From Music To Madness: The J Music Story

WRITERS
Ethan Alexanian
Dylan Clancy
Richard Philip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyMKdS29Lbw
Use as inspiration

Cult (think of manson family)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlmuuQBM4Gs

Ideas

EXT. WATERLOO, ONTARIO, CANADA

Opening shots of waterloo, various streets and houses

NARRATOR: Waterloo. A city known well for Blackberry...The World

Religions Conference...Oktoberfest [longer pause] … and James
Chapeskie.

Shot of a torn poster with James on it, blowing in the wind

NARRATOR: One of the world’s most prolific musicians, known for some
of the greatest hits of the 20th century. Until disaster struck. [long
pause] Arson.
Cut to newspaper video of james chapeskie being removed for arson

Cut to reporters standing in front of james, asking questions [appears

on CBB News ticker]

REPORTER 1: Mr. Chapeskie, what was your motivation for starting the
fires!?

JAMES: Hee, hee! Well, Mr. Reporter, Let me tell you, those ink spots
have really got it coming! *loudly sings “I just want to set the world
on fire” by the ink spots*

Two police officers grab James Chapeskie and drag him away.

JAMES, while being dragged: Wait! I have so much to tell the world!

POLICE OFFICER, yelling: NO MORE QUESTIONS!

The reporters begin yelling and scrambling to ask questions.

Camera flash transition to james mugshot

NARRATOR: The question of what drove him to commit arson, experts say,
is laden in his long career in film and music. And the answer is in
the story. The J Music Story.

J music title cue “FROM MUSIC TO MADNESS: THE J MUSIC STORY” while
dramatic rendition of WELCOME TO J MUSIC plays

Title key: “1967”

Cut to: various imagery from the late 60s --people, places, cars,
fashion -- “Going Nowhere” by Los Bravos playing in bkg
NARRATOR: The year is 1967. Lester B. Pearson is the Prime Minister of
Canada, The Shelby Cobra and the Chevy Camaro are born, the Beatles
are riding high with the release of the seminal Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band, and stoner culture is growing faster than ever.
Enter James Chapeskie.

Cut to: Picture of James Chapeskie in 1967

Cut to: interview shot with Josh Peeled

JOSH PEELED: This guy...I guess he just kind of...y’know, jumped into
the music scene, not knowing anyone. Mind you, he didn’t really have
any connections or anything, but back in the 60s the labels were a
little more willing to listen to stuff they hadn’t heard before and
try and sell it. And, you know, if labels were willing to put out
people like Frank Zappa in 1967, who knows? Chapeskie had a shot.

RICHIE PURGATORY: His first record gave, to everyone who heard it a

feeling that, THIS IS year zero.

Cut to overhead shot of someone holding an LP sleeve that says “MY

GOLD” on the J Music label. Person puts record on turntable and
adjusts the stylus to play.

NARRATOR: Chapeskie got his first big hit, with his band called the
James Chapes kie Experience. They signed with CBS Records in the UK
in 1967, with the eponymous “My Gold.”

My Gold plays as record spins

[CLIP OF THE JAMES CHAPESKIE EXPERIENCE PERFORMING ON THE GERMAN

TELEVISION MUSIC SHOW, DÄS IST POP MUSIK]

NARRATOR (over video): James Chapeskie was one of very few western
artists not banned in the Soviet Union--as My Gold was one of the few
songs of the time that offered a heuristic commentary on Capitalism.
Some U.S world leaders criticised Chapeskie’s approach--but leaders in
the Eastern Bloc offered praise for his song.

Cut to video of socialist leader speaking in russian

SOVIET (with subtitles): In this great nation, we know one thing. If

the west should try to attack us with their late-stage capitalism, we
will respond in kind. All my gold! All my gold! You stay clear of this
old gold!

Cut to interview shot of Josh Peeled

JOSH PEELED: History tells us...that My Gold had such an effect on

western pop culture in the late 60s that mining operations for gold
had to close in, I think, at least 4 countries in eastern eurasia. So,
yeah, you can probably imagine that people were both reeling about
this song, and loving it, too.

Cut to various images of james with artists, ken burns pan inward

NARRATOR: He also was well-acquainted with other pop stars of the

decade, including the Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, Eric
Clapton...and Jimi Hendrix.

Cut to waveform of Jimi Hendrix speaking about James

DICK CAVETT: “...superstar, now...”

JIMI: “Superstar!”
DICK CAVETT: “...certainly is in my heart!”

Cut to image of Woodstock poster (modified), woodstock images, etc

NARRATOR: A few years later in 1969, Chapeskie organized Woodstock--
except he actually wanted it to be held Woodstock, Ontario, not
upstate New York.

Cut to interview shot of Richie Purgatory

RICHIE PURGATORY: The thing is, they had everything set up in

Woodstock, Ontario about a day before the concert. And James got a
call, sometime in the late morning, from Michael and Artie in New
York, saying “yeah, yeah, people are here, and they’re thinking this
is happening in upstate New York, the Woodstock that’s there.” So,
y’know, rather than going through the hassle of redirecting all of the
hippies to this town random town in Canada, they packed all the
equipment up and just shipped it all to New York. Faster than any
Amazon shipment these days, because it got there by the same evening,
and they had it all set up by the following morning.

