re: Non-Phish Show Of The Day Thread

The Live Stiffs Concert Film (1977)



I didn't even know this film existed until yesterday. It follows the tour of acts on the upstart Stiff records label:

quote:

---

Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff Records signed various punk and New Wave acts such as Nick Lowe, The Damned, Lene Lovich, Wreckless Eric, Plummet Airlines, Elvis Costello, and Ian Dury. The label's marketing and advertising was often provocative and witty billing itself as "The World's Most Flexible Record Label". Other slogans were "We came. We saw. We left", "If It Ain't Stiff, It Ain't Worth a frick", and "When You Kill Time, You Murder Success" (printed on promotional wall clocks). On the label of Stiff's sampler compilation Heroes & Cowards was printed: "In '78 everyone born in '45 will be 33-1/3". A very early Stiff sampler album, A Bunch of Stiff Records, introduced the slogan, "If they're dead, we'll sign them" and "Undertakers to the Industry".

---

The video quality here is mediocre to terrible, but the film is a unique document and essential viewing for anyone interested in the New Wave era.