Won't Anybody Listen

Sep 28 2001 N/A 1h 13m
Documentary, Music

NC-17, whose members included Frank Rogala, Vince Rogala, and Robin Canada, spent two decades playing bars in Los Angeles and Orange County. From 1980 to 1990 they were billed as Exude. They had a college playlist hit with "Boys Just Want to Have Sex" and got two videos on MTV. In 1990 they changed their name to NC-17 and revamped their style into a grungier more Floyd-influenced sound. Filmmaker Dov Kelemer made a documentary of their career struggles. Once the movie was completed--it played on cable, at film festivals, and a few theaters. It's available from the www.anybodylisten.com site. NC-17 has since become inactive, as the members have scattered over several different states. Lead vocalist Frank Rogala remains active on the OC music scene.

Plot

Filmmaker Dov Kelemer's initial project, to create a video of a California rock band to be sold at concerts, eventually evolved into this fascinating and eye-opening feature-length documentary examining the harsh realities of the contemporary music business. Founding members of the band NC-17, brothers Frank and Vince Rogala, left rural Michigan for Southern California, hoping to sign a recording contract and fulfill their dreams of rock 'n' roll glory. Now they just want to make ends meet. What they encountered was a world populated with rock wannabes, where the fewer than one percent who actually achieve some fame seldom see a cent for all their labor. By focusing on the real-life experiences of NC-17, Kelemer reveals an all-too-common portrait of what it is like to be a contemporary musician in America, where life consists of taking part -time jobs, dealing with IRS audits and enduring the scandalous creative accounting practices prevalent in the recording business. "An intriguing, cautionary parable about the fickle nature of stardom" - Variety.

Written by

N/A

Directed by

Dov Kelemer

Cast

Frank Rogala, Vince Rogala, Robin Canada

Crew

View crew

Awards

N/A

Scores
# of Votes
43
Average Rating
8.5 out of 10
Metascore
68
Popularity
NA