I’m guessing you’ve never heard of Bill Bartell. If so, you’re also wondering why is there a nearly two-hour documentary about him? The easy answer is that this mysterious man from the Los Angeles punk scene is worth discovering over the course of that time. The film explores who was he. What he had done. Most importantly who he did things with. You’d swear he was a character in a novel. The Secret Lives Of Bill Bartell tells the story of him through his friends and people who he wanted to be friends with.
The documentary opens with Kurt Cobain of Nirvana talking about Bill Bartell. We learn later that a few of the cult bands Kurt had championed were given to him by Bartell. He gave Kurt the Daniel Johnston t-shirt he wore around. But before Nirvana, Bartell became a fixture in the Los Angeles punk scene. He’s in the Germs concert footage on Decline and Fall of Western Civilization. But he was more than a concertgoer. He started his band White Flag that was a bit of a spoof on Black Flag. Their logo was the Black Flag logo rotated. But they weren’t a parody of Henry Rollins’ crew. The mystery about Bill is that he somehow had enough money to pay for his band to tour Europe in the early ’80s. Nobody has a clue how Bill could afford it including his band mates. Later he started his own record label Gasatanka Records that put out Redd Kross’s Teen Babes from Monsanto (which I own). Later Bill would join up with the McDonald brothers from Redd Kross to perform as Tater Totz. Bill was rubbing shoulders with Kiss and even got their manager to sign Generation X which later meant he was managing Billy Idol. While not covered in the movie properly, Bill was connected to Iron Maiden.
What made Bartell interesting in the punk scene, he grew a mustache that made him look like a cop. Although part of the film brings up his fascination with the mustache of Randy Jones, the original Cowboy for The Village People. Because Bill gave off the appearance of being the authority, he was able to do stuff that you wouldn’t imagine a punk getting away with.
Part of what makes the film intriguing is watching people attempting to make sense of Bartell with their limited view of him. Some people knew him as a great guy. Others remember him being a massive jerk. There was a spectrum to the energetic man that gets stitched together by their stories. Bartell compartmentalized himself so nobody had his full story. Most of them didn’t know he was gay. Others knew except weren’t sure he was involved with anyone. People didn’t know where he lived although Bartell had their phone number and called them at all hours of the night.
Bill was a guy who didn’t like to give clear answers to things. They weren’t sure if he was lying about things, but then he’d have proof. As one person points, you can’t dismiss anything the Bartell said because it sounded too farfetched. Why? Because they’d seen him pull off farfetched things. He wasn’t all tall tales. He wasn’t merely an annoying hanger on. He made thing happen which made him someone worth knowing to others.
What’s amazing is how things evolve for Bartell later in life. He becomes big in Sweden when a major band covers one of his songs. After playing a cop in various indie projects, Bartell ends up joining the LAPD. After admiring the Cowboy from the Village People, Bartell just doesn’t wear western gear. He rides bulls in rodeos. This doesn’t turn out to be a great career move for Bartell as we learn in the final reel.
As someone who had no clue about Bill Bartell, I was immediately glued to the screen when I pressed play. It’s a fascinating life with a self-destructive ending. The Secret Lives Of Bill Bartell lets us in on so many things about him from his pals, yet Bill Bartell has still plenty of secrets at the end.
Director David Markey (1991 The Year Punk Broke) is about to have his legendary two films Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and Lovedolls Superstar come out on Blu-ray in April. Also Born Innocent – The Red Kross Story comes out that same month. If you enjoy this documentary about Bill Bartell, you’ll be able to absorb more from this scene.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The documentary uses a lot of vintage video and other archival material from Bartell’s life. The transfer looks good. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 stereo. You might want to crank up the speakers for the White Flag concert moments. The movie is subtitled in English.
Bonus Feature Film (46:19) is another batch of great tales about Bartell. There’s a bit of the connection between him and Kurt Cobain. Thurston Moore recounts meeting him on a trip to Los Angeles. We learn how he named an Iron Maiden record and a bit more with the NWOBM masters. There’s a pic of Bill with David Cassidy of the Partridge Family. More stories about Bartlett and Kiss. There’s an interesting moment when one person mentions how Bill never wanted to be a famous musician. He just wanted to hang out backstage. He would forge backstage passes to achieve this sometimes. It’s great that all this could be included in the Blu-ray.
Slamdance 2025 Q&A (15:48) is David Markey talking after the premier screening. He started putting it together in 1994, but Bartell wasn’t into cooperating. He got back into making it in 2019. Record producer Brian Kehew wanted to make it. They talk about how this is the greatest hits of Bartell’s biography.
Theatrical Trailer (2:59) opens with Kurt Cobain talking about Bartell.
We Got Power Films presents The Secret Lives Of Bill Bartell. Directed by David Markey. Starring Kurt Cobain, Thurston Moore, Jeff and Steve McDonald and The Melvins. Running Time: 101 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: February 24, 2026.
