The Stains were a fictional punk band dreamed up by Lou Adler, the record producer and music mogul known for his ties to Jan and Dean and Carole King, and later on, his work on The Rocky Horror Picture Show film and Cheech and Chong’s stoner flicks. But in the early 1980s, Adler released a big flop: a film called Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, about a snotty, teenage “girl band” that makes it big — then disintegrates — after they’re shot to fame on television.
Now D.C. rock band Ex Hex has a new video for “Don’t Wanna Lose” based on that flop (today considered a cult classic). Directed by Lara Gallagher, who helmed the band’s first music video, “Hot and Cold,” it turns Ex Hex members Mary Timony, Betsy Wright and Laura Harris into the teen punks originally portrayed by Diane Lane, Laura Harris and Marin Kanter — with no shortage of hot lipstick and hair product.
NME premiered the video today. Check it out, above. (Ex Hex also played the rockin’ song live in WAMU’s studio for Bandwidth. Watch that session here.)