Classic Pop Icons

After years of waiting, music fans can finally enjoy the T.A.M.I Show on DVD from March 23. It looks to be one of the coolest music DVDs of 2010.

The film comprises footage from concerts held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. T.A.M.I means either Teenage Awards Music International or Teen Age Music International - both phrases were used in the show’s publicity. The line up for the shows was fantastic, with a number of legendary acts, including James Brown, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry - all in their prime!

The full list of performers is as follows:

• James Brown & The Flames - “Out Of Sight,” “Prisoner Of Love,” “Please, Please, Please,” and “Night Train”
• Chuck Berry - “Johnny B. Goode,” “Maybellene,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” and “Nadine (Is it You?)”
• Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - “Thats What Love Is Made Of,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” and “Mickey’s Monkey”
• Marvin Gaye - “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow,” “Pride And Joy,” “Can I Get A Witness,” and “Hitch Hike”
• The Rolling Stones - “Around and Around,” “Off The Hook,” “Time Is On My Side,” “It’s All Over Now,” and “I’m All Right”
• The Supremes - “When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes,” “Run, Run, Run,” “Baby Love,” and “Where Did Our Love Go?”
• The Beach Boys - “Surfin U.S.A.,” “I Get Around,” “Surfer Girl,” and “Dance, Dance, Dance”
• Gerry & The Pacemakers - “Maybellene,” “Dont Let The Sun Catch You Crying,” “Its Gonna Be Alright,” “How Do You Do It?,” and “I Like It”
• Lesley Gore - “Maybe I Know,” “You Dont Own Me,” “You Didnt Look Around,” “Hey Now,” “Its My Party,” and “Judy’s Turn To Cry”
• Jan & Dean - “(Here They Come) From All Over The World,” “The Little Old Lady (From Pasadena)” and “Sidewalk Surfin”
• Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas - “Little Children,” “Bad To Me,” “I’ll Keep You Satisfied,” and “From A Window”
• The Barbarians - “Hey Little Bird.”

The show closes with all performers on “Let’s Get Together.”

Rick Rubin has called the James Brown’s performance at the T.A.M.I show “the single greatest rock ‘n’ roll performance ever captured on film.” Keith Richards has said that The Stones decision to follow Brown on stage was one of the worst mistakes of their career because it was impossible to top him.

The T.A.M.I. Show trailer

The T.A.M.I show was directed by Steve Binder who would go on to direct Elvis Presley’s legendary 1968 television special.

As a taster, here’s Chuck Berry’s rocking version of Johnny B. Goode from the T.A.M.I Show:

This is the first time there has been an authorised release of this film in any format. Don’t pass it up.

Those wishing to enjoy some great live performances from The Who in their prime will be interested in a new iTunes exclusive album “The Who - Greatest Hits Live.”

“The Who - Greatest Hits Live” features 22 tracks in all, including previously unreleased and newly mixed concert recordings. The tracks span The Who’s entire career, from a BBC sessions performance of “My Generation” from 1965, to a version of “Eminence Front” from a show in Brisbane last year.

Here’s the full track list for “The Who Greatest Hits Live”:

• I Can’t Explain - recorded 12th December 1971, San Francisco Civic Auditorium
• Substitute - recorded 12th December 1971, San Francisco Civic Auditorium
• Happy Jack - recorded 15th February 1970, City Hall, Hull, England
• I’m A Boy - recorded 15th February 1970, City Hall, Hull, England
• Behind Blue Eyes - recorded 12th December 1971, San Francisco Civic Auditorium
• Pinball Wizard - recorded 12th June 1976, Vetch Field, Swansea, England
• I’m Free - recorded 12th June 1976, Vetch Field, Swansea, England
• Squeeze Box - recorded 12th June 1976, Vetch Field, Swansea, England
• Naked Eye/Let’s See Action/My Generation - recorded 18th May 1974, Charlton Athletic Football Club, South London, England
• 5.15 - recorded 6th December 1973, The Capital Centre, Largo
• Won’t Get Fooled Again - recorded 6th December 1973, The Capital Centre, Largo
• Magic Bus - recorded 14th February 1970, Leeds University, England
• My Generation - recorded 1965, BBC Sessions
• I Can See For Miles - recorded 24th August 1989, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
• Join Together - recorded 24th August 1989, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
• Love Reign O’er Me - recorded 24th August 1989, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
• Baba O’Riley - recorded 24th August 1989, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
• Who Are You - recorded 24th August 1989, Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
• The Real Me - recorded 31st January 2002, Watford Civil Hall
• The Kids Are Alright - recorded 7th February 2002, Royal Albert Hall, London
• Eminence Front - recorded 24th March 2009, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
• A Man In A Purple Dress - recorded 11th March 2007, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

Seattle-born guitar genius Jimi Hendrix died 40 years ago this September. Valleys of Neptune is the latest in the avalanche of unreleased Hendrix material that followed that premature demise.

