Editor Reviews:

Description:
A feature-length documentary about the sometimes unsettling but always fascinating world of the song-poem industry. In this little known subculture, ordinary people send in their heartfelt, but often bizarre, poems to companies that – for a fee – turn them into full-fledged musical productions. Advertising in the back of magazines, these companies lure the would-be songwriters with promises of fame and fortune.

This peculiar concoction of American commerce, musicianship, and poetic longing create oddly compelling songs that are unlike anything you’ve ever heard. Off The Charts: The Song-Poem Story explores the lives and dreams of the songwriters and musicians who operate within this strange world.

Features not-so-famous songs like, "Non-Violent Taekwondo Troopers", "I Am A Ginseng Digger", "Richard Nixon", "Jimmy Carter Says Yes!", "Annie Oakley", and "How’s Everything in Denmark?"

Special Features: * Deleted scenes * Sunburst studio sessions – behind the scenes look at the recording sessions * Iowa Mountain Tour Live! – a song-poem writer goes on tour * Off The Charts premiere party for the PBS debut * Song-Poems advertisement gallery * Song-Poem variety show "America Sings" – a 30 min. infomercial promoting song-poems

Amazon.com:
In his wildest satirical dreams, not even Christopher Guest could top Off the Charts for sheer folk-art eccentricity. And yet, the creator of A Mighty Wind would find comedic inspiration in Jamie Meltzer's hilarious and sincerely affectionate tribute to the subcultural phenomenon known as the song poem. For over 50 years, a small, strictly amateur music industry has thrived on the fine-print ads that appear in alternative newspapers and music-industry magazines, inviting would-be songsmiths to send in their lyrics (and perhaps even "earn royalties") when their songs--and we use that term loosely--are set to music, recorded by seasoned musicians, and returned to their creators as a kind of one-shot fantasy fulfillment of dreams that will never come true. What drives Meltzer's film is a uniquely American combination of pathos, fringe-dwelling ambition, and free expression by assorted misfits and "regular folk" who seek elusive immortality by turning their lyrical musings into trash-art that's simultaneously fascinating and pathetic. But despite the end-credit claim that not a single hit has resulted from the estimated 200,000 song poems that have been recorded over the decades, Meltzer's not out to ridicule these wonderfully ungifted artists. Instead, Off the Charts gives a memorable spin to the flipside of the American dream. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - Welcome to The Chicken Insurrection ...
I watched Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story with a large group of people. Around the film's mid-point, I felt emotionally conflicted. I searched the room for my cue. One man was folded-in on himself, looking wretchedly depressed. One was nonchalantly eating pistachios. Still, my own friend was laughing hysterically. What to think?

Personally, I find this documentary bizarrely poignant. Voiceless members of society find a means of expressing themselves (but they have to pay someone to speak for them ... ergggg). See the problem? For instance: while everyone will find Caglar Juan Singletary fascinating, some will view him him pity ... others might find him an uninhibited genius (as Priscilla Presley may). His fascination will "historical honeys" and firearms clearly concerns his grandmother (oooOooOoo, just wait for it). And, yet, I desperately want to find this man and make him my best friend ... very Wesley Willis (R.I.P., my man).

The construction of this documentary is rather brilliant. It moves from a playful surface read (looking at the stacks of submissions received from mental-hospital patients) to a more personal, deeper exploration. In one instance, the son of a song-poem recorder reveals the only way he knows his (now deceased) father is through his recordings. It is strangely touching.

While this film certainly amuses its audience (between the impassioned performance of "Ginseng Digger," Ramsey Kearney's Black-Forest name-plate, and the menagerie of exotic animals, this film never fails to elicit a laugh!!!!), it also has a tender side. Even as Gary Forney (Iowa Mountain Tour) mutters something about a "Chicken Insurrection," my hearts breaks for him. His quiet vulnerability leaves the viewer stunned. There is an endearing quality ... something about chasing dreams even if your dreams include rebel chickens (no matter).

You need not have any interest in the recording industry to enjoy this work ... this piece is much more about fringe-society and how "vanity records" may actually have a place in our world. And, I must admit ... I have LITERALLY found myself singing "Jimmy Carter Says Yes!" Once you hear it, you can't "unhear" it, my friend.

Brilliant stuff. Watch it.