I am obsessed with this film
After catching it (and then DVRing it) on cable, I am watching this thing
over and over again. The problem with this, for American audiences, is that
most of the groups featured just did not make it here.
We know: The Beatles, The Animals, Herman's Hermits, The Spencer Davis Group
We vaguely know: Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, The Nashville Teens, Peter and Gordon, The Honeycombs
We don't know: The Four Pennies, The Fourmost, The Rockin' Berries, Tommy Quickly, Susan Maughan, Sounds Incorporated, Billie Davis
Matt Monro? What's he doing there? Sure, he sang the theme to "From Russia With Love" but he was more for your parents.
And who is Jimmy Savile?
But even with that, there are certain things here that belong in a time capsule.
--The two dancing interludes
--the bad sets, as someone mentioned
--Jimmy Savile's hair
There are more but if I was to pick the most effective song here,
it would have to be the second number by The Rockin' Berries, who
never made the crossover to the US charts.
It's a shame, because their cover of The Dovells "What In The World's Come
Over You" was a minor hit in the UK and should have been one in the US, too.
Lead singer Geoff Turton had a great falsetto and a gorgeous tenor voice.
Their first song in "Pop Gear," called "He's In Town," is a slow ballad
written by Goffin/King and was a hit. But the second tune is a much better
vehicle for Turton's voice. And it just so happens that with all the cheesy
direction during the lip synched work here, the direction and editing during
"What In The World" just happens to really support the material.
If you want to find out more about The Rockin' Berries there's a Wikipedia
entry and nice piece on Amazon by PD Harris.
If you watch this closely, it's a better little music film than you would expect.