The Junkman

The Junkman is a 1982 independent film which spent two years in production. To make the film, H. B. Halicki used his own personal collection of over 200 cars, toys, and guns - including Eleanor, the star of his 1974 cult classic Gone in 60 Seconds.

The Junkman is the second installment of Halicki's film trilogy. It presents Gone in 60 Seconds and Deadline Auto Theft as films within a film. The opening car chase sequence, which involves a 1974 Bricklin SV-1, is part of Deadline Auto Theft's storyline.

Plotline

Harlan B. Hollis (H. B. Halicki) struggles to stay alive when a jealous public relations manager (Christopher Stone) hires a team of assassins to kill him. The manager, also Hollis' brother-in-law, resents Hollis for making the movie Gone in 60 Seconds, which is premiering at the Cinerama Dome.

The film starts with the head hitman Frank Spyros (Sotiropulos) answering a pay phone and getting instructions from a then unknown person to go ahead with a hit on Hollis as he drives to the James Dean Festival in Cholame, California. The same unknown person inserts a video tape into a VCR, a highlight video of Hollis's life. The person ejects the video and crumples up a publicity shot of Hollis.

I Sold My Heart to the Junkman

'"I Sold My Heart to the Junkman"' is a 1946 recording by The Basin Street Boys featuring Ormonde Wilson, written by Leon René, under the songwriting pseudonym of Jimmie Thomas. It was released on the "Exclusive Records" label in 1946. It was covered a year later by Etta Jones with J. C. Heard and his Orchestra and released on RCA Victor records.

Patti LaBelle and Her Blue Belles

In 1962, Chicago-based girl group The Starlets were riding high with their top forty single, "Better Tell Him No". That year, while on tour, they were convinced by Newtown Records president Harold Robinson to appear in a recording schedule where they recorded two songs. One of these songs was "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman". After recording the songs, Robinson released the song on his label but instead of crediting the Starlets, instead credited a Philadelphia-based girl group named The Ordettes, who had changed their name to The Blue Belles - after a threat from another record boss, the name was altered to Patti LaBelle and Her Blue Belles.