BIOGRAPH TIMES: 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' (1979)

Comment by Rebus: 

To promote "Rock 'n' Roll High School" (1979), Rea used an old gimmick he borrowed from his stint in the radio business. The movie, itself, is a frothy, kids-vs-authority-figures comedy featuring The Ramones. 

Once again, Rea brought in WGOE as a promotion partner. The scheme involved high schools and signatures on petitions. The school that gathered the most signatures won the contest to be declared Richmond's Rock 'n' Roll High School by the radio station. 

The winning students who participated won a free midnight screening of the movie, just for them, on opening night. They also got Biograph/Ramones T-shirts that Rea designed (see art above), bumper stickers and some other souvenirs.   

Anyway, the smallest school in the game, Open High, won the contest, easily. 

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The movie premiered on September 21, 1979, and ran for 15 weekends at midnight. The kids at that opening night screening had a good time.

The "Rock 'n' Roll High School" promotion happened a year or two after Joey Ramone passed out on the stairway in the Biograph's lobby. That happened during a rootin'-tootin' Halloween costume party that evolved into a Ramones performance afterparty. 

The Ramones had played live earlier that night at the VCU gym, located less than two blocks from the theater. Long-legged Joey was sprawled out on the steps in such a way that made getting past him more difficult than it ought to have been. I don't remember how many other Ramones were at the party, or not. 

But I do vaguely remember that it was one of those late parties that got a little too crowded for its own good. 

Bumper sticker designed and printed by Chuck Wrenn.  

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