Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains

Corinne, a 17-year-old girl, is coping with her mother's recent death from lung cancer. She works at a fast-food restaurant to help support her younger sister Tracy. The strain of grief and responsibility sets the stage for the future by anchoring her in a tough town during a harsh recession.

During a local TV interview about the town's dwindling economy in the early 1980s recession, Corinne becomes angry and belligerent toward the reporter. She rails against authority and ends up clashing with her boss, resulting in her being fired from the fast-food job. The moment marks a turning point in her willingness to speak her mind publicly.

The segment resonates with teenage viewers who relate to Corinne's defiance. A follow-up interview shows Corinne flippant and sarcastic toward the journalist. She still slips in a plug for her garage band, The Stains, helping them gain attention.

Emboldened by the TV exposure, Corinne attends Lawnboy's concert featuring the Metal Corpses and opening act the Looters. Lawnboy signs the Stains without hearing them perform, and the band joins the tour. Tensions simmer between the aging Metal Corpses frontman Lou and the Looters' volatile Billy, foreshadowing conflict to come.

At the first show, the Stains prove inept: Jessica and Tracy cannot play their instruments, and Corinne sings off-key. The audience boos and Corinne lashes out at them, fueling the negative reception. After the show, Metal Corpses' guitarist Jerry overdoses in the bathroom, prompting the band to leave the tour.

Lawnboy shifts the Looters to headliners with the Stains as opening act, changing the tour's dynamic. A dissatisfied Billy asks Lawnboy to replace the Stains as soon as possible. The Stains' position on the bill becomes precarious as audiences react to the evolving lineup.

At the next show, Corinne debuts a radical punk aesthetic, dyeing her hair and wearing a see-through blouse over bikini briefs. She proclaims she never puts out, delivering another wild tirade. While male journalists focus on her antisocial energy, female journalists frame her as a feminist icon, helping the Stains gain national attention.

During a motel stop on the tour, Billy attempts to seduce Corinne and shares his private shame of illiteracy. He recites the lyrics to 'Join the Professionals,' crystallizing his view of the state of the world. The moment deepens their complicated relationship and hints at forthcoming choices.

Back on the road, Lawnboy's agent Dave Robell presents a replacement act, Black Randy and the Metrosquad. Billy confesses he always wanted Corinne replaced, intensifying the conflict. On the next show, the Stains perform a cover of Billy's song, which rockets them to greater stardom.

With Robell's encouragement, Corinne signs a new contract that cuts Lawnboy out of royalties and makes the Stains the tour's headliners. The band's power shifts as they move toward full control of their commercial direction. Tensions with Lawnboy become a defining feature of the tour.

Billy delivers a speech accusing the Stains of betrayal as fans riot during their act. Corinne is attacked by a rival fan with hair dye, underscoring the chaos of the tour. The financial disaster prompts Robell to cancel the contract, and Corinne retrieves the money he's been withholding, giving it to Lawnboy as an apology.

The next morning, Corinne appears on television where a belligerent male journalist scolds her as a poor role model. Billy apologizes for ruining her career and asks her to rejoin as the Looters' opening act, but she refuses. She then learns that the Stains' first song has become a hit, signaling a turning point in her fate.

Sometime in the future, the Stains make their MTV debut and become a successful act on Lawnboy's new record label. The transformation from garage band to national sensation is complete, fulfilling the early hype surrounding Corinne's defiant voice. The arc ends with the band achieving lasting fame on television.