The IMDB movie database describes the movie as “…tells a true story of the greatest 70’s US rock icon who never was, how he was rediscovered in a far off land and finally became the legend he always deserved to be. It is a story of hope, inspiration and the power of music.” I went to see the movie recently, and it is a wonderful documentary that will bring tears to the eyes because it tells a story of a man who really was an international rock star in only one country in the world, and that country happens to be South Africa.

Back in America, he spent most of his time working on construction sites doing basic work, although in his spare time he did study philosophy. In South Africa, he was one of the biggest sellers of all time, selling more albums than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and eventually, despite stories that he was dead, two South Africans, one being a writer, traced him, got hold of his daughter and arranged for him to come and tour in South Africa. This was a man basically living in poverty in America, whose record company does not appear to have ever given him any of the proceeds of all of the 500,000 plus records that he sold in South Africa, and he got to perform in front of huge crowds, night after night, in front of his daughters who got to see that he was (although he never was in America) a superstar in South Africa. When you know the songs that he sung, and they are still songs that are played in South Africa, you will be stunned to discover that he really never sold more than about “6 records” in America, according to the record producer who does not appear to have paid him any of the proceeds, but sold more than 500,000 in South Africa. Songs like “I Wonder”, “Sugarman”, etc and the time played that they have always had in South Africa would have led any of us to believe, until I saw this movie, that Rodriguez was an international star, but sadly for him, he was not and in fact after the South African concerts which he has done on a number of occasions, he returns to his construction work in America. It is actually unbelievable when you listen to the songs, or read the lyrics, that he never made it and I think he was just probably too far ahead of his time and now at the age of 70, because of this documentary, he probably has more chance of selling albums than he ever did before.

If you enjoy documentaries or if you enjoy any of his music, I strongly recommend that you watch this movie which is obviously only going to be shown at the Art movie houses and not at the regular theatres showing the normal horror and teenage nonsense movies. The documentary has already won numerous awards including at the Sundance Film Festival. Just in case you don’t remember any of the songs, I will give you the lyrics to “I wonder” song that is very well-known in South Africa:

“I wonder how many times you’ve been had
and I wonder how many plans have gone bad.
I wonder how many times you had sex.
I wonder do you know who will be next.
I wonder, I wonder, wonder I do.”