30 Sept 12th-Sept 18th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Hollywood Record 40 years later, ‘Repo Man’ soundtrack is a jewel of L.A. ’80s punk. BY TOM REARDON F orty years later and the “Repo Man” soundtrack — officially titled “Repo Man (Music From The Original Motion Picture)” — stands the test of time as one of the greatest movie soundtracks ever made. It’s also one of the best collections of punk and wild, weird, underground rock out there. The cult classic, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez, has a pretty perfect soundtrack that features a veri- table who’s-who of the Los Angeles punk scene from the early ‘80s with songs by The Plugz, Circle Jerks, Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies. “I think it’s all great. I love all those songs and listen to them still,” Alex Cox, who wrote and directed the movie, told New Times via email. When the dude who made the movie shares his admiration so plainly, it’s hard to argue with him. There was a music editor on the film who didn’t last long, so Cox stepped in and assumed yet another job on set. The soundtrack’s roots run deep in the L.A. punk rock scene as Cox was assisted in his sonic task by Steven Hufsteter, Tito Larriva, the late Charlie Quintana and Tony Marsico, members of Latino punk act The Plugz. “Alex had been following the L.A. punk scene for a long time. He had been going to UCLA and he was an avid punker,” remem- bers Hufsteter. “There was one of those magical L.A. scene nights where someone was backstage, and I recall them saying something like, ‘I am doing a movie and would you maybe want to do the music for it?’ But, you know, those backstage conver- sations are so full of flakes that you don’t take that stuff seriously.” The Plugz finally came around to the idea of working on the film thanks to an answering machine message. “I was at Tito’s house and the message machine was just spooling through all the messages and this guy says, ‘We have a movie and we’d like you guys to do the music.’ And Tito’s just ignoring it. I was like, ‘What is that?’ and Tito said the guy had been hassling him, then asked, ‘Do we want to do that?’” Hufsteter says. “Repo Man” was executive produced by the late Michael Nesmith — yes, Michael Nesmith of the Monkees, an incredibly prolific songwriter himself. He could have just made the soundtrack but the team involved wanted a band to do it, specifi- cally a band that hadn’t ever made a score before. “We were so lucky,” Hufsteter says. “It had a great deal to do with the place that The Plugz had made for themselves in the punk scene. They wanted that authenticity.” “I would see (Larriva) and the band frequently at punk shows, including the infamous, legendary Elks Lodge Hall show (the Elks Lodge Massacre on March 17, 1979), which the police shut down before The Plugz got to play,” says Cox. “By the time we began ‘Repo Man,’ the lineup had changed and Steve Hufsteter had joined the band. They bestrode punk and Latino music like a colossus and seemed ideal for our film.” The album includes a mix of previously recorded and new songs. Side one kicks off with “Repo Man” by Iggy Pop and a group of hired guns that included Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and Clem Burke of Blondie. “(The producers) were very anxious to get Iggy involved and Iggy was very anxious to get involved because he was very broke at the time,” says Hufsteter. He knew they needed music for the chase scenes and wasn’t sure if he would have to write it himself. “But when I heard Iggy’s riff (for ‘Repo Man’), I knew I didn’t have to because it would tie together the intro song to take his riff and work from there. It’s such a brilliant riff. It’s on a ‘Jaws’ level and just three notes.” Actor Dick Rude, who played Here’s something you don’t see every day, a Repo Man movie poster from Ghana. (Photo courtesy of Alex Cox) >> p 32 ▼ Music
