So I never really got the whole Neil Young hype and always thought the only cool thing about him was the model trains he built for his retarded son.
Kim Gordon on on Neil’s Trains:
“Part of the train set was a model cow that made moo-ing noises,” Gordon recalled with a chuckle. “And Neil wasn’t happy with the cow sound. He didn’t think it was realistic enough. So he kept fiddling with the electronics. He’d get the cow to moo, and he’d ask us what we thought. ‘Was it realistic enough? Did it need some more work? What was wrong?’ He was at it for an hour or so. It was amazing how a toy cow could maintain his interest for so long.”
Any way. . . . Neil did some tinkering with some drugs in 1982 in an attempt to make the world more realistic. He got together with his homie Dean Stockwell (who also did the cover art for Young’s 1977 album American Stars and Bars) and wrote what might be one of the best apocalyptic musical comedies for aging drug riddled brains or Saturday morning TV ever. Really this thing plays like PeeWee’s Playhouse on acid.
The high light for me is not Young’s role as a mentally challenged auto mechanic, or Denis Hopper’s role as a shell shocked line cook, but Devo’s place as glowing musical nuclear power plant workers. Not only that but Mark Mothersbaugh has got on a rubber baby mask the entire film. Genius.
At one point Young knocks himself out with a wrench and has a dream of rocking out with Devo and they do a ten min. acid riddled version of version of “My My Hey Hey” with Mothersbaugh singing and playing moog, in a baby mask in a crib!!!!!!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGfiJj0a-E[/youtube]
This is when I realized that Neil Young ruled so many more ballz than I ever gave him credit for. In conclusion if I am ever in arm’s reach of Neil young I will shake his hand and congratulate him on his fine work, encourage him to take more drugs, get back behind the camera, and plead with him for a dvd release of Human Highway. The world needs his director’s commentary track.
(and if I am ever with in leg’s range from the dudes from Unicorns/Islands I’ll kick them in the nuts for naming their new band after this fine piece of work).
Here is the meet and potatoes, for you kids, a lazer disc rip of the flim, enjoy.
If you ever wanted to lean how to talk jive just listen to this record over and over.