(1964, b/w) A dozen rock'n'roll and R&B acts were recorded from two concerts by director Steve Binder and his crew from The Steve Allen Show, using Electronovision TV cameras - "By capturing more than 800 lines of resolution at 25 fps," according to Wikipedia, "it could be converted to film via kinescope recording with sufficient enhanced resolution to allow big-screen enlargement" - in Santa Monica, California, in the city's civic center before a live teenage audience of mostly screaming girls and then edited into this single two-hour blast from the past.

Eventually destined for PBS-TV fund-raising broadcasts to baby boomers, the Teen-age Awards Music International Show features, in chronological order: Chuck Berry, Gerry and The Pacemakers, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, Jan and Dean - who also emcee the program and sing over the opening credits the theme song "Here They Come (from All Over the World)" - The Beach Boys, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, The Supremes, The Barbarians, James Brown and The Famous Flames, and The Rolling Stones.

The house band, under the musical direction of Jack Nitzsche and collectively called The Wrecking Crew, includes guitarists Glen Campbell and Tommy Tedesco with pianist Leon Russell. A dozen or so go-go dancers in sweaters, sweatshirts (one with a target logo before there was Target), fringed two-piece top with bell-bottomed bottom or tight skirt, and bikinis prance and flounce on backstage stairs and scaffolding.

Chuck Berry with guitar and wide stance opens with "Johnny B. Goode" and "Maybellene," then alternates ("Sweet Little Sixteen" and Nadine") between Gerry and The Pacemakers (most of these performers, those still alive, might be Geriatrics with their Pacemakers), who reprise "Maybellene" before crooning "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," "It's Gonna Be Alright," "How Do You Do It," and "I Like It." (Remember any of these from AM radio?)

The rest of the acts do their sets of songs and then give way to the next group or soloist: Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (three songs, including "You Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Mickey's Monkey"), Marvin Gaye accompanied by The Blossoms (four songs, including "Pride and Joy" and "Can I Get a Witness"), 18-year-old Lesley Gore, her hair in a flip and wearing a suited skirt and heels (five songs, including the early feminist anthem "You Don't Own Me," "It's My Party," and "Judy's Turn to Cry"), concluding with the previous acts on stage with her.

Singing "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and "Sidewalk Surfin'," Jan and Dean lead off a lineup followed by The Beach Boys ("Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around," "Surfer Girl," and "Dance, Dance, Dance"), Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas ("Little Children" and three tunes composed by Lennon and McCartney: "Bad to Me," "I'll Keep You Satisfied," and "From a Window"), The Supremes (four Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown hits, including "Run, Run, Run," "Baby Love," and "Where Has Our Love Gone"), The Barbarians from Cape Cod (a forgettable combo), and the supreme James Brown screeching, screaming, and sweating "Out of Sight," "Prisoner of Love," "Please, Please, Please," and "Night Train" with The Famous Flames (a member offers the singer a robe like a prize fighter after he's thrown off his checkered jacket), turning in a fevered, frenzied (watch his feet!) feat (of which music producer Rick Rubin said, "that may be the single greatest rock and roll performance ever captured on film"), crashing to his knees (that had to hurt) five times, dancing on one leg, and doing the splits.

The Rolling Stones (afterward Mick Jagger, who puts on a weak imitation of Brown's footwork, expressed regrets for having to follow the Godfather of Soul's insurmountable act) close out the film with "Around and Around," "Off the Hook," "Time Is on My Side," "It's All Over Now," "I'm Alright," and "Let's Get Together."

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Copyright © 2010 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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