| Confessions of a Pop Performer | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Norman Cohen |
| Written by | Christopher Wood |
| Produced by | Greg Smith Michael Klinger (executive producer) |
| Starring | Robin Askwith Antony Booth |
| Cinematography | Alan Hume |
| Edited by | Geoffrey Foot |
Production | |
| Distributed by | Columbia-Warner Distributors |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Confessions of a Pop Performer is a 1975 British sex-farce film directed by Norman Cohen and starring Robin Askwith.[1] It is the second instalment in the Confessions series and continues the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the Christopher Wood novel Confessions from the Pop Scene,[2] which was later re-published under the film's title.[3]
Sidney overhears a band in his local pub and aspires to be their manager, not so ably assisted by his brother-in-law, Timmy, both still window cleaning for a living. They rename the band Kipper and after a misfortune, Timmy joins the line-up and many sexual encounters follow as a result. Unfortunately, Timmy's natural talent is more mayhem than rock star and disaster ensues of mostly the semi-clothed kind.
Confessions of a Pop Performer was the only film in the series to spawn a soundtrack album (Polydor 2383350[4]), with musical numbers produced by Ed Welch, and credited to the film's fictional groups Kipper and The Climax Sisters, the latter played by Diane Langton and Linda Regan in the film, although Sue Martine provides Regan's singing voice. All lead vocals for Kipper were sung by Maynard Williams. The album also includes music from Confessions of a Window Cleaner and in-character ‘Timmy Chat’ from Robin Askwith
Side 1
Side 2
Monthly Film Bulletin said "Creaky gags, overly familiar slapstick routines, sniggering innuendo, grimly leaden mugging and a nervously regular injection of titillating sequences on the lines of the average German sex comedy: the follow-up to the huge box-office success of Confessions of a Window Cleaner is everything one has come to dread in British comedy. With hindsight, there seems to be a certain inevitability about this crossing of the Carry On series (now well into middle age) with the ethos of the working class anti-heroes that emerged in the early Sixties: Sidney James has found his younger alter ego in the charmless Robin Askwith, a kind of callow reductio ad absurdum of the early Albert Finney/Tom Courtenay characters. In this light, the trundling out of the gorilla suit from Morgan seems to be a particularly cynical nail driven into the coffin."[5]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Robin Askwith abandons his window-cleaning round to help organise a tour for a band of no-hopers and finds himself knee-deep in groupies (the finale at the Palladium has to be seen to be believed). Askwith struggles with a dismal script and comes off much better than Tony Blair's father-in-law, Anthony Booth."[6]
Confessions of a Pop Performer was voted joint ‘Worst British Film of 1975’ by Sight & Sound magazine, tying with The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[citation needed]
