Meet The Beatles!
They are greatest musical Artists of all time…you fell in love with them in the early 60’s when Beatlemania swept the world…
And of course, they created some of the greatest music ever…someone told me the other day that they can’t think of a SINGLE bad Beatles song – including “Octopuses’ Garden!”
The Beatles are….well, THE BEATLES. What else can be said?
Well, how about this: they also made movies, of course: the classic films “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Help”, the animated “Yellow Submarine”, and the legendary documentary “Let It Be”…you can read about that film HERE:
But Even The Beatles Can Have An “Ooops” Moment!
They were musical geniuses – their music has stood the test of time – but after they broke up, they may have taken their eye off the ball a bit – or didn’t realize that someone had the right to take their music and license it for other purposes…
And so, along with the incredible music – and iconic films, The Beatles also made TWO major mistakes – allowing their music to be used for THESE:
WAIT – HIGH STEPPIN’ BEE GEES?!???????
Yes, this picture is real: The Bee Gees, along with PETER FRAMPTON, are wearing Sgt. Peppers outfits and high stepping down smalltown, USA. You can’t make this stuff up, folks…Prepare yourself for a cinematic trip through two of the worst film ideas EVER – and they took the Beatles iconic music down with them! First, let’s take a trip back in time – to a simpler era of sunshine, rainbows…AND NAZIS!
All This and World War 2.
The Beatles! Great music, right? Makes you think immediately of World War 2, doesn’t it? NO? Well, in 1976 some geniuses decided to take the Mop Tops greatest hits and, you know, cover it with documentary footage of World War 2! Bad idea? Beyond!
Check out the trailer and be prepared to be stunned!
Who came up with the idea of taking documentary footage of the worst world war EVER and mixing with some of the worst cover songs EVER?!?!?!?! Check out the track list from the soundtrack album – read closely…
Leo Sayer doing “I Am The Walrus”…I will wait a moment so you can absorb that…and be prepared for Helen Reddy – yes, HELEN REDDY! – to sing “Fool On The Hill” while Hitler relaxes at Bertchtesgaden! Finally, Rod Stewart belts out his raspy version of “Get Back” while Nazi troops goose step. Yes, it really is as bad as it sounds!
This according to Wikipedia: Critics savaged the movie with gusto, audiences stayed away, and Fox promptly yanked the film from release. The reviewer in the New York Daily News wrote that the film’s PG rating had to have stood for “Positively Ghastly”. It appeared out of competition at Cannes in 1977, has occasionally been shown at film festivals, and even on American cable TV. On June 1, 2007 the film played a single midnight show at Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles.
Take A Deep Breath Before Pressing On…
Take a look at our boys for one more second to steel yourself for what lies ahead…
There is bad, and then there is BAD. This is BAAAAAAADDDDDDDD………
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Yes, as if “All This and World War 2” didn’t defile the Beatles quite enough, Producer Robert Stigwood dug the knife in deeper with this amazingly misguided attempt to bring the Sgt. Pepper Band to life, courtesy of the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton –
AND GEORGE BURNS!
Check out the trailer!
Take a moment to absorb this: a film was made using rock’s greatest album of all time. And the decision was made to turn it into a musical comedy starring Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees and George Burns…
But That’s Not All!
Yes, they also managed to book Steve Martin, Alice Cooper and Earth,Wind & Fire! It was a mid-70’s greatest hits team that must also share the blame for agreeing to star in this 1978 disaster! And yes, here is MORE high stepping!
Needless to say, this movie was one of the biggest bombs EVER – and as for reviews – well, Newsweek’s David Ansen called Sgt. Pepper “a film with a dangerous resemblance to wallpaper.”
“And In The End…”
For the finale of the film, it was decided that they’d assemble an enormous roster of celebrities to sing the reprise of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Formal invitations were engraved and sent to virtually everyone in the entertainment industry; the many who RSVP’d were treated to first-class transportation to Los Angeles, limos, luxurious hotels, champagne, a lavishly catered dinner and private tents for each of the stars in the studio’s garden room.
What more can be said? Let me know if you’ve seen either one of these films – and most importantly, put “Abbey Road” on right now to remember The Beatles as they should be remembered!
Categories: 70's Cinema, 70's Music, Books / Media, British Cinema, Cannes Film Festival, Classic Rock, Cult Movies, documentary films, Film Fight Club, Foreign Films, London, Memoirs, Movies, Movies About Movies, Music, Obscure Movies, Obscure Music, Politics, Talent/Celebrities, The Beatles, Travel, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized
johnrieber 
All that aside I’d be interested to hear some of those covers. Those are some great artists and I think some of the songs are well matched.
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Interesting that they seem to have fallen off the face of the earth, like the film!
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Ohh NOOO! What a hoot. Can’t escape a goof, even with a stupendous career like the Beatles. That’s a film I’ll never be watching.
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It must have been at a time when they didn’t control ANYTHING their music was licensed for – thanks for your comment!
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How frustrating to have your work prostituted.
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Reblogged this on johnrieber and commented:
Two obscure times that The Beatles music was used for all the wrong reasons….
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Jesus H Christ and I thought Magical Mystery Tour was crap.
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Some people say Sgt. Peppers is SO bad that it is actually brilliant! Those films are FEW AND FAR BETWEEN!
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