Dogs in Space
Dogs in Space is a
1987 Australian film set in the
post-punk "
little band scene" in
Melbourne, in
1978. It was directed by
Richard Lowenstein, and starred
Michael Hutchence as Sam, the drug-addled frontman of the band the film is named after.
The character of Sam is based on
Sam Sejavka, frontman of Melbourne post-punk band
The Ears, with whom Lowenstein lived in the 1970s.
The soundtrack album was released on Chase Records in February 1987 (CLPX14), featuring several tracks from reformed "little bands" and other contemporary tracks of the time.
The album came in two versions: a censored version in a white sleeve with the band name "Thrush & the Cunts"
bowdlerised to "Thrush and the C**ts" and possibly-offensive song vocal tracks removed, and an "R"-rated version in a black sleeve with all band names in full, movie dialogue between the songs and all vocal tracks in full.
Chase Records went out of business soon after and, despite much effort, the record has never been reissued and has remained unavailable since. It is now a collector's item, commanding high prices. It was only available on LP and cassette and was issued on CD - at least the censored version appeared on discount bins in shopping malls in Lisbon, Portugal, somewhere around 1996-1997.
The Hutchence tracks were his first official solo recordings and his first with
Ollie Olsen. They would later collaborate on the
Max Q recordings.
Side One:# "Dog Food" (
Iggy Pop)# "Dogs In Space" (
Michael Hutchence)# "Win/Lose" (
Ollie Olsen)# "Anthrax" (
Gang of Four)# "Skysaw" (
Brian Eno)# "True Love" (
Marching Girls)# "Shivers" (
Boys Next Door)Side Two:# "Diseases" (Thrush & the Cunts)# "Pumping Ugly Muscle" (The
Primitive Calculators)# "Golf Course" (
Michael Hutchence)# "The Green Dragon" (
Michael Hutchence)# "Shivers" (
Marie Hoy & Friends)# "Endless Sea" (
Iggy Pop)# "Rooms For The Memory" (
Michael Hutchence)
*The house
Dogs in Space was filmed in is located in Berry Street
Richmond, and is the same house Richard Lowenstein and Sam Sejavka lived in the 1970s. It was rented from its new owners and "unrenovated" at considerable expense for the filming.
*The house is for sale and will be auctioned on 19/8/2006. Rumour has it that former cast members will attend.
*The character who played Chuck, the drummer, also lived in the same house. He was asked to play himself due to problems casting the character.
*Sejavka appears momentarily in the film in the party scene, being addressed by Michael Hutchence's character as "Michael".
*Sejavka went on to become a playwright.
*The frequent trips to
Ballarat by residents of the the house are because, at the time, Ballarat had the only
Seven-Eleven which was open 24 hours. If you wanted to satisfy your munchies at 4am, it was a two hour drive north west from Richmond!
*However, the fastest recorded trip to
Ballarat was 65 minutes. This was before speed cameras were invented and represents an average speed of 138 km/h.
*The "Pelaco" sign in the background of the external night shots was already in a dilapidated state in 1986, the production had to have it re-wired to actually light up.
*Richard wrote himself out of the film and several of his exploits were attributed to the Tim character.
*Tim's keyboard device was called the 'Bovanscope' and was a highly-mutated Tandy 50-in-1 electronics kit.
*The boys really did cook up 'skylab' in the oven and try to pass it off to 3XY, who weren't having any of it.
*Terry Towelling Man still lives opposite...
*Chainsaw Baby is now 26...
*
List of Australian filmsCorrection on fastest time to Ballarat for the only 24 hour McDonalds in late 70's - early eighties, was 45 minutes by Andrew Brooke, Peter Milne,
Simon Bonney and Bruno Adams. Andrew was driving his 253 V8
Holden Kingswood!
*
Michael Hutchence (Rarebird)
*
Dogs in Space Soundtrack? (Icebox Chat) —
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The Dogs in Space house (michaelhutchence.com)
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Michael Hutchence Fan Forum
