Adaptations: Hard Core Logo

Published in 1993, Hard Core Logo by Michael Turner has witnessed three editions and has spawned two films. Hard Core Logo (1996) and Hard Core Logo 2 (2010). What makes this book great is the writing. It is not a conventional story. For the most part, it unfolds in real-time, and is supplemented by song lyrics, pictures and invoices, all of which serve to further the narrative.

The story revolves around a Canadian punk rock band called, you guessed it, Hard Core Logo. They first hit the music scene in the late 1970s, broke up numerous times and have been contacted by Laura Cromartie for a benefit show. Joe Dick is our protagonist. Joe gets a hold of Billy Talent (yes, this is where the band got their name, no Michael Turner does not know them), Pipefitter and John.
H.C.L. preforms the show they were contacted about and this gives Joe an idea: A reunion tour. Six shows (Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Vancouver), in seven days. On top of this gruelling schedule, Joe has decided that H.C.L. Should also preform these shows as acoustic sets (rather than their heavily distorted act for which they are known), and has even wrote a few songs about a Native Canadian human rights activist.

As the tour goes on, the reader is treated to an interesting way of developing the four main characters, Joe Dick is usually the front man of the story, and most of his development comes from his dialogue. Billy Talent is developed much the same, although his dialogue is usually through conversations. Pipefitter is developed through his inner thoughts, and he primarily is the one who comments on any changes (good or bad) that develop in the plot. John has probably the most interesting character development. John’s journal entries, while rare, serve to give a comparison to how things were, too how things are currently going. I found this structure made the book much more enjoyable, and kept it interesting.

The band makes a detour to visit Bucky Haight, Joe’s primary influence. Bucky tells them a story from when he was a young rocker. He had recorded an album with a few buskers he met in a day, then spent the night partying with them, spending a lot of the money he received to record the album. The next day when Bucky woke up, he found that all the band equipment, the rest of the money and the album was missing. He concludes his story by telling the group that he has Hepatitis from using a dirty needle.

By the end of the tour Billy Talent reveals that he is planning on leaving H.C.L. to pursue his career further with another band. Joe Dick finds out about this and declares that not only is this the last show for Hard Core Logo, but also the end of Billy Talents life, then preform one of their older songs, “Something’s Going to Die Tonight”. After the show the band is informed that they cannot be paid because the club owner’s wife robbed the till.
The book concludes with Billy catching a flight to Seattle, and the rest of the band heading back to Vancouver. John tells Joe that he is stuck in the glory days, and that him, Pipefitter and Billy have outgrown Joe’s shenanigans. Pipefitter then replies to John and tells his that he is a hypocrite, then goes on to explain that he knew he would be in for a bad time right from the hop. After all is said and done, the band (minus Billy) is back in Vancouver. Joe Dick takes out an ad in a paper looking for a new band.

Although Hard Core Logo has a page count of 205, most of the text is set up very much like poetry, rather than prose. However, this does not mean that it is an easy read, due to the multiple layers and symbolism, Hard Core Logo is a very tightly packed, busy book.

Since this (and other reviews in the Adaptation series) is a comparative review, let’s take a look at the movie.
In 1996 Hard Core Logo was adapted to film by Bruce McDonald. The synopsis I have given of the book is almost exactly what happens in the film, with a few major differences.

The first difference is Hard Core Logo’s sound. In the book, they are preforming almost everything acoustic, while in the film they mimic their original sound of heavy distortion. This I found to be interesting because the way H.C.L. sounds seems to imitate bands like Nirvana, and other garage bands that were big at the time (yes I am well aware that Kurt Cobain was dead by this point).

Next, the film also had one additional character, this was Bruce, the camera man who was filming the “documentary’ about Hard Core Logo. This was by far the most interesting change made to the source material, as the band and other supporting characters actually acknowledged him as part of the film. Bruce even had a few lines in the Bucky Haight detour, in which they sacrifice a goat after dropping acid. This part of the film was also altered in a big way from the book.

While Bucky implied that he did not like to be used in the book, he actually tells Joe Dick point blank that he does not like to be used, and to never come and see him again. The reason for this is something I didn’t explain in the synopsis, but probably should have. Joe Dick announces at the benefit show that Bucky Haight has lost his legs, and that is why they agreed to do the gig in the first place, this was not altered in the adaptation. After this Joe announces that Bucky Haight has died in both the source material and the film adaptation. However, when Joe makes this comment, he means it poetically, and not literally, which was lost on fans in the film.

The third and the most shocking change to the film from the book comes at the tail end of the movie. When Joe announces that it is the last day of Billy Talents life, Joe attacks Billy and they have a fist fight in the middle of their last show. As fans begin to leave, John gets on Joe’s mike and says a few poetic lines, then begins chanting, “In the end, it’s love”. Once Billy and Joe’s fight is broken up, Billy leaves and Joe is outside on the front step of the club. Bruce and Joe exchange a little bit of small talk, then Joe reaches into his jacket to grab a gun, then shoots himself in the head. I am not sure why the end was changed. It is (as I said) the most shocking change to the source material, but it was also the most altered part of the entire film.

While most adaptations generally only keep around 68% of the source material around, Hard Core Logo did a great job at bringing the story of a Canadian band on their last tour together. The interesting way Michael Turner developed the characters in the book was preserved as much as possible, and the concluding message (while presented much more shockingly in the film) was kept the same. Which is a lot more then can be said about most adaptations (yes I will get to those-- eventually).