Seamus2829 Long before MTV (or as I prefer to call it now...empty vee),for bands to get their image across, they had to either appear on various television programmes,or appear in self produced film clips. This feature film seems to be made up of a batch of these early film clips, with somebody named Jimmy Saville as the M.C. of sorts. The Beatles book end this compilation of clips,and along the way we are treated by footage of Eric Burdon & The Animals,Sounds Incorporated,etc. Like concert films that would appear in the wake of this film,it seems to be aimed mostly for rabid fans of the various bands in the film (i.e. most regular folk who just like movies for mere entertainment would probably be bored out of their skulls over this). Although the film does boast of some fine performances by the various bands, personally I find this Whitman's Sampler of the British invasion to be rather poorly filmed & edited (the camera sometimes seems to be where it shouldn't be---kind of like David Bowie's concert film,'Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars',from 1973/1983). This film sometimes pops up on late night television (which is where I first saw it some years ago).

kakkarot I was pleased to see AMC run this film last summer. Pop Gear is truly a rare gem. The film starts off with a familiar live performance by the Beatles. Most of the performances were made for the film. The different sets made in contrast to the songs reek with a lost 60's fashion sense. There are many wonderful hits, some forgotten, featured. One of the best is 'Have I the Right' by the Honeycombs. Other fine performances are by Herman's Hermits (Something Tells Me I'm Into Something Good), The Animals (House of the Rising Sun), Tobacco Road (Nashville Teens), Peter and Gordon (World Without Love), and a great lost song by the Spencer Davis Group, among many other performances. The film ends with the Beatles performing 'Twist and Shout,'I think. The only downer is that one of the most wonderful and under-rated band of the 60's the Zombies are not performing on here. If you love this music, do yourself a favor and watch this film, that is if AMC ever shows it again.

Howard Sauertieg I just caught this this morning. Pop Gear is a British film recapping some pop hits of 1964 with staged performances by bands such as The Spencer Davis Group, Peter and Gordon, The Animals, and many others. Concert footage of the Beatles (singing She Loves You and Twist and Shout) opens and closes the film. The producer assumes familiarity, an intimacy between performers and audience, to the extent that the Master of Ceremonies (whose hair resembles a worn-out blond mop) never bothers to introduce himself, nor does he bother to introduce many of the pop groups by name. This is irksome for a lay cultural historian like myself, but that's the way it was, baby. There's a lot of good music and the songs are generally rather brief - 2 minutes on average. A cinematic, widescreen variety show, with more hits than misses. Recommended for fans of 60s radio pop.

barham I had wondered what had happened to a little film I saw in the early 70s called Go-Go Mania and now I know - its original English title is Pop Gear.Nice viewing for pop music historians. There are good performances by obscure groups here that never made it to the US. Too bad the performers didn't always think to write the name of their group in bigger letters on their drum kits, sort of as a way of preserving their work for posterity. Nor does the film pop up the name of the group and the song the group performs (the benefits of pop-up video!)I caught this film on a cable channel over the July 4 holiday and sat frantically flipping through a book on British pop music trying to identify some of these groups!Anyway, for those of you not familiar with British pop music of the 60s, here's what I caught:The Nashville Teens perform "Tobacco Road" and "Google Eyes", both written by John D. Loudermilk. Do not be fooled by the name - it is a British group.The Honeycombs are identifiable by their female drummer, Honey Langtree.I thought the performance by the Four Pennies was particularly good - they sang with a passion. This was a group that unfortunately never even surfaced in the US - Lionel Morton, Fritz Fryer, Mike Walsh, and Alan Buck. Too bad we missed out!Another good performance by a 5?-man group whose lead singer has red hair - sadly I couldn't identify these fellows. Anybody out there who can help me out?Eric Burdon and the Animals are always a treat. A little guy with a huge voice.The description of the film says Spencer Davis is in here too, though I turned it on too late to catch them.And the grand finale looked like footage of the Beatles from "A Hard Day's Night". 'Nuff said about the Beatles.The music holds up extremely well - the dance numbers were something else. They positively date the thing in the 60s. The tight gold pants worn by one group of women look awful. And the dresses worn by another group look like sacks - they called this fashion?