Search - Wild Thing: The Sixties Jukebox DVD on DVD

Tacky but Pricless

Tom Tuerff | That there Phoenix place | 11/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, first of all, you should know that all of the "videos" (back in the 60s, there was no such thing as rock videos like we know them today, save for the late-era Beatles songs like "Strawberry Fields" and some other quickies) on this DVD are actually televised performances from the German TV show "Beat Club."The whole thing is in late-60s black and white. But that's okay.What you get here is some classic performances (some live, some recorded) of bands as far reaching as The Who, Status Quo, Procol Harum, The Troggs, and even the Bonzo Dog Band. What's really nice is that the songs performed by all the bands here are not necessarily what you would expect to see on a DVD; there aren't many hits here. The Kinks, for example, do "PLastic Man," a great song but one I had not heard before.Another example: Manfred Mann performs "Ha Ha! Said the Clown," rather than their more familiar stuff of that era, such as "the Mighty Quinn."The DVD packs a ton of songs into less than an hour, has "pop-up" extras for each video, and is worth the meager amount they want for it. Pick it up! You'll like it!TT"

Bring along your British sensibilities...

running_man | Chesterfield Twp., MI | 01/14/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This disc may have more nostalgic appeal for the European audience than it would have here in America. After all, a number of the songs and performers featured on 'Wild Thing' never gained acclaim in the USA, while in England they were Top Ten hits. The recordings are drawn primarily from The Beat Club/Musikladen German television programs, which were aired almost exclusively in the late 1960's. I think it best to appreciate the content offered here by using the following categories:

1) START AND FINISH FAST. The producers of 'The Sixties DVD Jukebox' (making reference to the added feature which allows the viewer to select up to ten tracks for sequential play) understand the value of their commodity, and wisely beef up the beginning and end of the production with tracks featuring the inimitable Pete Townshend and Keith Moon of The Who on 'Happy Jack', and 'So Sad About Us' (both performed live), and Steve Marriot leading the Small Faces on lip syncs of 'Itchycoo Park' and 'I Can't Make It'. Even the cuts that segue into and out of the middle of the disc are the choicer cuts, with Graham Nash and The Hollies on 'Sorry Suzanne' and Gerry and the Pacemakers on a surprisingly entertaining live rendition of 'Ferry Cross the Mersey'. Also appearing near the end of the disc is an Aussie band, The Easybeats, performing an enthusiastic, live version of their splendid 1967 #12 hit 'Friday On My Mind'. It's a joy to watch their Davy Jones look-alike lead singer Stevie Wright skate through this winner, even if it is in black and white.

2) THE SOFT CENTER. Tracks numbers five through thirteen feature a number of songs that scored big in England, but struck out in America. For instance, The Casuals grabbed a 1968 number five hit in England with 'Jasamine', the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band hit number five in the same year with 'I'm the Urban Spaceman' (a novelty track from a novelty band), and even Ray Davies and the Kinks scored a #31 hit in 1969 with 'Plastic Man'. It's hard from my Yankee perspective to appreciate the appeal of these tracks. At least with The Kinks we get to see a legendary band. The same is true with Manfred Mann, who scored a number one hit in America in 1964 with 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy', but here we get the forgettable 'Ha! Ha! Said the Clown'. The Beach Boys offer 'Surfin' USA', a 1963 hit being lip synced by the band in the late 1960's. The Nice offer a nice rendition of 'Hang Onto a Dream', which would be a boring ballad if it weren't for the engaging, extended piano bridge. The Troggs could have offered up 'Wild Thing' (which would seem sensible on 'Wild Thing - The DVD'), but instead rave up on the silly 'Hip Hip Hooray'. The only track from this portion of the disc where the Americans and the Brits saw eye to eye was Zager and Evans flamenco/future shock schlock 'In the Year 2525', a number one hit on both shores. Fleetwood Mac, one of my favorite 1960's bands, offers up a tame 'Man of the World', a soft ballad that took off to #1 in the UK (not the Mac's usual scorching blues), and The Move (an annoying cross between David Bowie and Rod 'Disco' Stewart) dirty the pen with 'Wild Tiger Woman'.

3) COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA... The remaining three tracks possess obvious potential to be stellar performances, but lose it for a couple reasons. Procol Harum's 'Homburg' is a disappointing knock-off of 'Whiter Shade of Pale'. Only the Status Quo can top the Harum, with 'Technicolor Dreams' being a shameless imiitation of their psychedelic hit, 'Pictures of Matchstick Men'. Live renditions of the vintage originals would have been historic by comparison. And The Moody Blues' 'Nights In White Satin', one of the greatest compositions of the rock era, is again poorly lip synced in one of the most unimaginative videos ever produced.

'Wild Thing' has some nice tracks, in particular the early Who and Small Faces tracks, and the occasional stand out performances by The Nice and The Easybeats, but there are a lot of tracks I would have to leave out of my personal jukebox. As rock video samplers go, I found 'Rockin In the USA' to be much more entertaining. The Musikladen vault may not be entirely emptied, however. One wonders if additional historic performances by bands like The Kinks and Fleetwood Mac are gathering dust. That would be a shame, and a mistake by their owners, as the audience interested in purchasing these nuggets are slowly making their way into nursing homes. As the Moses of 1960's rock would say, "Let my videos go!""

Brit Pop Psych Freakbeat Fest

andy7 | Los Angeles, CA United States | 09/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this DVD at the same time as the "So You Want To be A Rock N Roll Star" DVD comp, which had similar bands on it, and liked this one better. The reason being:
1) The Move performing "Wild Tiger Woman"=excellent.
2) Bonzo Dog Band playing "I'm The Urban Spaceman" with Roger Ruskin Spear dressed like a big peppermint drainpipe.
3) Not one but two great Small Faces clips, the snappiest dressed band of their time. Love those balloony satin shirts!
If you love old British psych music you ought to get this first and then get the "So You Want To Be..." disc after that."