Sometimes, the only thing more enjoyable to witness than a guaranteed Hollywood blockbuster is a guaranteed Hollywood blockbuster upon which an entire movie studio has pinned its hopes of profits for the entire year that ultimately fizzles like moldy sparklers on the 5th of July.
Even so, the story of "Doctor Detroit" is of an oft-maligned comedy flick released in May 1982 that, quite frankly, deserved a better reception than the one it received at the box-office, where it barely made back the $8 million it cost to shoot.
More than thirty years after the fact, it is no wonder why "Doctor Detroit" flopped while "Trading Places", which was released a month later and saw Aykroyd playing much the same sort of stuffy rich guy whose otherwise humdrum life is thrown into chaos, went on to gross over $90 million.
Sadly, it was big-budget blowout "Doctor Detroit" that starred only Dan Aykroyd and, sadly enough, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Aykroyd was just not up to the task of carrying a film by himself.
Of course, choosing a film like "Doctor Detroit" with which to take such a career risk seems highly (snooooort) dubious in retrospect. Even so, the film has amassed an odd sort of cult status over the years that does little to explain why a movie that lasted all of five minutes in the theaters should be available on VHS, DVD, and now Blu-Ray.
But enough about the movie, let's talk about the soundtrack!
When it comes to being the flagship act on your very own movie soundtrack, one can see how Devo, like Aykroyd, might have been swayed to lend their names and talents to this screaming deuce of a popcorn flick.
Hell, even a teenager in remote American Siberia (Michigan) knew enough about the business by 1983 that if MCA had asked if I wanted to record the song's theme, I'd have slammed the door in their faces and gone right back to my bowl of Honeycombs cereal without missing a second of my "Road Runner" cartoons.
Meanwhile, it had been two years since Devo's last Top 40 hit, "Working In A Coalmine", which had come from the soundtrack to the film "Heavy Metal". After the commercial disappointment of their Oh, No! It's Devo!, the band was apparently hopeful that lightning could strike twice.
Thank goodness for small miracles or else Devo would not only have to sing "Whip It" at every county fair and Ribfest for the rest of their career, but also "Doctor Detroit".
How bad is the song "Theme From 'Doctor Detroit'", you ask?
Let's just say that if Devo were to perform the song live in my presence, I would probably exit the venue and just keep walking until I fall off the edge of this dry erase world. Someone in the band must share this same opinion because there is no live footage of the band performing the song to be found on YouTube.
But, wait, it gets worse.
What if a stunning (and not in a good way) portion of an otherwise forgettable soundtrack features Dan Aykroyd "dueting" with some of the artists?
In the clip above, Pattie Brooks' "Hold Me" gets the full "Dan Aykroyd" treatment and the results are, well, listen for yourself. Aykroyd went on to lend his considerable vocal talents to T.K. Carter's "Yo Skridlow" and then he found the time to schmaltz-up another Pattie Brooks song.
Poor gal was never heard from again.
As for the soundtrack's other star, one James Brown, how bad had things gotten for the hardest working man in show business by the time this movie started filming?
So bad, it can now be told, that James Brown, himself, was also talked into writing a song with the words "Doctor Detroit" in it.
Plus, he was given second billing to Devo on the cover of the soundtrack!