We recently watched Paul Simon’s 1980 film One Trick Pony here at CatSynth HQ. This was his one and only film, which he wrote and starred in. It follows a folk-rock musician Jonah Levin (Simon) who had several big hits in the late 1960s, including an anti-Vietnam War protest song, but now in the late 1970s, he and his band find themselves touring small venues, often riding in a small van around the Midwest, and opening for up-and-coming acts like The B-52s. At the same time, he is struggling with record executives on producing a new album, and with his estranged wife on their relationship and their son.
The film was a commercial and critical flop, and a bit of an obscure artifact of its time. But we at CatSynth really enjoyed it, and were a little confused as to why it was so panned. For one, it features an all-star band that included Simon, bassist Tony Levin (best known for his work with King Crimson), jazz guitarist Eric Gale, jazz and fusion keyboardist Richard Tee (who also did vocals), and drummer Steve Gadd. The original music was a lot of fun, including the bluesy title track played over a disco beat and the catchy “Ace in the Hole”; the band played live in venues like the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio. We were rooting for Jonah and the band in their conflicts with the record company, including Lou Reed in his debut film role as a trendy record producer. And even though the studio sessions didn’t go the way they wanted, it was fun to watch the process of recording to tape, adding in strings and backing vocals, and reviewing the takes together.
And perhaps in this synopsis lies the disconnect with critics and mainstream audiences. It’s really a musicians’ film about musicians’ musicians. There was also the setting and the visuals, including life in New York City in the late 1970s, traveling along freeways, and music clubs on the outskirts of cities, all of which appeal to my own personal aesthetic. It also didn’t follow a traditional story arc, but joined mid-way and ended without a real ending, which again is something that appeals to me – recall my fondness for Michelangelo Antonioni’s “trilogy” (plus Red Desert). So while this film did not resonate with the mainstream, it did with us at CatSynth HQ, human and feline alike. We were the real target audience, 45 years after it was released.
Both the in-film story and the context surrounding it also make one think about one’s own journey, and the challenge of making “the music I want to hear” and the “films and videos I want to see”, and hoping others do as well. Sometimes one succeeds, sometimes a little less so. But hopefully one enjoys the work as it continues.
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