Apart from “Axis: Bold As Love” outtake “Mr Bad Luck” (a prototype Look Over Yonder), the dozen songs herein are studio recorded tracks laid down after 1968’s Electric Ladyland, but before Hendrix began work proper on “First Rays of the New Rising Sun.” Most feature the original Jimi Hendrix Experience, two have Billy Cox in place of Noel Redding on bass, one features Hendrix and other musicians.

This, though, is not some kind of great lost missing link album. Several of the tracks, like the cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” and Elmore James’ “Bleeding Heart”, and a trio of rehashed Experience favourites, were done as studio warm-ups or rehearsals for forthcoming concerts. Even the conventional studio tracks mostly feel as cold and flat as rehearsals, rather than layered and nuanced in the manner of LP cuts. Additionally, the fact that these 12 tracks have a running time of an hour is a bad sign. That Hendrix was always best when he combined virtuosity with brevity is demonstrated by the flaccid eight-minute version herein of “Red House”, which can’t hold a candle to the taut, classic Are You Experienced original.

The core of the album is four tracks previously unreleased in any format. It’s an underwhelming quartet. “Lullaby for the Summer” starts out interesting courtesy of an exciting riff, but it soon disappointingly dawns that there are no vocals, while Hendrix’s solo is caterwauling. “Ships Passing Through the Night” is okay, but essentially just an identikit 12-bar blues with above-average guitar passages. The title-track is dreamlike and slick, but possessed of the type of rather aimless melody line that afflicted Hendrix’s work in later years. “Crying Blue Rain” is, unlike anything else here, poised and rich. However, it has no vocals, peters sloppily out and (like “Mr Bad Luck”) is rendered historically worthless by additional bass and drum recording done in 1987.

The fact that this climax comprises the closest thing to a substantial recording on the album is an indictment of a release that one suspects would not have made the stores had the Hendrix estate not wished to offer a bone to new label Sony following the end of their distribution deal with Universal.

Sample the tracks below:

Review by the BBC’s Sean Egan
BBC Online

The appearance of John Lennon in a commercial for the Citroën DS-3 car has caused some predictable controversy, with some offended by Lennon being used to endorse a product from beyond the grave.

The Citroën DS-3 is being promoted with the slogan “Anti Retro.” In keeping with this, footage is shown of Lennon criticizing people’s nostalgia for the 1960s and 70s. He says “Once a thing’s been done it’s been done. Looking backwards for inspiration, copying the past - how is that rock ’n’ roll? Do something of your own. Start something new. Live your life now. Know what I mean?”

The footage is from a June, 1968 interview for the BBC arts program ‘Release.’

What was Lennon really saying?

The footage is of course manipulated, with a fake voice over. For those who want to know what Lennon was really talking about before the footage was altered, I’ve tracked down the original, undoctored footage and put together a comparison video.

Although Lennon’s original words were far removed from the voice over on the Citroën commercial, it’s fair to say that the voice over does ring true as something Lennon might say. It’s a similar sentiment to these words from his 1980 interview with Playboy:

“If the Beatles or the Sixties had a message, it was to learn to swim. Period. And once you learn to swim, swim. The people who are hung up on the Beatles’ and the Sixties’ dream missed the whole point when the Beatles’ and the Sixties’ dream became the point. Carrying the Beatles’ or the Sixties’ dream around all your life is like carrying the Second World War and Glenn Miller around. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy Glenn Miller or the Beatles, but to live in that dream is the twilight zone. It’s not living now. It’s an illusion.”

Fans call for Citroën boycott

Some John Lennon fans are now calling for a boycott on Citroën cars and there is a war of words on Twitter between fans and John’s son Sean, who has defended Yoko’s decision to allow the footage to be used. He notes that the move was not about making money, but about helping to maintain Lennon’s public presence. Given the huge exposure The Beatles have received in the last year with the album remasters and the Rock Band game, I think that explanation is a little flimsy.

Whether Yoko’s motive was financial or to raise Lennon’s profile, I think this is all much ado about nothing. Sometimes fans can get a little precious about Lennon and to me the ad is fairly innocuous. That said, I wouldn’t advocate excessive or tacky use of his image of the kind the Elvis Estate can sometimes be guilty of.

Do you approve of the use of Lennon’s image for such overtly commercial purposes? Let us know. Please note, comments are moderated so there is a short delay before they appear.