Cut to more woodstock imagery

NARRATOR: Woodstock is still hailed as the greatest music festival of

all time, and signified for many, the end of an era--the end of the
60s.

Fade to black

Cut to TITLE KEY: “1974”

Cut to various imagery of the 1970s -- “All The Young Dudes” by Mott
The Hoople

NARRATOR: After the end of the 1960s, other musicians had to modernize
and change their style to accommodate the new style of the next
decade--but Chapeskie was the one ahead of the curb. Enter the glam
rock scene.

Cut to imagery of glam rock bands

NARRATOR: Musicians started entering the scene with what was

considered offensive, commercial, and cultural emasculation. Kiss,
David Bowie, Mott The Hoople, and Slade to name a few--but before them
all...was James Chapeskie.

Cut to interview shot of Jonathan Swamp

JONATHAN SWAMP: When James wanted to change his sound, he came to us

to be his new band. We didn’t really know how to change after
performing the same way for over 10 years, but y’know, he gave us the
guidance we needed to make something nobody had ever heard before. So
really, what ended up happening is, yeah, we kinda made the Glam Rock
scene by accident. We made up a band name, they called us “James
Chapeskie and the Powdered Noses from Planet Nine”.

[CUT TO JAMES CHAPESKIE AND THE POWDERED NOSES FROM PLANET NINE
PERFORMING ON THE CBB TELEVISION SHOW “THE SENILE BLACK WARBLING
INQUIRY”]

NARRATOR: Success came instantly after Chapeskie introduced his new

sound to the world. Across the globe, he had high-strung fans that
took him to the top of the charts in the first four months of 1974.
The media coined a term to describe the new phenomenon: Chapesk-in-
gitus

Cut to interview shot of Jonathan Swamp

JONATHAN SWAMP: I remember seeing James’ career unfolding as a kid,

long before I ever got to work with him. He was Kafka, Jim Morrison
and Andy Warhol condensed into one artist. A lot of people seem to
forget that he was responsible for, what many consider, the punk-rock
anthem of the 70s, “The Empty Age Group”. And everyone agrees, as
well, that if not for “Music Is The Way”, we’d never have been riding
nearly as high on the charts as we were at the time.

Cut to video of “Music Is The Way” playing on record player

NARRATOR: Chapeskie’s new single, “Music Is The Way”, topped the

charts for the entire year of 1974. It endures as the best-selling
single of the entire 1970s, and to this day, is the subject of 23
different grammy awards.

“Music Is The Way” plays for a bit

Cut to: interview shot with Josh Peeled

JOSH PEELED: I have always said, especially when I was on air at CBB
in the mid-70s...modern music starts with his seminal release, “Music
Is The Way”.

Cut to more images of James playing on stage with the Powdered Noses
from Planet Nine

NARRATOR: Chapeskie and the Powdered Noses from Planet Nine rode the
charts into the late 70s--until 1978, when he developed a crippling
Pop Rocks addiction, causing him to get into a fistfight with the
program director at CBB Radio 1. This resulted in a ban of all of
Chapeskie’s music from the CBB, stifling his chart position within the
country. It also led to a falling out with his bandmates, and just
like that, the Powdered Noses from Planet Nine were no more. Chapeskie
abandoned the UK, and moved to New York City, to pursue his calling in
North America.

Cut to pictures of NYC discotheques late 70s, “Shame” by Evelyn King

plays in background
JOSH PEELED: We were shocked after everything that had happened in
1978, and seeing him make his move to New York was simply marvellous.
Nobody really forgot about him over here either, with the exception of
the CBB.

NARRATOR: Following James’ self imposed exile, the CBB disc jockeys
not only refused to play his music--they refused to acknowledge his
mere existence.

CUT TO WAVEFORM FROM THE CBB TOP 20 SHOW, 1978

DJ: People have been calling in requesting the new single from
somebody named James Chapeskie. I have never heard of this man in my
life, and even if I have, he is a monster, that is to say, if he even
exists at all. Anyways, here’s the #6 song on the charts, Steve
Winwood with Valerie here on Radio 1, Britain’s favourite non-
Chapeskie station I MEAN, STATION, JUST STATION.

Cut to interview shot of Josh Peeled

JOSH PEELED: I think people were just disillusioned, you know. But he
made his way again. Took some time but, er, he came back in about 6
years, I’d say.

Cut to title cue: “1984”

Cut to various imagery of the 1980s, with “Cars” by Gary Numan playing
in background

NARRATOR: The 80s were a new, experimental time for music. New Wave
had begun to lay the way for the to-be alternative scene, and
synthesizers rode the pop charts to the tippy top. And way up there,
in 1984, was, believe it or not, James Chapeskie.

Cut to video of James Chapeskie performing “Welcome to J Music” on MTV

JOSH PEELED: I lived through the 80s, and let me tell you--I could
swear that music began right then, when “Welcome To J Music” topped
the charts in its first week.

