Confessions of a Pop Performer

This is the slightly disappointing follow-up to the money-making CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER. POP PERFORMER tries to emulate the success and formula of that first film, but something about the set-up just doesn't ring true. These films work when they follow a straight forward, episodic format and this one is a satire of the pop scene, following the misadventures of a band whose music is appalling. There's no real reason for the characters to be involved in this stuff and it doesn't fit together too well, but it's still nice to see British actors working hard amidst all the boobs and bums.

There's less of the sex element here, although a handful of set pieces make sure it's still in your face! Robin Askwith once again beds a string of beautiful women in scenes that are generally played for laughs, but these seem to have been tacked-on rather than making up the central plot. One encounter in a music shop to the strains of Spike Milligan's 'Ning Nang Nong' is classic stuff. Instead of sex, the focus is on the accident-prone Askwith, with the laugher factor turned up so high that this resembles an episode of SOME MOTHERS DO 'AVE 'EM!

Still, there's something about watching the dated hijinks – especially in terms of the music – that make watching this film a lot of fun, and it's so light-hearted as to be completely inoffensive. Along with a string of beautiful, completely naked women (including TV star Jill Gascoine), there are turns from Benny Hill regular Bob Todd as a grumpy old boy; DAD'S ARMY's Bill Pertwee as a javelin-wielding cuckold; his co-star Ian Lavender as a randy copper; plus good turns for the regular Bill Maynard and Doris Hare, playing Askwith's mother and replacing the original actress. Director Norman Cohen takes over from the first film's Val Guest and he proves more than able to deliver a funny, fast-paced and chuckle-inducing romp.

Usual ridiculous "Confessions" affair with some pretty funny moments.

Definitely worth seeing for the *incredible* look-alike of Liam Gallagher (singer from UK-band Oasis) on guitar in the band. This alone made me laugh more than the rest of the film. Seriously, it *is* him.

This film also turned a Japanese female into a big fan of Robin Askwith and the Confessions films, so there must be something good in it.

It's apparent that the British love their sex comedies. The U.K. was a veritable hot-bed for the genre. The Confessions series, much like the Adventures Of series, was an R-Rated version of the Carry On movies. Same dated humor but with younger casts, nudity, and the swinging 70's as their setting. I've seen about 15-20 of these films and they all are the same middling British comedies that Canadians and Americans won't get.

This one stars Robin Askwith as Tim Lea, a clumsy young man who gets in cahoots with his brother-in-law over managing an unproven rock band called Kipper. Askwith's job is to get venues and record deals for them and all he does is get into a lot of crazy situations and into the bedroom of some fine women (for the 1970's).

Typically, the acting is filled with double entendres and British humor. Nothing awful but nothing spectacular, either. Interestingly, in this film, Askwith looks like a young Mick Jagger and two scenes in the film extenuate this. In one scene, Timothy needed to replace the drummer for their first gig and he does a pretty good job; enough that he is being chased by groupies. He goes into hiding but one of them finds him and seduces him because she thinks he's Jagger. In another scene, he is in the office of some woman. She asks for a light. Somehow later, the garbage can is on fire and he tries to fan the flames with ridiculous results. He finds an extinguisher and starts spraying this foamy white liquid all over the place and destroys the office. It reminded me of The Rolling Stones' video for "It's Only Rock 'N Roll" where tons of soap bubbles appear on the set. Funny.

It's an O.K. timewaster. I haven't seen the others but I'm guessing like the Carry On series, the Adventures Of series, or the Beach Party with Frankie and Annette if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

Confessions of a Pop Performer, the second film to star Robin Askwith as randy, accident prone fanny-magnet Timmy Lea, sees our clumsy hero trying to find fame and fortune as the drummer for up and coming band 'Kipper'.

Timmy's equally libidinous brother-in-law Sid (Anthony Booth) acts as manager for the group, successfully exploiting his showbiz contacts—including the sexy wife of a music mogul—and it's not long before Timmy is being mobbed by gorgeous groupies and banging much more than his drum kit!

Offering saucy soft-core sex (including frequent, full-frontal, female nudity) and smutty seaside humour, the Confessions series is aimed squarely at those who enjoy their comedy lewd, crude, and unsophisticated, but in an effort to be more outrageous than the first film, Pop Performer takes the crassness and stupidity a little too far and loses a fair amount of the original's charm in the process.

The basic plot is rather hard to swallow (Timmy's drumming skills are non-existent), the tried and tested 'Timmy meets a nice girl' subplot is used once again but goes nowhere, and whilst the first film did at least attempt to throw in some genuinely well written jokes and inventive innuendo along with the slapstick comedy and jiggery-pokery, Pop Performer doesn't try very hard in this department: the humour in this sequel gives new meaning to the word 'lowbrow' and the result just isn't very funny.

Still, even though the format is already beginning to look tired, and the laughs are few and far between, this chapter does deliver the goods when it comes to nudity, and fans of the female form will have much to enjoy: a sexy fan mistakes Timmy for Mick Jagger and tries to seduce him; a kinky S&M swinger gets nekkid at a party; Timmy has it off with a tasty record shop salesgirl; TV star Jill Gascoine gets the not-so-gentle touch from Anthony Booth; and curvy Carry On girl Diane Langton appears as one half of a singing act called The Climax Sisters.

Other familiar faces also appearing, but keeping their clothes on, include Dads Army stars Ian Lavender and Bill Pertwee, husky redhead Rula Lenska, DJ David 'Diddy' Hamilton, and Hi-De-Hi's Linda Regan.

I might agree that this is the best of the "Confessions" series, but I can't agree that its at all funny. There are long stretches of inane and completely boring 'plot' scenes. But by the end of the film some decent opportunities for 'kit-off' have been exploited, which at least makes it memorable. Not likely to feature in the top 100 films.