Movie Details
| Title: | The T.A.M.I. Show | |
| Director: | Steve Binder | |
| Year: | 1965 | |
| Genre: | Concert Film | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 11.07.05 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 11.07.05 | Music Monday | An ultra-rare 16mm print shown for a buck at the Alamo's Music Mondays, The Teenage Awards Music International show is a mother of a 1965 pop music concert film. It's like a whole show of those old Ed Sullivan musical performances strung together with hosts Jan and Dean. The print was awash in the high pitch white noise of screaming teenaged girls but with a line-up of Chuck Berry, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Dakotas, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Supremes, The Beach Boys, The Barbarians, Lesley Gore, James Brown, and the Rolling Stones coming at you with absolutely no breaks, I can kind of see how kids went nutso back then and just screaming for two straight hours. Aside from the image and sound quality issues, the film is a really great document of rock n roll and pop music in the mid-sixties. It's funny though, everybody is still feeling very glossy and radio-friendly, even the Stones playing it pretty straight, looking more like something out of the 50s instead of just a few years away from Woodstock and Altamont, but the second James Brown takes the stage we're in another freakin world. He is so in his own league in this movie, doing it all. He's down on his knees a good half dozen times, he's got his backup singers throwing the robe over his shoulders, he's screaming his heart out a good 2 feet from the mic and it's still picking it up, then they launch into night train and it's like the whole stage explodes. I'm watching and thinking "Screw Ray Charles, man... somebody needs to make the James Brown movie." Not only does he steal the entire show but he was also the only performer to get the Alamo audience to clap. After every song. After him, The Stones just can't compare. Crazy. So yeah, I consider it a treat to get to see this movie... it actually reminded me a lot of That Thing You Do! with how those kinds of shows were put on back then and also how a lot of the bands actually performed. Gerry from The Pacemakers had his guitar strapped way high up on his chest and played it like a shotgun and The Miracles backing up Smokey Robinson had all sorts of choreographed stage show stuff going on in addition to singing... I mean not everything's changed nowadays depending on who you see and where, but it was cool to see it back then when a lot was different. There's a shot at the end of Chuck Berry clearly staring into the cleavage of a well-endowed dancer that's been gyrating and vibrating all during the show. I love that dance... that weird surfer/rock n roll dance from the early-60s that looks like you're having an epilleptic fit set to the beat of the music or something. I don't know how some of those girls kept up that pace for the whole show... there definitely needs to be more go-go girls at shows today. definitely. |
