Go Go Mania

Unfairly trashed by all mainstream media at the time of its release in early 1965 when I first saw this movie. This was the first time that I saw concert footage of the Beatles:- in color! The Beatles open and close this movie playing LIVE in front of screaming fans at the height of Beatlemania. The energy blew me away. I was 14 at the time. All the other groups mouth along to their records which was a bit disappointing I thought back then. Fans of this particular genre of pop music, particularly mid 60s British, are going to love this treasure trove. As well as some of the better known bands like the Animals and Herman's Hermit's this film also contains performances by the superb Rockin Berries and Four Pennies; two bands huge in England but never had a big hit in North America. All performances are lovingly filmed although spartan in appearance. No annoying split second cuts that have so long been the standard in music videos these days. I cannot believe this style is still in vogue to this day. There are no doubt thousands of fans such as myself who deeply enjoy music of this era and a movie such as this is a rare and valid document.

I just caught this this morning. Pop Gear is a British film recapping some pop hits of 1964 with staged performances by bands such as The Spencer Davis Group, Peter and Gordon, The Animals, and many others. Concert footage of the Beatles (singing She Loves You and Twist and Shout) opens and closes the film. The producer assumes familiarity, an intimacy between performers and audience, to the extent that the Master of Ceremonies (whose hair resembles a worn-out blond mop) never bothers to introduce himself, nor does he bother to introduce many of the pop groups by name. This is irksome for a lay cultural historian like myself, but that's the way it was, baby. There's a lot of good music and the songs are generally rather brief - 2 minutes on average. A cinematic, widescreen variety show, with more hits than misses. Recommended for fans of 60s radio pop.

I just saw this TV on some obscure cable channel. What a great period piece. A mix of well-known groups and the obscure, at least in the States. It was most interesting to me to see how some of the greats just sort of leaped off the screen, even though it was all lip-synched. Stevie Winwood in the Spencer Davis Group, as one. The Animals another. In fact, I thought the Animals out and out killed. I thought Herman's Hermits were good.

Lot of comment on the Beatles here. Nice to have some live Beatles clips for sure, but I did not think they were that remarkable.

The group with the red-haired singer asked about by another comment is the Rocking Berries. A real gem of a group that I had not heard of. Billie Davis was great, too. A real cutie, exuding personality.

Also, a good illustration of how there is really bad music in any era, too.

Dress and hair styles were great, too. Within a couple of years it would all be different.

Well worth watching.

I saw this movie on cable the other day. I was very surprised at how many great British pop artists appeared. Some obscure (at least to me) bands like The Rocking Berries, Fourmost, Tommy Quickly & The Remo 4 and Susan Maughan. I should have known more about these artists as I am no spring chicken and I loved this music.

The best surprise was a very pretty singer named Billie Davis. She was also unknown to me but not to British fans of pop as she still performs in shows with her friend Jet Harris. I got an immediate crush on this girl and she was just 18 years old in this film. She is now 61 but still quite pretty as I discovered from her fan site. Try and get her CD of her best stuff from her Decca years.

Many great performances make this a snapshot in time of the British invasion pop scene and well worth your time.

Having been 16 at the end of 1964, this took me back. Great history here too with some acts that never translated to this side of the ocean. (Although The Rockin' Berries had a pretty good U.S. hit with a cover of the Reflections "Poor Man's Son".) More history - The Fourmost and Tommy Quickly were in Brian Epstein's stable and each got to record Lennon-McCartney cast-offs; Hello Little Girl (Fourmost) and Tip of My Tongue (Quickly) - the latter possibly the worst song ever written by L&M. What a trip hearing early Spencer Davis with 16 year old Steve Winwood picking up lead guitar and vocal in the middle of the song. And Alan Price on keyboards for the Animals - a group he founded - just before he split with Eric. (And the late Chas Chandler on bass - he more than anyone responsible for bringing James Marshall Hendrix to the world.) Forgive the wardrobes (gold lame pants) and the sets - just early Carnaby Street sign of the times. And Matt Munro - an accommodation to the older set during the period of transition - he was thought to be the Sinatra of England.

I could have watched five hours of this! Bob Lewis