The Bee Gees Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

[Nostalgiabuff]

i hadn't watched this movie through completely since i was a kid. My wife had recently mentioned wanting to watch it and i saw it on Amazon on Bluray so bought it on a whim. We watched it last night with our daughters. the movie is legendary for how bad it is, but looking at it today, it does have 70's charm and innocence. of course it has a great soundtrack, for the most part. George Burns singing i could do without, lol

My daughters said to me it wasn't as bad as i told them it was, lol

Thoughts? anyone like this movie? it ruined some careers, at least in the short term. took a long time for the stink to wear off I guess. of course it also came at a time when Disco was starting to become reviled

[Mikey]

Was not a fan of the movie but LOVED the soundtrack album

Bee Gees doing the Sgt Pepper intro and outro was amazing

IMO, they should have let the Bee Gees cover Everything

Most other songs (not including Aerosmith's) Come Together was crap filler

[Nostalgiabuff]

the actress that played Strawberry Fields, had a nice voice, and she was easy on the eyes. but yeah, a lot of it was crappy filler, even Alice Cooper's song

[Mikey]

I'm a HUGE fan of Steve Martin--- back into his stand-up days

Still have my official Steve Martin arrow threw the head prop

Seen him LIVE during his glory days

Even back then (being a HUGE Steve Martin fan) seeing him do his song made me totally embarrassed for him

Little Shop Dentist --- That's a song worthy of Steve Martin

[Nostalgiabuff]

the bad lip syncing did not help any of the performances, lol

[Blue Meanie]

Not a fan of this movie at all. Basically killed whatever career Peter Frampton had build up to that time with Humble Pie and recent solo success he had. The only bright spot in this film is Earth Wind and Fire. Sad to say...I actually have it in probably every format it was releases on because I am a Beatles nut.

[Mikey]

Love Peter Frampton

Don't think the Sgt Pep movie killed his career

I think it was killed because of his own feeling FRAMTOM COMES ALIVE would set him up for life

Yes, it was his SGT pepper/dark side/born in the USA album but he could have moved on

In the early 80's Paul Mc was doing stuff all over the board but never stopped until he hit upon a fan fav

Coming Up … my fav non wings Paul song

Video is still saved on my FAV video list

Paul as himself as a young Beatle …… LOL …

I miss those days

[MIB41]

What a story I have about this film. Never saw it in theaters, but tracked down a VHS copy in the 90's because I'm a Bee Gees fan and wanted something that captured them in their prime years (just not necessarily one of their prime moments). Anyway when I watched it I was initially horrified by how disjointed and ill conceived the whole premise was. But it served its purpose in providing footage of the band in their late 70's model. I stored it away as a closet collectable, not thinking that would be a good conversation piece for anyone.

A few years later I started dating a girl who would go on to become my wife. On our second date, she throws out this line. " Hey have you ever seen that movie Sgt Peppers? My dad took me to the drive-in to see it five times!" Oh what a moment that would have been to capture my reaction to film. It had to be somewhere between complete shock and a look of total sympathy all colliding simultaneously. I said, " You tortured him with that five times... and he agreed? You have a h*ll of a dad." I told her I had a copy and she was elated. And thus started our annual viewing of this thing for years to come. And if you thought that was where the story ends, buckle up. Its just beginning.

Our daughter, Courtney, starts watching this when she is three or four. She's convinced Barry Gibb is me because of my beard and long hair. Well when we get to that scene where The Bee Gees are playing live and a girl jumps up on stage to kiss Barry, Courtney gets so angry at me because she thinks I'm letting another girl kiss me over mom. At first we found it funny in a cute way. But as she got older it actually intensified where she would not talk to me for like a whole day. LOL! But she still wanted to devour this movie all the time! So we got to the point where if she was watching it, we had to fast forward past that scene as to spare her (and me) this emotional meltdown. Over time this movie was watched so much I had to REPLACE the VHS copy with another until it finally made it to DVD format.

NEVER in a trillion years could you have sold me on this idea that when I initially picked up this movie, it would transition from closet collectible to standard viewing for untold DECADES to come. We have the darn thing in every format, including digital because... yeah you guessed it... my GRANDSON likes watching it too. And yes he agrees with his mother. She never grew out of her thoughts about me and Barry in terms of likeness, but she has made peace that I didn't kiss another girl. DJ thought it was funny.

So what do I think of the movie today? Well... clearly my opinion is heavily colored these days because of the endless memories it has SOMEHOW given me. But I definitely have some thoughts. In terms of execution, its an epic failure. The choreography of most dance scenes look like they were conceived moments before the principle shot with virtually no practice. There's really no acting in it because its just a series of reactions to whatever the narrative calls for from moment to moment. Peter Frampton cries like a five year old. I still laugh out loud when Barry is singing Day in a Life and turns to Maurice when he says, "I want to turn you on". Maurice has no acting chops to disguise he's ready to blow a gasket laughing. And I still don't understand why KISS didn't take the part of the Future Villain Band as a theatrical debut over making the television movie Phantom. Yes... they were offered the role first before Aerosmith.

If you can turn your brain off and just watch it for its cameos, its a classic piece of 70's pageantry. Where else can you watch the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Earth Wind and Fire, plus see Edgar Winter all perform in one film? The fact they got so many artists in this project remains a miracle to this day. And I do think the Bee Gees did an admirable job of covering the Beatles tunes, although they do not compete with the originals. I don't think it hurt anyone's career, because back then it was out of theaters before anyone hardly knew about it, so very few ever saw it. The Bee Gees went on to release Spirits having Flown with three more number one hits. Frampton comes alive mania had already subsided by this movie, so any hopes of regaining any popularity were negated more by the industry seeing this than the public. But what ultimately hurt all of these iconic acts would be the dawn of the 80's when everything from the previous decade was essentially cast out. When people got down on these acts during that time, I never heard this film mentioned at all. It was typically for their appearance or for the style of music in the 70's. The early to mid 80's were largely tough on 70's acts unless you were Hall and Oats.

[Earth 2 Chris]

That's a great story Tom! Funny how such a "reviled" film played a huge part in your family founding and dynamics!

I have never actually seen the film. I seem to recall it being on TV, but as a kid I couldn't wrap my brain around "why the Bee Gees are playing the Beatles. And who's that other guy?". I knew Frampton from constant rotation of "Show Me The Way" and "Baby I Love Your Ways" from Frampton Comes Alive, but I didn't really know what he looked like. But either way, I have avoided it for decades. Maybe I should give it a shot, as a curio if nothing else. I know Frampton lives in Cincinnati now, so he's basically a local boy.

And you do look a bit like Barry Gibb, you handsome devil! ;-)

Chris

[Nostalgiabuff]

that's a fantastic story Tom. talk about passing it on from generation to generation

Chris, it is definitely worth checking out (at least once), if for nothing else, for the soundtrack. it does capture that period of time with it's cheesy charm