I Want To Live In A House

March 3, 2015 5:43 AM

Once upon a time there was a family that lived in a pub. Starstruck is an Australian musical released in 1982, directed by Gillian Armstrong, which was her second major film after 'My Brilliant Career'.

Jackie (Jo Kennedy) is an ambitious 18 year old singing barmaid who lives with her family in a pub just a stone's throw from the pylons on the south side of Sydney Harbour bridge.

Angus (Ross O'Donovan) is her precocious 14 year old cousin and manager, who intends to make Jackie a star by hook or by crook. He has a simple philosophy: 'Start out wanting a Volkswagen and you'll end up with the Volkswagen. If you start out wanting a Jag, you'll end up with a Jag.'

The score and soundtrack was composed and collated by Phil Judd, formerly of Split Enz, who also appeared in the movie. Here are songs from the movie as they appear on the soundtrack:

Starstruck
Temper Temper
It's Not Enough
Tough
I Want To Live In A House
Body and Soul
My Belief in You
Monkey In Me

The movie has been reviewed by many people since its release and it has become a cult classic.

posted by h00py (11 comments total)

I love Starstruck! You will never get "Body and Soul" out of your head.
posted by evilcupcakes at 5:57 AM on March 3, 2015 [3 favorites]

Oh jeez, this has been on my "must see" list for ages. I loved My Brilliant Career. Thank you, h00py!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 6:19 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I saw this when it came out in US theatres and then bought a copy in beta (yeah, we know how that turned out). I loved this film, thanks for the posting!
posted by Bella Donna at 6:40 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

I saw this movie four times at the movies when I was 14 and countless times on video until my copy died. It's so hard to track down the full movie now but it's started to be shown at midnight cult movie showings recently so here's hoping it won't be hard to track down online soon.
posted by h00py at 6:48 AM on March 3, 2015

Love! I saw this movie in the theater when it came to the US and was obsessed with it. I had a cassette of the soundtrack that I listened to for years and years, until it vanished in some more or other. I met very few people who had seen the film - but some folks who had heard of it but not seen it and/or knew the soundtrack.

After the introduction of DVDs, I periodically check to see if it was available. As soon as it was, I ordered a copy, lickety-split. My husband and I sat down to watch it, and I was kinda amazed - it was much stranger than I remembered (I had no memories of the guys in Speedos pool sequence, I think 14 year old Angus was more my speed back in 1982) but it holds up really well.

Thanks for the memories!
posted by Squeak Attack at 7:10 AM on March 3, 2015 [2 favorites]

I have loved this song since the movie first came out:

"One Good Reason" by The Swingers

Though, truth be told, I thought the song was titled "Gimme Love."
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:45 AM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh so much fun. I last saw this in my early teens, and I *still* know the songs.
posted by mythical anthropomorphic amphibian at 2:12 PM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Other awesome singing Australian things include the series Sweet and Sour produced by ABC tv, and featuring the amazing Deborah Conway doing the singing bits.

(My husband is sitting next to me, and when I checked that link he might have said something like 'whoa, eighties overload' - um, yeah).
posted by mythical anthropomorphic amphibian at 2:15 PM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, my... I need to see this again. Wonder where my VHS is hiding...
posted by Rabarberofficer at 3:49 PM on March 3, 2015

Great movie! Thanks for posting!
posted by ericthegardener at 9:01 PM on March 3, 2015

You can't mention The Swingers without linking the great Counting the Beat.
posted by Wolof at 11:16 PM on March 3, 2015 [1 favorite]