Bought this last night. WHAT A RIP-OFF!!!! It claims to be a LIVE show from The Paris Olympia from 1970, but what it actually is is a lip-synch TV show! They just mime to bad sounding mono LP tracks. The ONLY live material on it is live Justin Hayward vocals on the songs where he sings lead (and, since I collect The Moodies, I'll have to keep this frisbee for that reason). Mike Pinder should be ashamed at his role in releasing this falsely advertised POS!
Well, first off, Larry, you'll be glad to know Justin Hayward agrees with you! Soon as this one was issued and he got wind of it, he put a disclaimer out saying that it wasn't authorized by the band(true enough: someone else had the rights over in Europe, and presto!) But I have to say, I enjoy it for what it is: a french TV special, a time capsule, and the sort of thing not uncommon back then. Most likely what happened was the gig was booked, and then the band found out it was in this little rinky dink venue, taped for TV, and so..what could they do? Couldn't bring the instruments in, and Mike Pinder certainly couldn't play both piano and Mellotron at the same time. Lip-sync stuff was of course very common back then, so they played along, not knowing--ha!--that almost 35 years later the videotape would surface! They do try to sing--gamely--on most songs, though the only time I could verify a pure lip-sync was with "Lovely To See You." The packaging and title are deceptive, yes...and the faux 5.1 and stereo is a joke, since this is just a processed mono recording. But for all its warts, I found it good fun, though it would be nice to get an honest-to-gosh real concert from that period, as this was during their heavy touring days, and they did a lot of US dates, which helped solidify their rep over here and kept their albums on the charts for a year or two at a time. FWIW, Mike Pinder takes a more sanguine view of the release, and even sells it on his website! (FYI: Tony Clarke, the band's 'Original 7' producer, hangs at the site and answers questions). However, in a chat about a month ago, Mike said he had absolutely nothing to do with the release--nor did he sanction it--but was merely advised of its release and decided to offer copies on his site, figuring if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The stories about his being behind the release seem bogus, and some fans were angry at him, but even Hayward hasn't gone so far as to put any blame on anyone. But after seeing it, one can understand why he kinda wishes that it had stayed lost...
Me too, actually. I just object to the way it was dishonestly promoted as a real live show. I DID say I was keeping it!
Yes you did, Larry.... Yeah, fooled me, too....and of course we'll keep it, just like I'm keeping my Nico DVD of a grainy, typically disoriented and perverse performance sometime in the '80s. The sound is synched to the footage, so that when there's a video jump or edit, the music goes right with it....... A travesty, but there is a place for such things in this world....in her case, kinda sad, but also riveting, like the books written about her....
Before I ordrered it I had read something from Pinder saying that it was not really a live show but mostly canned backing tracks with some live singing. He even points out that it is not a Mellotron that he's seated at. However, I still enjoy it for the time capsule view it does show. And, being as Pinder will also autograph it for you it's even a better deal IMO.
Speaking of lipsynching I'd love to see the video of Syd Barrett on American Bandstand he was supposed to lipsynch but wasnt into moveing his lips that day!!! I'd pay to see that one!
Does anyone remember when the Moodies were supposed to play the Forum in LA with the Airplane but missed the show due to custom problems? Late late 1969 maybe. Well, the day after (a Saturday) they played a free concert at Elysian Park. We all went and it was amazing, I mean up front and close to the Moodies, hearing them play their hits and upcoming (soon to be) classics. One of the best concerts I ever saw. John O. and I hitch-hiked there (duh) and we saw a bunch of people from our school there. Obviously word got around to the "kids" somehow that this was happening and it spread through some weird grapevine. I remember going gaga over the girls there in the audience with practically nothing on (the same girls from school who were always well-covered). I also remember soap bubbles in the air everywhere. What I remember most though is the sound of the Mellotron. What an awesome machine (when working properly). Does anyone know the exact date of this? Must be in some rock history book somewhere.
Wow, that was fast. Thanks, Mike. Anyone else attend this Saturday (or was it Sunday) morning free concert?
From Children Of Rock 'n' Roll on John Lodge's Natural Avenue "Children of rock 'n' roll Raised on rock 'n' roll. We played Elysian Park Until the night was dark, Children of rock 'n' roll. "
I hear ya buddy........ I got a concert on VHS "Texxas jam 78 - Aerosmith" Its supposed to be thier part of that weekend in 1978 at that concert!! None of the songs look like they came from that day!! (It was light outside and all the live music was in darkness like they were in a studio) The music IS GOOD but I dunno if its thier LIVE footage or not from "Texxas jam 78" Live Texxas Jam '78 - Wikipedia
