Confessions of a Pop Performer

1975 British film by Norman Cohen

Confessions of a Pop Performer

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Norman Cohen
Written by| Christopher Wood
Produced by| Greg Smith
Michael Klinger (executive producer)
Starring| Robin Askwith
Antony Booth
Cinematography| Alan Hume
Edited by| Geoffrey Foot

Production
company

Columbia Pictures

Distributed by| Columbia-Warner Distributors

Release date

* July 1975 (1975-07)

Running time

| 91 minutes
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English

Confessions of a Pop Performer (also known as Timothy Lea's Confessions of a Pop Performer) is a 1975 British sex-farce film directed by Norman Cohen and starring Robin Askwith and Anthony Booth.[1] It is the second instalment in the Confessions series and continues the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the Christopher Wood novel Confessions from the Pop Scene[1].

## Plot

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Sidney overhears a band in his local pub and aspires to be their manager, not so ably assisted by his brother-in-law, Timmy, both still window cleaning for a living. They rename the band Kipper and after a misfortune, Timmy joins the line-up and many sexual encounters follow as a result. Unfortunately, Timmy's natural talent is more mayhem than rock star and disaster ensues of mostly the semi-clothed kind.

## Cast

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* Robin Askwith as Timothy Lea
* Antony Booth as Sidney Noggett
* Bill Maynard as Mr Lea
* Doris Hare as Mrs Lea
* Sheila White as Rosie Noggett
* Carol Hawkins as Jill Brown
* Peter Cleall as Nutter Normington
* Bob Todd as Mr Barnwell
* Peter Jones as Maxy Naus
* Jill Gascoine as Mrs Barnwell
* David Hamilton as TV interviewer
* Linda Regan as Brenda Climax
* Diane Langton as Ruby Climax
* Bill Pertwee as husband with javelin
* Ian Lavender as Rodney
* Robert Dorning as Augustus
* Richard Warwick as Petal
* Sally Harrison as Patsie
* Andee Cromarty as Fanny
* Rita Webb as Fanny's mother
* Helli Louise as Eva
* Rula Lenska as receptionist
* Jane Hayden as girl at crossing
* David Prowse as man at cinema
* Bobby Sparrow as girl at cinema

## Soundtrack

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Confessions of a Pop Performer was the only film in the series to spawn a soundtrack album (Polydor 2383350[2]), with musical numbers produced by Ed Welch, and credited to the film's fictional groups Kipper and The Climax Sisters, the latter played by Diane Langton and Linda Regan in the film, although Sue Martine provides Regan's singing voice. All lead vocals for Kipper were sung by Maynard Williams. The album also includes music from Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974) and in-character ‘Timmy Chat’ from Robin Askwith

Side 1

1. "Confessions of Timmy Tea (Three's a Crowd)"
2. "Timmy Chat" (Robin Askwith)
3. "The Clapham" (Kipper)
4. "Oh Sha La La" (Kipper)
5. "Accidents will Happen" (Kipper)
6. "Timmy Chat" (Robin Askwith)
7. "I Need You (like a hole in the head!)" (The Climax Sisters)
8. "Kipper" (Kipper)
9. "Timmy Chat" (Robin Askwith)

Side 2

1. "Hell of a Fuss" (Teddy Palmer and the Rumble Band)
2. "Pop Performer Medley ("Fire and Foam", "See Though Jazz", "The Crash", "Timmy Goes Shopping", "Theme for Truncheon and Helmet")
3. "Timmy Chat" (Robin Askwith)
4. "This is your Life" (Three's a Crowd)
5. "Charlie Snowgarden" (Sam Sklair)
6. "Timmy Chat" (Robin Askwith)
7. "Confessions of Timmy Tea (reprise)" (Three's a Crowd)

## Critical Reaction

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Monthly Film Bulletin said "Creaky gags, overly familiar slapstick routines, sniggering innuendo, grimly leaden mugging and a nervously regular injection of titillating sequences on the lines of the average German sex comedy: the follow-up to the huge box-office success of Confessions of a Window Cleaner is everything one has come to dread in British comedy. With hindsight, there seems to be a certain inevitability about this crossing of the Carry On series (now well into middle age) with the ethos of the working class anti-heroes that emerged in the early Sixties: Sidney James has found his younger alter ego in the charmless Robin Askwith, a kind of callow reductio ad absurdum of the early Albert Finney/Tom Courtenay characters. In this light, the trundling out of the gorilla suit from Morgan seems to be a particularly cynical nail driven into the coffin."[3]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Robin Askwith abandons his window-cleaning round to help organise a tour for a band of no-hopers and finds himself knee-deep in groupies (the finale at the Palladium has to be seen to be believed). Askwith struggles with a dismal script and comes off much better than Tony Blair's father-in-law, Anthony Booth."[4]

Confessions of a Pop Performer was voted joint ‘Worst British Film of 1975’ by Sight & Sound magazine, tying with The Rocky Horror Picture Show.[citation needed]

## References

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1. ^ a b "Confessions of a Pop Performer". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
2. ^ "Confessions of a Pop Performer". Discogs. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
3. ^ "Confessions of a Pop Performer". Monthly Film Bulletin. 42 (492): 196. 1975 - via ProQuest.
4. ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 196\. ISBN 9780992936440.

## External links

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* Confessions of a Pop Performer at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

The Confessions film series

* Confessions of a Window Cleaner (1974)
* Confessions of a Pop Performer (1975)
* Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976)
* Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977)

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