April 19

Happy Birthday, Tim Curry! I know that I started this blog for the under-recognized, but Rocky Horror trumps that. But he's more than Dr Frank N Furter: he's got an armada of villainous roles to inspire a dozen cults. Pennywise from Stephen King's It, Legend's Lord of Darkness, Fern Gully, Muppet Treasure Island, Congo, Annie, the McHale's Navy movie, Captain Planet and the Planeteers... he was even Tim Burton's second choice for the Joker.
But we're not going to go on about that. And we're not going to talk about Nigel Thornberry or King Arthur, either (beyond this sentence.) No, we're going to spotlight his brief tenure as a rock star!

He recorded three albums with A & M, with one foot in the Lou Reed/Warren Zevon sound and another still on the West End stage. The sound didn't quite connect with audiences, although his second album did get some play on early MTV. 1981 was his third strike, and he was out, which is fine for movie fans.
In 2010, "...From the Vaults" was released, featuring several songs Tim Curry recorded in 1976 for Ode Records, a label started by Rocky Horror producer Lou Adler. That album never materialized, with only a few songs floating around in bootlegs over the decades.
Speaking of bootlegs, here's a clip from a 1978 concert featuring Tim performing Frank N Furter's signature ballad.

Still looks better than a cameraphone...