ROCK STYLE!

ROCK STYLE!

With the exciting news that Michael J. Fox will be starring in the upcoming Born In The USA movie (see page eight for more on that!), the 24-year-old star of Family Ties and Back To The Future will—once again—be getting involved in rock ’n’ roll...one of his first loves.

Michael—who actually had a rock band of his own in Vancouver, Canada, where he grew up—is indeed into music in a big way. “When I was 14 or 15, I played in garage bands,’’ he says. “I was kind of a hack guitarist, which means I wasn’t good, but I was dedicated. When I started acting, I dropped the music,” he adds. One thing that brought Michael back to music was his role of Marty McFly in Back To The Future. Marty, you’ll recall, was also a struggling high-school musician in modern times who finally got his big chance to wow the crowd when he was transported back to 1955. There, he played Chuck Berry’s classic “Johnny B. Goode” at his parents’ high school prom—before the song was even written, humorously enough. Michael says that those scenes were some of his favorites in Back To The Future.

“I was able to live out two fantasies with that movie,” Michael reveals. “I’ve always wanted to do a big budget feature with splashy special effects and a great story, and I’ve always wanted to be a rock ’n’ roll star. In Back To The Future, I got to do both.” Not only that, Michael was prepared for the part—although he hadn’t played guitar for almost 10 years, he decided to prepare in the best way possible: by getting acquainted with the instrument once again. “I went into a guitar store and bought a Fender,” he says, referring to a top-of-the line instrument. “I brought it home and started playing, to the point where I was getting reasonably good at it.”

Reasonably good? Michael actually ended up playing it himself in the movie! “They used my teacher (Paul Hansen) to teach me all the licks,” he explains. “They laid down the LP tracks with a session guitarist, but in the movie, I played the licks.” It would’ve been great if Michael could have sung “Johnny B. Goode” for the soundtrack, but, alas, it was not to be. “Aside from working two jobs (he was involved with both Family Ties and Back To The Future during that hectic period), I was learning guitar and there was very little prep time,” Michael says. “So I thought singing is the last thing I’m going to worry about.”

Nevertheless, Michael did get a high compliment from someone who knows plenty about music.

Huey Lewis—who had two killer hit songs in Back To The Future, “Power Of Love” and “Back In Time”—appeared briefly in the movie as a nerd teacher. (You had to look quick, though, and lots of Huey's fans didn’t recognize the handsome singer dressed as an out-of-it instructor!) Huey told Michael that he was the best fake guitarist he’d ever seen. Hearing that praise (and getting to meet a rock superstar like Huey Lewis) was another of Michael’s biggest thrills in making Back To The Future. What topped it all off was when Michael heard that “Johnny B. Goode” by Marty McFly and the Starlighters (from the movie’s soundtrack) had cracked the Top 100 in Billboard! Talk about the dreams of a hack guitarist!

Will Michael be doing it again in Bom In The USA? Probably not, unfortunately. Although the movie will probably have a strong rock base (and how could it not, with a title like that?), Michael wil undoubtedly be returning to his true craft—that of an actor. Just as was the case in Back To The Future, he’ll be doing double-duty on Family Ties (and that time, it lasted over two months). But it’s clear that Michael’s interest in the movie is strong—he turned down a chance to play the lead in Pretty In Pink because he didn’t want to go through that exhausting routine another time, yet has accepted in the case of Born In The USA. So, no matter what the future holds for Michael J. Fox we’re sure it will be filled with rock style—just as Michael himself is!