Artist:Richard O'Brien w/Little Nell, Patricia Quinn, Charles Gray & The Transylvanians
Song:The Time Warp
Album:The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack
No doubt when Richard O'Brien wrote The Rocky Horror Picture Show, he had no idea that it would become this cultural phenomenon. He just wrote it to keep busy. He was born Richard Smith Mar. 25, 1942 in Cheltenham, England. His family moved to New Zealand and his father bought a sheep farm. O'Brien returned to England in 1964 and his ability to ride horses got him stunt work. He took the name Richard O'Brien as there was already an actor named Richard Smith. After appearing in the 1972 London production of Jesus Christ Superstar, O'Brien showed Sharman a draft of a shlock horror musical he was working on. After changing the name to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Sharman produced it on the stage in 1973. The show did well enough that producers came sniffing around. Ode Records owner Lou Adler bought the US rights. He staged the show at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles. Then he bought the movie rights. One of the smartest things Adler did is he kept the film schlocky. That's a big reason why The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been so successful. The Time Warp is one of the big songs in the movie. The performers are O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell and Charles Gray. O'Brien has written other shows but none have been successful. He even produced the 1981 film Shock Treatment which was supposed to appeal to the same crowd as The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was a dismal failure. O'Brien continues to appear on stage along with film and TV. But obviously The Rocky Horror Picture Show is his claim to fame. Here's Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Charles Gray and The Transylvanians performing The Time Warp from the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
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