john.foulks I was told about this motion picture from my good friend Rick, and he has always told me to look up this movie from the Web Site and view it, after all of the comments that I have read, I am surely excited about getting this motion picture and seeing it, it is about the group Earth, Wind and Fire, they was one of my favorite singers during the 1970's, right after I came back from Viet-Nam, the motion picture depicts about them coming into the spot light, there many songs and encounters with other groups has made this movie something special to see I was told by Rick, I am looking forward to seeing this motion picture, and I hope many of you are also wondering about this movie.

Woodyanders Harvey Keitel gives a typically top-rate performance in one of his first-ever lead roles as brash, ambitious, uncompromising young staff producer Coleman Buckmaster, a real talented hot shot with a discerning "golden ear" and the son of a famous jazz pianist to boot. Coleman's eager to cut some tracks with the smokin' R&B outfit the Group (none other than Earth, Wind & Fire in their awesomely funky prime), but his rigidly commercial greedhead label A-Chord Records run by uptight, mob-connected middle-of-the-road square Jerry (a properly unhip Ed Nelson) wants him to record a hit single for the hideously insipid Carpenters-like pop pap trio the Pages, an allegedly squeaky clean bunch which includes smarmy pedophile step-dad Franklin (a perfectly vile Bert Parks), bitchy, neurotic daughter Velour (a fine, flighty turn by perky, comely brunette Cynthia Bostwick), and hedonistic smack addict son Gary (former 50's juvenile sitcom staple Jimmy Boyd). The extremely naive and idealistic Coleman must learn pronto how the music business truly works and play the lowdown dirty game as best he can or else he'll lose both the Group and his credibility.Adopting an acrid, incisive, corrosively harsh and unsparingly biased script from syndicated columnist and rock journalist Robert Lipsyte, director Sig Shore (who's most famous for producing "Superfly") shows a decidedly cynical and unflattering depiction of the various bribes, pay-offs, broken promises, back-stabbings, duplicities and double-dealings which are an unpleasant, yet intrinsic part of the largely corrupt rock music business, with particularly thoughtful thematic asides concerning Art vs. Commerce, fighting to retain one's artistic integrity, and the then recent push to homogenize rock into bland, useless, creatively stagnant mainstream respectability. Moreover, this gritty, downbeat gem offers a rare fascinating, minutely detailed and wholly believable backstage glimpse at the recording process as recording booth console cowboy Coleman struggles gamely in his own words to "make chicken salad out of chicken s**t." Appearing in nifty bits are disc jockey and legendary "fifth Beatle" Murray the K as leering, lecherous DJ Big John Little (Velour bites his hand after Big John paws her thigh during a live on-air interview!), New York soul DJ and host of NBC's "Friday Night Videos" Frankie Crocker as his own jazzy'n'jivin' self, R&B singer-songwriter Doris Troy (she penned the lovely "Just One Look") as a church pianist, and tubby, bald-pated 70's blaxploitation favorite Charles MacGregor as a priest at a wedding. The rather poor sound and Allan Metzger's sloppy cinematography inadvertently add to the film's overall ragged, rough-around-the-edges documentary-style authenticity. Although technically a bit lacking, this movie overall still rates as one of the great, most bitterly pessimistic unsung behind-the-scenes rocksploitation gems from the 70's.

ColemanDerrick While it has been more than ten years since I have seen That's The Way of The World, I can say that anyone who sees the picture will appreciate it, and its view of the music industry. Harvey Keitel plays a record executive who appreciates the talent of a band played by Earth Wind and Fire. However, the record company is forcing him to promote a white popular act(based primarily on The Carpenters). While Keitel's character stays true to his heart, the overall message of the movie is that popular culture, expressed by music and images, maintains a discriminatory profile of American culture. If you see this movie, realize that it was made before disco became truly popular in the USA.Another point to mention is that the movie deserves a look, but suffered because it was hard to market. Yes, unfortunately in 1975, American society was still segregated. Black music was marketed to blacks only, while popular music was either rock/heavy metal or melody music. Because white audiences were not as familiar with EWF, they did not care that they were in the picture. On the other hand, this was at the climax of the blaxploitation era, and the soundtrack and appearance of EWF were hyped to black audiences. However, when people saw the film and realized that the group only make brief appearances, they turned away.My point is that because of the racial attitudes of American culture in 1975, the movie was not appreciated as it should have been. So when you watch it, please do so with an open mind. One of the more refreshing things about it is that it is a drama with more substance than style, and easy to get into without always being reminded that you're watching something from the 1970s.Charles Stepney, who was involved in the making of the motion picture, was a close associate of Maurice White. He was involved in EWF's music leading into this project.

cfc_can This is an often amusing insider look at the music business. Keitel plays a producer who is saddled with a G-rated group and is expected to make them popular with the public. There are lots of satirical in-jokes about the egos of recording stars, their managers and the people who run the studios. It has a lot of 70s nostalgia value and many of the philosophies spouted by the characters are still en vogue with the music biz today. All in all, a good job by all involved.