Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Not So Quiet on the Set

While much is being made of pop stars Beyoncé and Mos Def portraying music icons Etta James and Chuck Berry in the movie Cadillac Records, several San Diego artists have also had stints impersonating hit-makers of the ’50s and ’60s.

In 1989, Mojo Nixon made his film debut in Great Balls of Fire, portraying James Van Eaton, drummer with Jerry Lee Lewis (played by Dennis Quaid) and other ’50s-era Sun Records artists. Nixon, a proficient drummer, spent several weeks studying vintage TV clips and changed his drumming style to match that of Van Eaton. However, as it turned out, the skills of Nixon and movie bandmates John Doe and Jimmie Vaughan were never utilized. The actors mimed Lewis’s original Sun Records recordings.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A decade later, blink-182’s Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus portrayed ’60s surf duo Jan and Dean in the 1999 CBS-TV mini-series Shake, Rattle & Roll. Their musical input in the program was minimal, singing a bit of “Dead Man’s Curve” in a scene set around a publisher’s piano.

In 2004, Jason Mraz portrayed Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts fame on NBC-TV’s teen drama American Dreams. Set in the ’60s and based around Dick Clark’s music-TV show American Bandstand, the plotline included Mraz as a guest on the show crooning his own take of DiMucci’s “Ruby Baby.”

Only one local group has been re-created for cinematic purposes — Rosie and the Originals. The part of Rosie Hamlin was played by Jeanette Jurado of vocal trio Exposé. Jurado and actors playing the band sang Rosie and the Originals’ lone hit, 1962’s “Angel Baby,” during a scene of an early ’60s teen dance in the 1995 film My Family.

According to Nixon, attention to detail in Great Balls of Fire was important to his role, but only to a point. “Van Eaton told me he used to put his wallet on his tom drum to deaden the sound. When I did it for a scene, the producer told me not to bother, since you probably couldn’t see it on the screen anyway.”

Nixon spent a month in London and three months in Memphis working on the film and cites his time between takes as the most exciting. Although the band was miming, the equipment was real, so the musicians would jam whenever the cameras weren’t rolling. The ad hoc band even managed to squeeze in a few gigs. “We were staying a block off Beale Street, so we went and borrowed equipment from one of the bands playing in a bar there. The crowd wouldn’t let us pay for our drinks, and we got to play rock ’n’ roll where it all started. Does it get any better?”

Though Nixon is now semiretired from music and concentrates on his Sirius Radio show, The Loon in the Afternoon, if the opportunity arose, he would jump at the chance to play ’50s rocker J.P. Richardson — the Big Bopper. The singer of 1958 hit “Chantilly Lace” died in the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens and has been portrayed in several films, including The Day the Music Died, due February 3. Nixon considers his own booming voice and larger-than-life personality a perfect fit for the part. “That’s a role I was born to play,” he laughs.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Michael Tiernan doesn’t toot his own horn

Instead, he writes songs for other people — and companies
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Gentrification is scarier than Bandhaunt

But Queen Bee’s show still spooks North Park

While much is being made of pop stars Beyoncé and Mos Def portraying music icons Etta James and Chuck Berry in the movie Cadillac Records, several San Diego artists have also had stints impersonating hit-makers of the ’50s and ’60s.

In 1989, Mojo Nixon made his film debut in Great Balls of Fire, portraying James Van Eaton, drummer with Jerry Lee Lewis (played by Dennis Quaid) and other ’50s-era Sun Records artists. Nixon, a proficient drummer, spent several weeks studying vintage TV clips and changed his drumming style to match that of Van Eaton. However, as it turned out, the skills of Nixon and movie bandmates John Doe and Jimmie Vaughan were never utilized. The actors mimed Lewis’s original Sun Records recordings.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A decade later, blink-182’s Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus portrayed ’60s surf duo Jan and Dean in the 1999 CBS-TV mini-series Shake, Rattle & Roll. Their musical input in the program was minimal, singing a bit of “Dead Man’s Curve” in a scene set around a publisher’s piano.

In 2004, Jason Mraz portrayed Dion DiMucci of Dion and the Belmonts fame on NBC-TV’s teen drama American Dreams. Set in the ’60s and based around Dick Clark’s music-TV show American Bandstand, the plotline included Mraz as a guest on the show crooning his own take of DiMucci’s “Ruby Baby.”

Only one local group has been re-created for cinematic purposes — Rosie and the Originals. The part of Rosie Hamlin was played by Jeanette Jurado of vocal trio Exposé. Jurado and actors playing the band sang Rosie and the Originals’ lone hit, 1962’s “Angel Baby,” during a scene of an early ’60s teen dance in the 1995 film My Family.

According to Nixon, attention to detail in Great Balls of Fire was important to his role, but only to a point. “Van Eaton told me he used to put his wallet on his tom drum to deaden the sound. When I did it for a scene, the producer told me not to bother, since you probably couldn’t see it on the screen anyway.”

Nixon spent a month in London and three months in Memphis working on the film and cites his time between takes as the most exciting. Although the band was miming, the equipment was real, so the musicians would jam whenever the cameras weren’t rolling. The ad hoc band even managed to squeeze in a few gigs. “We were staying a block off Beale Street, so we went and borrowed equipment from one of the bands playing in a bar there. The crowd wouldn’t let us pay for our drinks, and we got to play rock ’n’ roll where it all started. Does it get any better?”

Though Nixon is now semiretired from music and concentrates on his Sirius Radio show, The Loon in the Afternoon, if the opportunity arose, he would jump at the chance to play ’50s rocker J.P. Richardson — the Big Bopper. The singer of 1958 hit “Chantilly Lace” died in the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens and has been portrayed in several films, including The Day the Music Died, due February 3. Nixon considers his own booming voice and larger-than-life personality a perfect fit for the part. “That’s a role I was born to play,” he laughs.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Crimes against San Diego pets

Kensington, Little Italy, Ocean Beach, City Heights, Tijuana, Prescott, Arizona
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Gentrification is scarier than Bandhaunt

But Queen Bee’s show still spooks North Park
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader