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Teen-Beat 564.

Amateur on Plastic

(Starring Butch Willis)

A documentary film focusing on DC-area rock'n'roll musician and songwriter, Butch Willis. He, and his band The Rocks, took the city by storm in the mid-1980s. The band also featured the wildly engaging throat guitarist Al Breon. Amateur on Plastic also parallels the 1990’s era of the seminal indie label Teen-Beat. Behind-the-scenes glimpses at the label’s concerts and private parties provide much of the background.

The film is available on both the popular VHS and DVD formats (below) and also available to rent or purchase digitally via Factory 25. If you prefer the convenience of streaming, you can see it on NightFlight Plus. Watch it tonight.

DVD ($16,66)

Price includes free shipping within USA.

VHS ($22,00)

Purchase from our pals Midheaven/Revolver.

Purchase

Purchase

FILM TRAILER No.1

MUSIC

Butch Willis

MOVIE TRAILER No.1

MUSIC

Butch Willis

MOVIE TRAILER No.4

MUSIC

The Passionate and Objective Jokerfan
(Matt Farley)

DESCRIPTION

Butch Willis is a Washington, D.C. rock legend. Born and raised in 1960s suburban Maryland, Byron Henry "Butch" Willis came of age in the late '70s post-hippie subculture. After sharing an apartment with infamous local music icon Root Boy Slim, Butch was inspired to become a rock'n'roll star himself.

The unique and unusual brand of "outsider music" that Butch Willis & The Rocks created captivated the local music scene beginning with their appearance at the seminal Primitive Night in 1984. AMATEUR ON PLASTIC chronicles Butch's life and career from the beginning all the way through to present day. It features a host of Butch-appointed band managers Joe Lee (Joe's Record Paradise), Jeff Mentges (No Trend), Jeff Krulik (Heavy Metal Parking Lot), and director Mark Robinson (Unrest/Teen-Beat). Also co-starring is Al Breon, the Rocks' innovative "throat guitarist." The film combines archival footage, interviews with Butch, and performances of his hit songs "Drugs," "The Garden’s Outside," "TV's From Outer Space," and "The Girl's on My Mind." Stylistically, the film unintentionally hovers between amateurish and avant-garde, much like Butch's own music and career.

Amateur on Plastic also parallels the 1990’s era of the seminal indie label Teen-Beat. Behind-the-scenes glimpses at the label’s concerts and private parties provide much of the background and feature members of the bands Unrest, Versus, Tuscadero and more.

LINER NOTES

DIRECTOR

Mark Robinson

PRODUCER

Teen-Beat Record and Filmworks

SOUNDTRACK MUSIC

Butch Willis,
Butch Willis and The Rocks,
Butch Willis and D Flat,
Viva Satellite!

EQUIPMENT

filmed on an Canon HV20 camcorder with tripod
from June, 2007 through December, 2017.
Archival footage and photographs filmed on an assortment of devices; 1980 - 2006.

EDITED

in Final Cut Pro 7 and X
on three Apple iMac computers
(model years 2005, 2010, and 2017) and one Apple MacBook Pro 13 computer (2017).

DESIGN

Mark Robinson, Teen-Beat Graphica

CREW

CASTING

Joe Lee

GANG BOSS

Jeff Krulik

BEST BOY

Jonny Cohen

CO-STARRING

(INTERVIEWERS)

Joe Lee
Jeff Mentges
Jeff Krulik
John Heyn
Mr. Rock’n’Roll
Pat Carroll
Dick Bangham
Adele Abrams
Phil Milstein
Andrew Beaujon
Heather Lieser
Mark Robinson
Chris Callahan
Trevor Kampmann
Jonny Cohen

