Review: Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone (2011)

[Mark R. Leeper]

EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: In 1979 a high-energy rock and funk band came
out of the black ghetto of Los Angeles with a sound
distinctively their own. They influenced dozens of other
bands including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and No Doubt.
Yet Fishbone never really was as big a success as other
bands that imitated them. In EVERYDAY SUNSHINE directors
Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler look at the members of
Fishbone, the culture that spawned them, and the music
industry. Actor Laurence Fishburne narrates. Rating:
+1 (-4 to +4) or 6/10

I am told that if you are reading this you probably already know
and love the band Fishbone. At least that is the impression I get
from the film EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE. I put this
film on shortly after hearing some Rimsky-Korsakov. After ten
minutes of listening to Fishbone music I was more than ready to go
back to Rimsky-Korsakov. But that is my taste. Your mileage may
vary. In the film admiring fans, some well-known, keep repeating
that Fishbone could have been the greatest band and the one that
everybody else copies. Okay. You cannot prove it by me, but I
accept it as the premise of the documentary.

So who is Fishbone? Apparently they are a band from the Los
Angeles black ghetto. The film makes a big point that they are
hard to categorize. Wikipedia calls them an alternative rock band.
They play a combination of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock, and
soul. Fishbone performances seem punctuated with screaming, wild
faces, gyrations, and literally climbing the walls. Most of these
are not actually what I would consider music.

Apparently there is a legion of fans who see the group as seminal.
Several other groups started because they wanted to do what
Fishbone does. They did not say whether that includes screaming,
making wild faces, gyrating, and wall-climbing. Even with such
adulation as a band they could never get real profitable success.
Among their problems they always had artistic differences and
personality conflicts. They pulled in different directions. What
kills the band is they do not want to operate as a team. Each has
a different idea as to what the policy of the band is. For
example, Angelo has created an alter-ego called Dr. Madvibe.
Norwood likes Angelo and wants to be in a band with him. But he
thinks that Angelo has carried the Dr. Madvibe routine too far.
Angelo's response is that he has creativity that must flow out of
him or it turns toxic inside of him. The artistic conflict goes
on.

Anderson and Metzler focus primarily on the professional careers of
bass-player Norwood Fisher and lead singer Angelo Moore. Fisher's
trademark is a ponytail in front looking like a unicorn horn.
Moore's is a constant infectious smile. Other members of the band
came and went during the course of the band's life but the one
constant was Anderson and Metzler. In telling of the founding of
the group directors Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler show us little
of their personal lives. Eventually some of their personal lives
creeps in. Someone will say at this point he had broken up with
his wife because of his drinking. To this point the drinking
problem would not have been mentioned, but we pick it up from
context. One picks up on their inner lives by inference. More
time is spent on the difficulty of categorizing their music as
rock, funk, black music, or whatever. This difficulty apparently
also contributed to the group's problem with the music industry.
The music stores sell music sorted into standard categories. With
a fusion of so many music styles there is no way the music stores
could pigeonhole them so there is no obvious place in the store to
put their music.

Several different techniques are used to tell the story of the
group. To tell their origins, animation is introduced to tell how
the group came together in high school. Interview comments are
inserted mostly from performers and producers in the industry
including the rapper Ice-T, Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Branford Marsalis, and Tim Robbins, who I guess is just an
interested fan.

The music will not appeal to all, but the documentary moves and
covers the material. See below for music samples courtesy of
YouTube. I rate EVERYDAY SUNSHINE: THE STORY OF FISHBONE a +1 on
the -4 to +4 scale or 6/10. Chris Metzler previously co-directed
PLAGUES & PLEASURES ON THE SALTON SEA. EVERYDAY SUNSHINE opens in
New York on October 7th, 2011 and in Los Angeles on October 21.

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840358/>

What others are saying: <http://tinyurl.com/66f5wpq>

Fishbone's "Party at Ground Zero":
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrONIb9gQ-k>

Fishbone's "Date Rape":
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xgmSfiy_tY>

Fishbone's "Ma And Pa":
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK640dPPhXE>

Rimsky-Korsakov's "Russian Easter Festival Overture":
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_XCs9Jy30c>

Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2011 Mark R. Leeper