Music Film Reviews: Beatles Stories, Live Vibes

Beatles Stories
Power pop icon Seth Swirsky (The Red Button) got access to a ton of celebrities and musicians about their Beatle memories. As a documentary its very fast paced and full of rare photos and interviews you will not find anywhere else.

From Sir Ben Kingsley to Sir George Martin, Brian Wilson to Brian Skiff, all these people recollecting stories about meeting a Beatle, having lunch with a Beatle, and playing Monopoly with a Beatle (Jackie DeShannon) plus a touching meeting with long time Beatles sound man Norman “Hurricane” Smith (likely his last on camera interview before passing away in 2008). Seths like the investigative reporter here, always giving the spotlight to his subject, and the commentary is really insightful and honest. If you are even a casual Beatle fan this is a “must-buy.”

The Grip Weeds Live Libes
A great companion to the last album Speed of Life, it starts out as a peek behind the scenes with The Grip Weeds. At The House Of Vibes studio in Highland Park, New Jersey, there are interviews with members of the band (Rick Reil, Kurt Reil, Michael Kelly and Kristin Pinell), about the recording process and band history.

But most of the DVD is about the concert performances, live and in the studio. These sound great and are simply shot with a minimum of effects. If you’re not a big fan of the band I’d start with the albums first. However if you’d like the experience of The Grip Weeds playing live in your living room, this film gives you a good idea of the experience.

Buy it at Amazon

Moldy Oldies: Goodbye Don Grady and the Yellow Balloon

Don Grady, who was one of television’s most beloved big brothers as Robbie Douglas on the long-running 1960s hit My Three Sons, died Wednesday. He was 68. A musical prodigy from a young age, Grady also played drums for  sunshine pop pioneers The Yellow Balloon, who had a minor hit with a self-titled song in 1967.

Fun Fact: The band at one time also included Daryl Dragon, who wasn’t as famous at the time as he would be a few years down the road as the male half of the popular duo Captain & Tennille.

The Spinto Band “The Living Things”

Normally I don’t have time to post only videos on the home page anymore, and I just add them to the Power Popaholic video jukebox. But I thought this was so inventive and well done, I added it today. The Spinto Band, on top of creating some of the most adventurous pop music going, is well known for their incredible music videos and the new one for “The Living Things” won’t disappoint! Created by the talented animator Phil Davis, the video is a combination of hand drawn animation and pixilation. All of the roughly 2,000 drawings in the animation were created frame-by-frame by Davis over the course of 20 months. Can you spare three minutes to watch the beautiful results of almost two year’s worth of one man’s work? Sure you can.

Brian Ray “Very Happy Song”

Christmas is over. Time for leftovers and a look back at 2011.I try not to get political on this blog, but when a power pop favorite like Brian Ray writes a song for the ninety-nine percent of us, then I am proud to post this. For another equally great anthem for the OWS crowd, you can’t beat Our Lady Peace’s “Fight the Good Fight” for inspiration.

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A new project is being developed for a band called The Stars Explode. The reason I was interested is that the band is lead by Doug Edmunds, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and founding member of critically acclaimed 90s power pop outfit, Gladhands. The band is currently finishing work on its sophomore effort, having started the recording process with renown producer/engineer, Mitch Easter at his home base studio, The Fidelitorium. The new record is scheduled for a January 2012 release, with regional touring to follow. Go to our Help A Musician Page to find out more.