Urgh! A Music War

Original release

The film presents a series of live performances without narration or explanatory text, recorded around 1980 in locations including London, Portsmouth, San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and New York. Additional clips came from a concert in Fréjus, Var, France. A double-album soundtrack was released by A&M Records in 1981, a year before the film. The album's selection was nearly identical to the film, though several acts featured in the film did not appear on it, including Dead Kennedys, John Cooper Clarke, Chelsea, Surf Punks, Invisible Sex, Splodgenessabounds, and UB40.

Subsequent distribution

Urgh! A Music War had a brief theatrical release by Filmways Pictures in summer 1982 and later gained a cult following in the United States through frequent showings on the USA Network. It aired on VH1 Classic on 30 October 2006 as part of its Rock and Roll Picture series. The film has been released on videotape, CED, LaserDisc, and DVD.

Portions of the film appear elsewhere: the Klaus Nomi clip "Total Eclipse" is in the 2004 documentary The Nomi Song; the 1982 documentary The Police: Around the World, also directed by Derek Burbidge, uses footage from Urgh! and other material from the same concert. Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" footage was used in a 2003 Blackheart Records DVD release, and the audio was issued on a 2006 reissue of Flashback. Some intact prints have toured the US, including a tour sponsored by The Onion, and club screenings led to a DVD release by Warner Bros. as part of its Warner Archive series.

Official DVD release

In August 2009, Warner Archive put out a made-to-order DVD-R of the film. It hasn't been cleaned up or remastered, and it's shown in a 1.85:1 widescreen ratio. The only bonus is a trailer, and the chapters are ten minutes long rather than marking each song. Splodgenessabounds' "Two Little Boys" is missing, but the rest of the original acts are there. The disc was sold only in the United States.

CD track listing

At a later date, presumably in the 1980s, the soundtrack was released on CD (A&M CD 6019 in the U.S.). The accompanying booklet states it is an abridged version of the original album and cassette releases. The CD omits seven performances: those by Toyah Willcox, the Members, Athletico Spizz '80, Alley Cats, the Au Pairs, John Otway, and the Dead Kennedys. The track listing includes The Police – "Driven to Tears", Wall of Voodoo – "Back in Flesh", Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – "Enola Gay", Oingo Boingo – "Ain't This the Life", XTC – "Respectable Street", Go Go's – "We Got the Beat", Klaus Nomi – "Total Eclipse", Jools Holland – "Foolish I Know", Steel Pulse – "Ku Klux Klan", Devo – "Uncontrollable Urge", Echo and the Bunnymen – "The Puppet", The Cramps – "Tear It Up", Joan Jett & The Blackhearts – "Bad Reputation", Pere Ubu – "Birdies", Gary Numan – "Down in the Park", The Fleshtones – "Shadow Line", Gang of Four – "He'd Send in the Army", 999 – "Homicide", X – "Beyond and Back", Magazine – "Model Worker", and Skafish – "Sign of the Cross".