Movie Music Monday – Doctor Detroit

Today is Donna Dixon’s 69th birthday.

She is best known for her work with Tom Hanks on Bosom Buddies and films like Spies Like Us, Speed Zone and Wayne’s World. Today, we look at the film that introduced her to her husband Dan Aykroyd – 1983’s Doctor Detroit.

Granted, the movie was not a huge hit, as a matter of fact, it only made about $10 million at the box office. The movie’s budget was $8 million. Many critics hated it, including Siskel and Ebert. Gene Siskel called it “a mess, but a genial mess,” while Roger Ebert was nicer and said it had “just a humble little screenplay” but also “a lot of funny moments” and a performance by Dan Aykroyd that showed “a lot of invention.”

One of the highlights of the movie is the appearance of James Brown. James plays himself and performs one of his classic songs, “Get Up Offa That Thing.” Songfacts.com quotes James on the inspiration for the song:

“The audience was sitting down, trying to do a sophisticated thing, listening to funk,” he recalled in the 2014 biography James Brown: The Godfather Of Soul. “One of the tightest bands they’d ever heard in their lives, and they were sitting. I had worked hard and dehydrated myself and was feeling depressed. I looked out at all those people sitting there, and because I was depressed they looked depressed. I yelled, ‘Get up offa that thing and dance til you feel better!’ I probably meant until I felt better.”

The song reached #4 on the R&B charts. Here is the performance from the film:

….And the original recording…

Happy Birthday, Donna Dixon!