MusicRadar

Ever since Bill Haley & The Comets' Rock Around The Clock played over the opening credits of the gritty 1955 classroom drama Blackboard Jungle, rock 'n' roll found a home on the silver screen that would prove as vital as the concert stage.

A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Gimme Shelter, Don't Look Back, The Last Waltz, Woodstock, Stop Making Sense, The Kids Are Alright, High Fidelity, The Rocky Horror Picture Show... These are but a few of the essential classics that most every music fan has seen over and over and knows frame by frame, lick by lick.

But just like thumbing through the bins at your local vinyl store - assuming you still have one - and finding a little-known treasure, one can stumble across rarely-seen gems and oddities on DVD or VHS, rock and roll movies that will surprise, stun, amaze and, in some instances, totally mystify.

Here's 10 you don't know - but definitely, definitely should.

Some will rock you, while others might want to make you chuck a few rocks. But hey, be cool - you're still paying off that flat screen TV...

1. Times Square

In 1980, Robert Stigwood tried to do for New Wave what he did for disco three years earlier with Saturday Night Fever. But that movie had John Travolta and was directed by the guy who made Rocky. This one...not so much. While the soundtrack featured some amazing cuts from The Ramones, XTC, Talking Heads, Pretenders, Lou Reed and Gary Numan, the film was a jumble in which two teenage girls (one rich, one poor inevitably) run away to New York City and find rebellion by joining a punk rock band. The cast is riddled with never-heard-of-thems, the exception being Tim Curry, who plays an all-night DJ. Still, this is a fascinating time capsule of 42nd Street when it was still a pimp-and-hooker haven, plus most of the tunes hold up.

2. Ferry Cross The Mersey

Having helped turn The Beatles into film stars in A Hard Day's Night, manager Brian Epstein tried to do the same for another one of his acts, Gerry and The Pacemakers. Of course, The Fab Four possessed undeniable charisma and more hits than John Gotti. Gerry and The Pacemakers had about three hits, the title track being their biggest. The movie's plot is somewhat nicked from A Hard Day's Night - the boys have to play a talent contest but their instruments have been mislaid - but it lacks the same wit and whimsy of that epochal work. Shot on location in Liverpool - a big plus.