
Their new CD "Libido Speedway" is by far my favorite since the Smashing
Pumpkins "Mellon... I bought it in May and it is STILL in my 5 disc
changer. Gagle also produced the new Rolling Stones' CD. Maybe the
Connells should get in touch with him because his work is really amazing.
 
  I hope you have enjoyed this late night pontification.
 
Dana McCall
Raleigh