CAST

IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE

Logan Perkins
Byron Henry “Butch” Willis
Joe Lee
Nancy Marion
Amanda Riecken
Al Breon
Ron "Blelvis" Wooten
Ray Wallace
Dean “Dean X” Evangelista
Jonathan "Cap'n Jon" Curlin
Jeff Mentges
Steve Lorber
Dick Bangham
Pat Carroll
Jeff Krulik
John Heyn
Florence Willis
Phil Milstein
Ken Rudd
Keith Waldron
Curtis Lafley
Foster “Root Boy Slim” MacKenzie III
Adele Abrams
Karl Straub
Mark Robinson
Chris Callahan
Miguel Gomez
John Lindaman
Johanna Bauman
Pat Ramos
James Baluyut
Stuart Chandler
Alice Despard
Natalie Mencinsky
Tom Krauth
Charlotte Moore
Lili Schülder
Mat Lewis
Rob Christiansen
Jonny Cohen
Lauren Feldsher
Michelle Tiger
Jenny Toomey
Andrew Beaujon
Dave Park
Melanie Park
Karen Carmody
Alec Bourgeois
Margaret McCartney
Ben Currier
Gabriel Stout
Dan Morrissey
Evelyn Hurley
Phil Krauth
Ken Arneson
Bridget Cross
Matt Datesman
Ginger Brooks
Brendan Canty
Kathi Wilcox
Guy Picciotto
Phil Satlof
Jeffrey Rotter
Missy Farris
Monique Lavie
Ed Baluyut
Dina Passman
John Masters
Juliet Swango
Karl Hendricks
Brian Welcker
Christina Billotte
Delia Gonzalez
Richard “Dick” Dudley
Jeff Gramm
Fred Kovey
Ginger Crockett
Rose Li
Paige Smith
Greg Allen
Ann Ramos
Christian Goodwillie
Marc Masters
Jack Hornady
Sam Janotta
Erin Smith
Robin Hurley
Todd “Kshake” Massey
Don Smith
James Gordon Meek
Trevor Kampmann
Lawrence McDonald
Fontaine Toups
Kim Arnold
Concetta “Princess Superstar” Kirschner
Michael Anzalone
William Berger
James Kavousi
Richard Baluyut
James Noble
Doug Bailey
Allison Rigo
Phil Sweeney
Tony Zanella
Hershal Shevade
Jonah Rainey
Pete Biby
Gene Romanovsky
Ian MacKaye
Scott DeSimon
Evan Shurak
Gibby Haynes
Steve Kiviat
Jeff Krulik St. Patrick’s Day friends ??
Oakley Munson
Cory Shane
Darian Zahedi
Jonathan Marx
Yalan Papillons
Duane Straub
Margaret McGowen
Ian Jones
Jeannine Durfee
Greg Pavlovcak
John Cook
James Tritten
Tracy Shedd

LIST OF SCREENINGS

No.1 (Preview Screening)
Black Cat
Washington, D.C.
December 26, 2018; 7:00 PM

No.2 (Preview Screening)
Spectacle Theater
Brooklyn, New York
February 9, 2019; 5:00 PM

No.3 (Preview Screening)
Spectacle Theater
Brooklyn, New York
February 9, 2019; 7:30 PM

No.4 (Preview Screening)
PhilaMOCA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 10, 2019; 5:00 PM

No.5 (Festival Screening)
Byrd Theater
The James River Film Festival
Richmond, Virginia
March 17, 2019; 4:00 PM

No.6 (Chicagoland Screening)
Firehouse Grill
Evanston, Illinois
November 18, 2019; 7:30 PM

No.7 (Boston Premiere)
Somerville Theatre Microcinema
Somerville, Massachusetts
December 5, 2019; 7:30 PM

No.8 (Durham Premiere)
Shadowbox Studio
Durham, North Carolina
December 7, 2019; 7:30 PM

No.9 (D.C. Premiere)
Songbyrd
Washington, D.C.
December 29, 2019; 8:30 PM

No.10 (Paris Premiere)
Chair de Poule
Paris, France
January 16, 2020

No.11 (Cologne Premiere)
Lichtspiele Kalk
Cologne, Germany
January 17, 2020

No.12 (Vienna Premiere)
Grill-X
Vienna, Austria
January 19, 2020

No.13 (Rockuary Festival Screening)
Spectacle Theater
Brooklyn, New York
February 2, 2020; 5:00 PM

No.14 (Rockuary Festival Screening)
Spectacle Theater
Brooklyn, New York
February 3, 2020; 10:00 PM

No.15 (Rockuary Festival Screening)
Spectacle Theater
Brooklyn, New York
February 6, 2020; 7:30 PM

No.16 (Rockuary Festival Screening)
Spectacle Theater
Brooklyn, New York
February 24, 2020; 10:00 PM

No.17 (San Francisco Premiere)
Mule Gallery
San Francisco, CA
March 21, 2020; 7:00 PM, CANCELLED

No.18 (Los Angeles Premiere)
Zebulon
Los Angeles, CA
March 22, 2020; 9:00 PM, POST-PONED

No.19
Rhizome
Washington, D.C.
April 18, 2020; 7:00 PM, POST-PONED

No.20 (San Francisco Premiere)
San Francisco Public Library, Richmond Branch
San Francisco, CA
August 15, 2024; 6:00 PM

No.21 (New Jersey Premiere)
Hoboken Public Library
Hoboken, NJ
October 24, 2024; 6:00 PM

DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY

Mark Robinson is an indie-rock musician from Washington, D.C. He founded the Teen-Beat record label while attending Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. He is best known as the singer and guitarist in the bands Unrest, Air Miami, and Flin Flon. He currently performs with Evelyn Hurley in Cotton Candy and also with Trevor Kampmann as Fang Wizard and Party Milk. In 2014 he started making a series of short films about interesting retail spaces, titled STO. Mark lives in Boston.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

Director Mark Robinson first saw Butch Willis and the Rocks perform in April of 1985 as a high school student opening for seminal DC post-punk band No Trend. He became an instant life-long fan. At a basement show in 1988, he saw a microphone not being used, walked on stage uninvited and started dueting with Butch on the song “The Gardens Outside.” After meeting Butch that night, the two stayed in touch and Butch joined Mark’s Teen-Beat record label in 1989. In 2006, Mark had the idea to create a documentary film about Butch. He started interviewing Butch, Rocks band members, and other primary characters that next year. After years of collecting rare audio and video footage, the film was finally completed in 2019.

