Year of the Yahoo! (1972)

Underground auteur Herschell Gordon Lewis takes a break from directing grisly gore films to helm Year of the Yahoo! (1972), a whip-smart political satire about a popular country singer (Claude King) who’s recruited to run for the U.S. senate. A sleazy Hollywood producer (Ray Sager), a dim-witted handler (Robert Jolly), and a cynical spin doctor (Terrell Cass) are called in to manage the singer’s Republican campaign, but the fledgling candidate chafes at the suffocating treatment. When his leftist activist girlfriend (Ronna Riddle) becomes a target of the meddling handlers, Hank (King) must decide between seizing power and doing what’s right. Of course, doing what’s wrong can be a lot more fun––look no further than the scene where King’s country strummer cheats with Leslie Slater to see how.