With the June 15 release of Adam Shankman’s ROCK OF AGES, Warner Bros.’ film adaptation of London’s West End arena rock musical set in 1987 Los Angeles and starring Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta and Tom Cruise, we thought we’d look back at the early history of rock ‘n' roll films.

A two-part story, “The Rise and Fall of the Rock Film” by Thomas Weiner ran in the November and December 1975 issues of American Film™.

Since the “fall,” rock films have amped themselves back up with such diverse and memorable movies as HAIR (1979), PURPLE RAIN (1984), STOP MAKING SENSE (1984), THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984), THE DOORS (1991), 8 MILE (2002) and ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007). As they sing in another rockin’ Shankman film, HAIRSPRAY (2007), “You Can’t Stop the Beat!”