Dogs in Space

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Dogs in Space

Directed by	Richard Lowenstein
Written by	Richard Lowenstein
Starring	Michael Hutchence, Saskia Post, Nique Needles
Release date(s)	1987
Running time	103 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Dogs in Space is a 1987 Australian film set in the post-punk "little band scene" in Melbourne, in 1978. It was directed by Richard Lowenstein, and starred Michael Hutchence as Sam, the drug-addled frontman of the band the film is named after.

The character of Sam is based on Sam Sejavka, frontman of Melbourne post-punk band The Ears, with whom Lowenstein lived in the 1970s.

1 Soundtrack album
2 Trivia
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Soundtrack album

The soundtrack album was released on Chase Records in February 1987 (CLPX14), featuring several tracks from reformed "little bands" and other contemporary tracks of the time.

The album came in two versions: a censored version in a white sleeve with the band name "Thrush & the Cunts" bowdlerised to "Thrush and the C**ts" and possibly-offensive song vocal tracks removed, and an "R"-rated version in a black sleeve with all band names in full, movie dialogue between the songs and all vocal tracks in full.

Chase Records went out of business soon after and, despite much effort, the record has never been reissued and has remained unavailable since. It is now a collector's item, commanding high prices. It was only available on LP and cassette and was issued on CD - at least the censored version appeared on discount bins in shopping malls in Lisbon, Portugal, somewhere around 1996-1997.

The Hutchence tracks were his first official solo recordings and his first with Ollie Olsen. They would later collaborate on the Max Q recordings.

Side One:

"Dog Food" (Iggy Pop)
"Dogs In Space" (Michael Hutchence)
"Win/Lose" (Ollie Olsen)
"Anthrax" (Gang of Four)
"Skysaw" (Brian Eno)
"True Love" (Marching Girls)
"Shivers" (Boys Next Door)

Side Two:

"Diseases" (Thrush & the Cunts)
"Pumping Ugly Muscle" (The Primitive Calculators)
"Golf Course" (Michael Hutchence)
"The Green Dragon" (Michael Hutchence)
"Shivers" (Marie Hoy & Friends)
"Endless Sea" (Iggy Pop)
"Rooms For The Memory" (Michael Hutchence)

[edit] Trivia

The house Dogs in Space was filmed in is located in Berry Street Richmond, and is the same house Richard Lowenstein and Sam Sejavka lived in the 1970s. It was rented from its new owners and "unrenovated" at considerable expense for the filming.
The house is for sale and will be auctioned on 19/8/2006. Rumour has it that former cast members will attend.
The character who played Chuck, the drummer, also lived in the same house. He was asked to play himself due to problems casting the character.
Sejavka appears momentarily in the film in the party scene, being addressed by Michael Hutchence's character as "Michael".
Sejavka went on to become a playwright.
The frequent trips to Ballarat by residents of the house are because, at the time, Ballarat had the only Seven-Eleven which was open 24 hours. If you wanted to satisfy your munchies at 4am, it was a two hour drive north west from Richmond!
However, the fastest recorded trip to Ballarat was 65 minutes. This was before speed cameras were invented and represents an average speed of 138 km/h.
The "Pelaco" sign in the background of the external night shots was already in a dilapidated state in 1986, the production had to have it re-wired to actually light up.
Richard wrote himself out of the film and several of his exploits were attributed to the Tim character.
Tim's keyboard device was called the 'Bovanscope' and was a highly-mutated Tandy 50-in-1 electronics kit.
The boys really did cook up 'skylab' in the oven and try to pass it off to 3XY, who weren't having any of it.
Terry Towelling Man still lives opposite...
Chainsaw Baby is now 26...