‘Hog Fever’, the ear movie based on the book by Richard La Plante, is a classic tale of mid-life crisis – with a twist.
The book, ‘Hog Fever‘, first published in 1994 as Richard’s memoir, is the story of how he went from owning one small motorcycle, to becoming, in a very short space of time, a fully-fledged denizen of a sub culture known as ‘RUB’ (Rich Urban Bikers).
A title given to middle aged, upper class, white males that make more money than they know what to do with so they decided to pretend to be bad ass and get a Harley. Unlike real Harley men they get all the trimmings on their bike which usually includes Heated handle bars, luggage racks, stereos, raised back support, cruise control and completely useless items like suicide shifts. Basically they just end up buying a 2 wheeled sedan, but they have no idea how to maintain it.
You’ll never see them exceed the speed limit; actually, you’re lucky to see them ever DO the speed limit.
Any damage that may occur to their Harley will instantly run them at least $2000, merely because of all the bloated accessories they’ve placed on the bike, because of this, they will only take their bikes out on the sunniest of weekend rides and only for short distances. Even if they’re going to some sort of Harley riders get together, they would rather tow their bike in the back of their truck, stay at a nearby Hilton and will only ride their bike a couple of miles from the Hilton to the “meet” the day of the convention.
RUB’s are the only motorcyclist who DO NOT give a wave or a nod to other riders on the road when passing, apparently they are to smug to do so or afraid of crashing by doing something complicated like nodding. – Urban Dictionary
“I’m dribbling into a microphone in a tiny LA sound studio, trying to record an audio book of my memoir ‘Hog Fever’ and the sound engineer looks as bored as I feel.
“Then a thought hits me like the crack of thunder from a V-Twin exhaust. ‘Shit, why don’t I do the Hog screenplay, not the book, and get real actors in, sound effects, rock music, the works? I’ll phone my writing buddy, Kevin Godley – the Scorsese of music video – and we’ll call it an…ear movie.”
‘Hog Fever’ is like an old style radio play: think ‘War of the Worlds’ or even ‘The Archers’. Split into 5 parts, plus soundtrack, and available on CD or digital download (there’s even talk of it being released on vinyl), it tells the tale of Robert Lourdes, a not-very-successful writer – well not as successful as his wife Coco that is. Robert wants something of his very own…we won’t spoil the rest, save to say that the story is recounted by Robert (played by Richard La Plante) to The Shrink – voiced by legendary actor, Terence Stamp.
The entire movie is hilarious, reminding us a lot of the classic Brit comedy we grew up with – ‘The Goon Show’, Monty Python, even ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’.
‘Hog Fever’ was directed by Kevin Godley, who provided many of the character voices, as well as writing 4 of the songs on the soundtrack. Also featured on the soundtrack is ‘Flame On’, by Bauhaus’ Daniel Ash, plus a gorgeous rendition of ‘Night And Day’ by Terence Stamp himself.
Released with the help of a Kickstarter programme, ‘Hog Fever’ is brilliant, and if you’re looking for a last minute Christmas gift (heck – buy it for yourself!), go no further than this. ‘Hog Fever’ is the perfect thing to listen to after Christmas dinner, or for the long drive home afterwards. A word of warning: Terence Stamp’s voice is very soothing…
You can buy ‘Hog Fever’ on Amazon. Find ‘Night And Day‘, and ‘Flame On‘ on iTunes. Watch out for our interview with Kevin Godley about ‘Hog Fever’ and his part in it, coming up in the next few days.
