Ladies night:
David Clennon,
Ray Winstone,
and Diane Lane

Absolutely Fabulous

The bizarre story be _Thind the greatest rock movie you’ve never seen BY AARON HILLIS he missing link between punk and riot grrl wasn’t a band or even a fleeting subgenre, but an amazing ¹⁹⁸² Paramount music-biz satire that was never properly released, seen only on late-night cable, crappy bootlegs, and at art-house revivals. That mistake will finally be mended when Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains hits DVD on September ¹⁶, its borderline-obsessive cult following all but guaranteed to expand virally. Have we mentioned it costars two Sex Pistols, a founding member of the Clash, and an underage Diane Lane in a see-through top?

It was a production so chaotic that operator. Yet the film is richer than just the ending was shot two years after it a time capsule, holding up as a feminist wrapped, and Oscar-winning screen- yet seedy and often hilarious rise-writer Nancy Dowd (Coming Home) not and-fall chronicle of a Pennsylvanian only feuded with director and music girl-punk band called the Stains. mogul Lou Adler (who produced the Composed of brashly cynical lead Mamas & the Papas, Carole King, and, singer Corinne “Third Degree” Burns in the more literal sense, rocker son (Lane, barely ¹⁵ at the start of shooting), Cisco Adler), but took her name off the her sister Tracy (Marin Kanter), and project after being groped by a camera cousin Jennifer (Laura Dern, at ¹³!), the

Shaggs-like trio become an overnight sensation thanks to their in-your-face look and attitude. With skunk-striped hair and red lightning-bolt eye makeup that inspire a legion of copycat fans, Burns spits at her audience: “I’m perfect, but nobody in this shithole gets me because I don’t put out.” Teen rebellion is a fact of life, but just how comfortable was previously squeaky-clean Lane in such a provocative role?

“You mean, like, ‘Here are my tits?’” Lane says with a laugh, nearly three decades later. “I was freaking out! The most poignant irony is that my daughter is going to be exactly the age I was when the DVD comes out. It’s not shocking, just a little bit embarrassing that it happens to be your mom.” And while Lane may look tough on film, there’s a reason they call it acting. “At ¹⁵, you’re just an egg out of its shell walking around, trying desperately not to get maimed emotionally. I was just mortified that we were supposed to be as bad as we were as a band. That was my