Dick Bangham

Built out of “a pile of radio junk,” Bethesda, Maryland’s WHFS was a music fan’s dream of a radio station: the place on the dial to hear music listeners loved and new tunes they soon would, all with an anything-goes mentality and an ear for the sounds of social change. This doc pays loving tribute to free-form radio and WHFS’s influence over FM stations across the US from the 1960s to the 1980s. All good things come to an end, and so did the disc-jockey-driven format that WHFS pioneered and made successful, but its legacy lives on. The station’s DJs relate its history with passion in this film that captures the tenor of an era, abetted by reminiscences of performers including Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Jesse Colin Young, and others whose music found its way to ears and minds eager for something more than the same old Top 40 programming.

Butch Willis is a Washington, D.C. rock legend. 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. The film combines archival footage, interviews with Butch, and live performances. Stylistically, the film 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.

In the late '80s, Jeff Mentges stopped fronting infamous DC band No Trend and went to film school. Instead of making the requesite short film to graduate, he ended up with Of Flesh and Blood, a black-and-white noir retelling of porn star John Holmes' sordid descent into drugs, mayhem and murder. Shot for just $15K, Of Flesh and Blood featured his former co-workers and denizens from Joe's Record Paradise, as well as beloved school janitor Al Breon in the starring role.

Built out of “a pile of radio junk,” Bethesda, Maryland’s WHFS was a music fan’s dream of a radio station: the place on the dial to hear music listeners loved and new tunes they soon would, all with an anything-goes mentality and an ear for the sounds of social change. This doc pays loving tribute to free-form radio and WHFS’s influence over FM stations across the US from the 1960s to the 1980s. All good things come to an end, and so did the disc-jockey-driven format that WHFS pioneered and made successful, but its legacy lives on. The station’s DJs relate its history with passion in this film that captures the tenor of an era, abetted by reminiscences of performers including Emmylou Harris, Taj Mahal, Jesse Colin Young, and others whose music found its way to ears and minds eager for something more than the same old Top 40 programming.