Max Frost And The Troopers originated as a fabricated ensemble assembled for the 1968 exploitation film Wild In The Streets, which targeted the counterculture audience of the era. The frontman’s screen persona was portrayed by actor Christopher Jones, while the group’s drummer on camera was a young Richard Pryor. Within the story, the band campaigns to lower the voting age to fourteen; at the narrative peak, Frost ascends to the presidency and mandates that all citizens older than thirty be confined in re-education camps and dosed with LSD. Most of the band’s on-screen numbers took the form of strident, satirical political slogans, typified by the track “14 Or Fight,” yet one composition stood apart as a genuine folk-punk staple—“Shape Of Things To Come.” Penned by the songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, the recording was initially tracked by the 13th Power but was issued under the Max Frost And The Troopers moniker to leverage the movie’s appeal among young listeners, ultimately peaking at number 22 on the U.S. charts.
