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 two cinematic travesties:
WAIT – HIGH STEPPIN’ BEE GEES?!???????
Yes, this picture is real: The Bee Gees 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!
Rated “PG” – For “Positively Ghastly!”
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!
If and only if you think you have the stomach for it, 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!
And what if they had never broken up?
What would their music of the 70’s sounded like? Well, one terrific book has the answer!
Yes, this Author took the solo music of the Fab Four and reconstructed the best songs into Beatles albums – this is a fascinating read and you can see more by clicking on my story here:
Of course, growing up in Seattle I knew that the boys performed there – and fished out of their hotel window!
You can rent this room and do it yourself, but my wife and I rocked the Pearl Jam suite instead!
Clcik here for a private tour of this incredible musical suite!
Finally, Director Peter Jackson did an incredible job of reconstructing the original “Let It Be” documentary into an 8 hour masterpiece:
He also worked with McCartney on a “duet” with the late John Lennon – click here to see Paul perform live with John just a few years ago…
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Categories: 70's Cinema, 70's Music, Art, Books / Media, British Cinema, Classic Rock, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Movies, Obscure Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, The Beatles
johnrieber 
I’ve never heard of either of these films, and I don’t think I’ll be checking them out!
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Stevie, they are both truly horrible and fascinating that they abused great music that way!
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Oh, no! I’m glad I never heard of the film. How demeaning for the soldiers and survivors of WWII. And, the Beatles are British, which gives them twice the bad marks (war in your backyard). Stick to what you know, right? They sure know music, and will always be my favorite. Best to you, John.
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Thank you so much!
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You’re welcome, John.
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I never knew about the wwll film , but I do remember The Bee Gees debacle even though I never saw it
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Sorry to pick you up on this, but that final rooftop performance was on 30 January 1969, so today isn’t the anniversary – which would be its 54th.
I haven’t seen the WW2 movie but if it is even half as bad as Sgt Pepper I’d agree with you that it should be avoided at all costs. I like a good rock/pop music movie, but that is nothing like one! If you want to go for some Beatles nostalgia Yesterday is a much better bet!
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What strange casting! (Frankie Howerd/Steve Martin in the same film) I am happy to say I have not seen them, and will not be bothering to search them out. 🙂 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Two perfectly dreadful movies, John. I’ve never heard of them before.
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I had not heard of either of these before!! Some very impressive names too! But, as you say, odd ideas both!
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