STORES AND THEATRES PARTICIPATING IN THE VIRTUAL RENTAL SCREENINGS

Stinkweeds
Phoenix, AZ

Boo Boo Records
San Luis Obisppo, CA

Factory Records
Costa Mesa, CA

Stinkweeds
Bakersfield, CA

Going Underground
Bakersfield, CA

The Telegraph
New London, CT

Songbyrd
Washington, DC

Daddy Kool Records
St. Petersburg, FL

Park Ave Records
Orlando, FL

Technique Records
Miami, FL

Secret Sounds
Athens, GA

The Old School Records
Forest Park, IL

Tone Deaf Records
Chicago, IL

The Apohadion Theater
Portland, ME

Record Grouch
Brooklyn, NY

Bull City Records
Durham, NC

Music Millennium
Portland, OR

Young Ones Records
Kutztown, PA

Blue Bonnet Records
Lockhart, TX

End of an Ear
Austin, TX

Good Records
Dallas, TX

Goner Records
Memphis, TN

Autumn Records
Winooski, VT

Resurrection Records
Spokane, WA

Scarecrow Video
Seattle, WA

Sloth Reocords
Calgary, AB

Audiopile
Vancouver, BC

Blustreak Records
Peterborough, ON

Mindbomb Records
St. Catharines, ON

Le Vacarme
Montreal, QC

Flying Out Records
Auckland, New Zealand

Drift Records
Totnes, UK

Just Dropped In
FarGo Village, Coventry, UK

FILM COMPLETION DATE

February 8, 2020

DVD/VHS RELEASE

June 26, 2020

STREAMING PREMIERE

August 21, 2020

FIRST PREVIEW SCREENING

December 26, 2018

FORMAT

film
VHS
DVD
Streaming Rental
Digital File

LENGTH

73 minutes, 25 seconds

LENGTH
(WITH TEASER NO.1 INTEGRATED INTO FILM AS INTRODUCTION)

81 minutes, 39 seconds

ORIGINAL PREVIEW CUT LENGTH
(WITH TEASER NO.1)

92 minutes, 40 seconds

CATALOGUE No.

Teen-Beat 564
FTF-088

VHS/DVD DISTRIBUTION

Revolver / Midheaven
Dischord

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

Factory 25

DISCOGRAPHY

SINGLES

The Garden's Outside
Shopping Bag

ALBUMS

Of
Forthcomings
Conquering the Ice
Speedballs
Of 2
Superstitious Mummies
Rawed Out of the Bottom Basement
Locked in This Room (Live at the Black Cat)

COMPILATIONS

Teen-Beat Fifty
Teen-Beat 100
Wakefield: Volume 1
Wakefield: The Teen-Beat Boxed Set
Wakefield: The Teen-Beat Boxed Set
1997 Teen-Beat Sampler
1999 Teen-Beat Sampler
2000 Teen-Beat Sampler
2001 TeenTeen-Beatbeat Sampler
2002 Teen-Beat Sampler
Teen-Beat Subscribers' CD, 2004
Teen-Beat No.1 Record Label
2010 Teen-Beat / Other Music Sampler

ALSO

Teen-Beat's Fifth Anniversary
Teen-Beat's Sixth Anniversary
Teen-Beat's Seventh Anniversary
Teen-Beat's Eighth Anniversary
Teen-Beat's Ninth Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 10th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 11th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 12th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 13th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 15th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's Sweet 16th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 17th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 18th Anniversary
Teen-Beat's 20th Anniversary Commemorative
Teen-Beat Graphica Exhibition

FILM

Amateur on Plastic [documentary]

SONGS

Amateur on Plastic
Be the 23rd Rocker
Can't Keep Me Away from You
Cigarette Pack
Concrete & Birdfeathers
Dance
Dirt Work
Drugs
Everything's Alright
Everytime I See Her
Falling in Love
Flashback
The Garden's Outside
Good Girls
The Girl's On My Mind
Hank's Song
Heartache
Heartache (Re-Mix)
Here I Am
I Like to Party
I Miss Her Too Much
I Miss Karin
I Need You Too
I Want that Date
I Want To Be a Rock'n'Roll Star
I'll Do It
I'll Never Be the Same Again
It Can Be Forever
Kitty Cat
Lewie Tonite
Locked in This Room
Love Fad
Love On the Loose
Lucky Stars
Luxury or Death
Never Again
Newsletter
Night After Night
November Day
The Only Way to Love
Penny Penny
Pizza On My Jeans
Penny Penny
Private Life
Radical Song
The Radio Rocks Me
Right Beside You
R'n'R Slave
Rock'n'Roll Told
Rock To the Spot
Shake
Shoppin' for You
Short Steps
Superstitious Mummys
Susie C.
Taste Me
The TV's from Outer Space
Titled
Wendy Maine
We're the Rocks
We Can Do It
Wipeout
You're What's Missing in My Life