Cut to more imagery of James Chapeskie in the 80s

NARRATOR: The 80s made James Chapeskie, as he says, into the artist he
always wanted to be. Times went by quickly though--and by the end of
the decade, James Chapeskie was out. The charts had moved on to give
way to top artists like the Pet Shop Boys and Milli Vanilli, leaving
James in the dust as he trailed into the 90s.

Cut to title cue: “1991”

Cut to various imagery of the early 90s, with “Come As You Are” by
Nirvana in background

NARRATOR: The 90s changed everything. A total cultural upheaval of the

80s started immediately in the early 90s. And as a result, people like
James Chapeskie were kicked out of the scene. Ultimately, that could
only have ended in one thing.

Cut to interview shot of Josh Peeled

JOSH PEELED: This man, by the end of the 80s, went absolutely crazy.
So he seceded, and the public hardly knew about him. Except for,
y’know, the cult he created.

Video freezes

NARRATOR: Wait a minute. Let’s hear that one more time.

Video rewinds

JOSH PEELED: ...except for, y’know, the cult he created.

Cut to illuminati sound effects and other garbage

NARRATOR: Yes, you heard correctly. James Chapeskie originated a

secret cult in the early 90s that turned the world upside down. Their
main philosophy? Fire.

Cut to waveform of James Chapeskie unreleased “Fire”

JOSH PEELED: What we found, much, much later, after the arson had been
revealed, was this unreleased cover from the 60s of “Fire” by Arthur
Brown.

Cut to interview shot of Josh Peeled

JOSH PEELED: And yes, as you can imagine, the very cult that we’re now
talking about, was founded around the principles of this song. And the
members of this cult didn’t even call him by his name--they were
entranced, y’know. They called him “Master Ignis”. Meaning the latin
word for fire, or something like that. Guy knew a fire like the back
of his hands, and you can bet his cult did too.

Show images/video of the cult

NARRATOR: The cult referred to themselves as “Estuans Interius”,

meaning, in latin, “burning inside”. Their internal culture revolved
around the destruction and dissolution of modern music culture--
something Chapeskie grew to hate after his downfall in the 80s. They
were responsible for numerous small fires throughout the 90s and early
through mid-2000s, which were deemed practically untraceable for
decades--until after their leader was arrested for what is widely
considered...their greatest crime.
Cut to title cue: “2008”

Cut to universal studios fire news clips

NARRATOR: June 1st, 2008, is a day that will live in infamy forever.
That morning, a worker, attempting to heat an asphalt shingle for
maintenance purposes, ended up setting the entire studio on fire,
destroying a time-honored attraction, and burning hundreds of music
and film masters in the process. Little did anyone know, the person
masquerading as that worker...was James Chapeskie.

Cut to interview shot of Richie Purgatory

RICHIE PURGATORY: This guy, with the help of his cult, managed to
*counting on fingers* get past security, get a building pass, get
access to materials, get access to a blowtorch, set the place on fire,
and leave without a trace. And, y’know, I…I’ve just been flabbergasted
over the fact that it took the cops this long to find out. I mean, how
stupid can you be? He really wanted this to be the Chernobyl of music
industry related disasters.

Cut to imagery of universal studio fire

NARRATOR: But the truth is that they couldn’t get away with it
forever. The cult eventually disbanded after all the members had an
epiphany as a result of acute arsenic poisoning. So as a result of the
split, James travelled across the border to Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
And for one long decade, he had a free ride. But when the decade was
up, so was James.

Cut to title cue: “2018”

Cut to stock imagery of police investigation

NARRATOR: After the investigation concluded, police discovered
evidence that made the finding pretty easy. A small photo from
Chapeskie’s back pocket that survived the fire--and of who else, but
him.

Cut to interview shot with Richie Purgatory

RICHIE PURGATORY: They took this photo, and they traced it back, and
some historians saw it and were like… “hey, that’s James Chapeskie.”
and so they did a search with interpol, who ended up getting in touch
with the Waterloo Regional Police Service...and that’s how they got
him.
Cut to james chapeskie arrest footage

NARRATOR: James Chapeskie was arrested exactly 10 years after the

fire, on June 1st, 2018. He was tried and found guilty of mass arson,
and interred at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex. Until exactly one
year later.

Cut to title cue: “2019 (now)”

Cut to waveform of radio broadcast

NEWS ANCHOR: We’ve just recieved breaking news that former music
superstar turned arsonist, James Chapeskie, has escaped the Maplehurst
Correctional Complex. We have no word yet on how he was able to
escape, police are still confirming the details, and a search party is
currently scaling the entire immediate area of the City of Milton.

Cut to images of the correctional facility

NARRATOR: On June 1st, 2019, James Chapeskie escaped prison. Police

can only speculate how he was able to escape--but what we do know is
that he is afoot in the world, and it is likely we’ll never see him
again. Or will we? All that’s left now is the story of how James
Chapeskie went from Music...To Madness.

End on picture of James.

Cue Credits