" It Was 20 Years Ago Today " * (1987 Sgt. Pepper documentary)

Anybody out there know of this documentary? It was a sort of 20th anniversary celebration of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album and is a kind of 'snaphot' of that era, the people, the music, the politics, Vietnam...... There is an accompanying book to the film and copies of that can be found but it is particularly the film I am looking for. It was produced by Granada (ITV). I am trying to find if a copy of this exists anywhere. Can anyone help??

 

This was the one where they animated the cover, right?

 

Mornin'

It was on PBS here in the states. I have a VHS copy of it somewhere....no "official" commercial release as far as I can recall. Pre-dvd if memory serves...

 

Written by Derek Taylor, and shown on the 20th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. (also the day the CD version was released).

Pretty much hasn't been seen since, no home video release whatsoever.

 

I too have it on VHS somewhere down in the basement. Haven't viewed it since the mid 90's.

 

I have taped it off too in the early 90s, on some channel in Canada, and have kept it. I have always enjoyed it very much, but would need to revisit it in order to see if it contains that much material that isn't reprised on Anthology.

 

I recall that they had George Martin (and maybe Paul, George, and Ringo?) playing around with the multis in this show. That blew my mind! Kind of a precursor to the Classic Albums series.

 

I have that on VHS somewhere, taped off the air in the early 90s. It was just George Martin, IIRC, discussing Pepper track-by-track and ocassionally demonstrating things, like Take 1 of Strawberry Fields. I always thought it was to accompany a book Martin put out around the same time, not the Derek Taylor book.

 

I remember seeing this as a kid... while watching it on a tape, my brother and I used the slo-mo to read what every button said at the end.

 

I think you're confusing this with a Disney Channel (I think) special in the 90's called something like The Making of Sgt. Pepper.

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today was a different show from British television in 1987 that dealt with the counterculture of the time more than the album itself. This show was accompanied by the Derek Taylor book.

 

I have this on tape still (taken off of A&E, IIRC), and it is cherished. Derek Taylor also did a book with the same title (which I also have), complementary to the TV program. This project emerged during the first flurry of serious Sixties nostalgia after the expectations about Eighties culture had run their course; you also saw bands like XTC (and their specific psychedelic alter-egos, the Dukes Of Stratosphear) starting to release records that referenced the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Beach Boys, Hollies etc. This led to the glorious Nineties: the best decade for pop since the Sixties.

 

This was about 2 hours long, and only the first 45 minutes or so really had anything to do with Sgt. Pepper. From that point on, it focused more on the album's aftermath, and how the "Summer Of Love" played out, setting up the following years of the sixties. Very little Beatles content after the first half.

 

Right dotwacky, it was called "The Making of..." or something. Sorry about that confusion.

 

True, they were two different programs. If you'll forgive me commenting on the show you're NOT discussing, I'll just chime in with a quick thought. I LOVED the Making of Pepper documentary - I thought it was going to be like a blueprint of the (then) forthcoming Anthology. As much as I like the Anthology, I remain rather disappointed that so little time was really spent discussing the MUSIC of the Fabs - it seems they chose to focus on the tours and happenings related to the Beatles, when the music is really where the story lies (for me). Anyway, perhaps that's a discussion for another thread. Good luck finding your show!

 

AFAIK they're the same programme - just edited differently. The Disney edit was drug-reference-free.

I have a DVD dub of it somewhere. Interesting show.

Wasn't Derek Taylor a cracking bloke ?

 

Wasn't he just?. I love his pieces in the 'BBC' and 'Anthology' sets. He wrote exactly the same way he spoke - a rare gift.

 

I remember this one. What I liked about it is that it didn't just focus on The Beatles but also featured other music happening at the same time. This is where I first heard the Small Faces' "Itchycoo Park". That psychedelic section blew my 12 year old mind.

 

Ha! Me too! I was 7 when I watched this documentary. My brother and I stayed up for it. I still have it on VHS along with the pledge breaks. Later, about 13, I picked up the All or Nothing compilation and expected Itchycoo Park to be on that, but it was not. I was amazed at all the other good stuff by them WAS on there.

Back to the documentary, it's one of my favorites. I love 80's documentaries, before all the swooping cameras and crazy fast edits. This one has some exclusive interviews with George and I think Paul's may have been new for this as well. Also, Roger McGuinn, George Martin, Allen Ginsburg, and lots of others are interviewed.

I like how the film is not necessarily about the Sgt Pepper album itself, but the world around the album at the time.

I recall seeing this on video around the time and never picked it up, because
I was 7 and figured the copy on vhs was good enough. I wouldn't mind finding a 'clean' version.

I'm pretty sure being 7 and seeing this, probably changed my life in some form or another.

 

It was great they went through an rundown of every song, and the final credits had a animated boat going into the sunset if i remember correctly!!

 

There was also a radio programme (or programmes) of the same name broadcast around the same time on the BBC.

 

I remember not understanding a word Derek Taylor was saying in this. Also, my brother and I would always laugh at the man on ship singing "Fixing a Hole."

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093285

I remember in '87 when I taped it and watched it repeatedly. It also has a cool clip of Pink Floyd performing Interstellar Overdrive live.

 

I remember watching that one when it aired - it was also the night of a lunar eclipse, so it's a pretty vivid high school memory. I have no musical skill whatsoever but I learned to play "With a Little Help..." on piano by watching George Martin's fingers.

The one that aired on the Disney Channel is on Youtube. I haven't watched it entirely yet, but it appears to be a recut of my memories of "It Was 20 Years..."

Mark

 

I used to watch this a lot. I taped it in 87 when it debuted, and played it to death. My VHS looks it. Not sure I could put my hands on it now, its been 20 years. My local station also played the BBC inetrview with Mick Jagger from 67 the day he got out of gaol. I never made it through much of that as MJ was really spacey, and hard to follow.
C

 

I still have my off-the-air videotape, which is quite watchable, amazingly. I watched it again back when this thread first popped up. The best bit: the interview with Derek Taylor who, as time goes by, seems ever more a wonderful human being. The Beatles were often blessed with great associates.