FOGCUTTER FILM SERIES 12
(Hosted by Robert Mailer Anderson)
Revenge of the Nerds (1984) with performance and Q&A by The Rubinoos before the screening
Fogcutter Film Series hosted by Robert Mailer Anderson
6:00 PM: Gramophone Concert: DJ GrampaPhone spins 78 shellacs on his 1906 gramophone, including FREE Smogcutter Rye and red wine while supplies last!
7:00 PM: Q&A with The Rubinoos and musical performance
7:30 PM: Revenge of the Nerds (1984) Geeky college students Gilbert (Anthony Edwards) and Lewis (Robert Carradine) are evicted from their dormitory when the Alpha Betas -- who recently burned down their own fraternity house by accident -- confiscate the building. When the college forces the freshmen to live in the gym, Gilbert, Lewis and their fellow dorks relocate to a run-down house. When the Alpha Betas, led by jock Stan (Ted McGinley), repeatedly humiliate them, the nerds plot revenge.
THE RUBINOOS: On November 2, 1976, Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States. The events of November 3 were less earth-shaking, although it was the day the power pop pioneers The Rubinoos recorded their first album. The group walked into CBS Studios on Folsom Street in San Francisco to, as band co-founder and singer Jon Rubin recollects, “have a ‘set up and get comfortable in the studio’ kind of affair.” Guitarist Tommy Dunbar, who started the group more than 50 years ago with his childhood pal Rubin, recalls they were told “something like, ‘okay, the tape is going to run, just go ahead and play anything you want’.”
The Rubinoos’ 1977 self-titled debut attracted a good deal of attention and accolades. New York Rocker proclaimed it “the best pop album of the decade.” The group appeared on American Bandstand and their version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” reached no. 45 on the Billboard Top 100 and in the Top 40 in Cashbox.
Success continued with the Rubinoos’ second album, Back to the Drawing Board, featuring the hit single “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” and the band opened for Elvis Costello on his Armed Forces U.S. Tour. Their high water mark happened when they were tapped to create and record the theme song for Revenge of the Nerds in 1984.
The 21st century has seen the Rubinoos still going strong. They have released three studio albums (Automatic Toaster, Twist Pop Sin, and 45), an all-covers album (Crimes Against Music), a children’s music album (Biff-Boff-Boing), three live albums, and several compilations, including a 63-song retrospective Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Rubinoos.
ROBERT MAILER ANDERSON: Anderson is a native San Franciscan, 9th generation Californian, writer, producer, filmmaker, activist, author of the bestselling novel Boonville, and nominated for 3 Grammys as a music producer. His most recent work is the graphic novel My Fairy Godfather (Fantagraphics) - dedicated to The Castro Theater. He is also known as "DJ GrampaPhone” - spinning 78 records on his 120 year old gramophone