Blast-Off Girls 1967

Boojie Baker [Dan Conway] is a ruthless, greedy talent manager who discovers and exploits unknown rock bands. The film opens in a nightclub with Boojie’s protégé act, a band named Charlie, who have clearly been through the grinder. They begin griping about the royalties they’ve been fleeced out of, then walk out on him.

Undaunted, Boojie and his loyal but dim-witted assistant Gordy [Ray Sager] wander into a local bar and discover a new band performing, led by the real-life Chicago garage rockers The Faded Blue. Promising them a recording contract and ensuing fame, Boojie renames the five-man group “The Big Blast”, outfits them in designer suits, and begins priming them for stardom by using a bevy of glamorous women—Angel [Barbara Harrison], Kim [Sherri Lane], Maxine [Sharon Camille], Harriet [Ann Heath], Barbara [Julia Ames], Sally [Sally Tenerelli], and Laurie [Sarasue Gleiss]—to seduce a recording engineer, photograph him in the heat of the moment, and then coerce him into allowing The Big Blast to cut a single. The group records their big hit, and Boojie likely uses similar tactics to promote the record and gain airplay. However, as the band’s popularity grows, it doesn’t take long before they start to wonder why they aren’t receiving any money for their labor.

A little later, The Big Blast confront Boojie in his office, accusing him of swindling them out of their earnings and demanding upfront payment for their work going forward. Being a hard-nosed negotiator, Boojie refuses to budge, and tells them to seek fame and fortune elsewhere. To smooth over any hard feelings, he even invites them to a party at his apartment. The party, heavy with liquor, women, and marijuana, is a setup, and a “police detective” arrives to raid it. Coincidentally, this raid occurs before Boojie gets there, and when he does, it becomes clear he still has pull in the “police department.” He is able to bail the boys out of the legal jam if they sign new contracts that extend Boojie’s hold to five years and push 80% of profits to him. One by one, the members sign. After they leave, the supposed detective asks Boojie for some of the grass.

Back in the studio, the group begins to unravel as internal bickering intensifies and they struggle to craft a second hit. In the climax, the group decides to take down Boojie at the cost of their own fame by sabotaging a television appearance Boojie has lined up. They show up drunk and belt out a thinly disguised musical middle finger to him. After humiliating Boojie, they rip up Boojie’s contracts and walk away. Furious and defeated, Boojie and Gordy storm out of the studio, presumably to chase another band to exploit, continuing the brutal cycle of show business.

“Oh well, that’s show business”