20 Feet from Stardom

Morgan Neville has roped in an impressive rostrum of superstars as talking heads for this lively music doc – Mick Jagger, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and Sting all pop up – but it’s the lesser-known backing singers, who festoon the fringes of these male rock-stars’ stages and add soul to their records, who’ll be the reason why you rush to Spotify to hear more of their songs post-credits. Not that the likes of Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega, Merry Clayton, Claudia Lennear and Darlene Love will get any royalties, though. The film shows how these powerhouse singers have all been screwed over, one way or another, by misogynistic record producers. Love’s recounting of how she found out that her recording of He's a Rebel for producer Phil Spector would be credited to another act, The Crystals, when she heard it on the radio is particularly blood-boiling.

20 Feet From Stardom never feels bitter, though. It’s the opposite, in fact: a celebration of these kickass music heroines and their hair-raising voices. Of the numerous joyous moments in the film, watching Clayton while she listens to her original recording of Gimme Shelter, where she knocked Jagger's socks-off with her blistering delivery of the chorus (‘Rape, murder! / It's just a shot away’), takes some beating. [Jamie Dunn]