Inspirations

If you can, watch Lonely Boy (1962), a short documentary on Paul Anka ("He has a sympathetic personality and a very keen mind..."). It is available on youtube.com and is part of the special features on the DVD Privilege (1967). Scenes from Lonely Boy inspired scenes in Privilege, a British film with a somewhat stilted comment on society at the time. In many ways the story is very similar to A Face in the Crowd and both films seemed to give birth to Medium Cool(1969). All, still rather poignant films today.

In Privilege we see the character, Steven Shorter, reenact the violence and cruelty bestowed upon him when he was thrown into jail. The scene is very punk-rock,blood and all. The punk-rock movement is a good ten years away. You can't help but wonder if Iggy Pop was inspired. It definitely inspired Patti Smith, who recorded Steven Shorter's song, Set Me Free in 1978.