It's The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band (1977) Poll

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/Sgtpepperdvd.jpg

I may go with "Mean Mr. Mustard":
http://youtube.com/watch?v=C-2SOVJKOqo

Steve Martin (because of the fight sequence):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kshEbKxOkw8

I was about to vote for Peter Gabriel before I realized that his version was from another sucky Beatles cover concept.

Where's Billy Preston and "Get Back?" That would get my vote.

Oh and this movie sucked rhino dicks.

I'll say My Morning Jacket -- "Going to Acapulco." Oh wait, wrong musical...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBBN0T5PYXY
^^^^^
this, and it's ain't even close.

Yeah, that's a cool version. Aerosmith's Come Together ain't bad either.

I'm voting Aerosmith. I love how this film turns rock and roll into the great evil.

this, and it's ain't even close.

otm. i read (i think in mojo's piece on this movie) that this was geoff emerick's and george martin's favorite song on the soundtrack, by a wide margin. it was the last song they recorded, and at the end of the session they basically looked at each other and said, "fuck, we should have recorded all of the songs this way, with the bands just doing it their way instead of trying to copy the beatles!"

Duh!

"Duh!" to Geoff/George, not to you, Lawrence.

If this movie was a person, I would beat up its face! You can't even resuscitate this thing as camp. (I know - I tried.)

Yes, the EWF cut is the best. But I'm voting in protest for the completely clueless "Fixing a Hole" courtesy of Mr. Gracie Allen. I don't know about y'all, but whenever I hear "Fixing a Hole," I think "gazebo!" Jackasses! Gawd, I think I'd rather watch Song of Norway.

I gotta admit, though, that I do get some sort of pleasure out of the final singalong. At least it's grotesque, horrifying. And I'll always buy a ticket to watch enraged Beatles fans dancing with apoplexy at the sight of all these fat cats Sgt. Peppering about. Wonder how much they got paid.

This movie is a guilty pleasure for me - I watched it a *lot* when I was a kid - but I want to vote for the cast-of-B-listers' "Sgt. Pepper" reprise. Guess I'll have to give another EWF vote.

Another vote for EWF. By a continental mile.

abs!

I'm going with "Because" by Alice Cooper. I *would* go with Aerosmith, but watching the "Future Villain Band" get literally beaten up by Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees is unforgivable.

If this movie was a person, I would beat up its face!

Quote of the day.

I envy you guys that actually saw this film. Would that I had that kind of time to waste! Actually, no I do envy you gtastf. But I don't actually envy you guys that saw this film more than once tho.

I saw it when it opened in a theatre (because I'm old). Haven't seen it since, which is not an accident.

I can imagine.

I saw it when it opened in a theatre (because I'm old).
Me too, Alex. I'd still like to get my $3.50 back.

I wish I could hear Frankie Howerd doing "Mean Mister Mustard"

George Burns singing Fixing a Hole is very very weird.

I Want You (She's So Heavy) - The Bee Gees, Diane Steinberg, Paul Nicholas, Donald Pleasence, Stargard

Always a few competitively-priced copies with the top right hand corner cut out in your local MVE basement for those intrigued.

xxxpost - he doesn't really sing it, he just does some adlibs. It's actually sung by some robots.

I guess I should find the video. Not a DVD, a vid. Just so I could watch in ten minute bits.

I'd be surprised if the video ever came out in anything other than Betamax.

I got a 'souvenir' book of this film for christmas from my mum. In 2001.

Lots of pics.

Best Frankie Howerd records are "Three Little Fishes" - which Tom would have had to write about on Popular if the charts had started earlier than 1952 - "Up Pompeii" and "Je T'aime" with June Whitfield as Jane Birkin.

To say nothing of his "punk" sketch with Cilla playing Sid.

It's actually sung by some robots.

This is so much like my dreams, it's scary.

Still voting for EWF, though.

I wish I could hear Frankie Howerd doing "Mean Mister Mustard"

The YouTube link is above - you can see for yourself!

I watched this movie for the first time in 30 years while house-sitting last weekend -- it's showing free of charge in the On Demand section of Comcast cable. No wonder I loved it then -- it's a perfect movie for a six-year-old.

Not only is rock'n'roll the bad guy, but disco is the bad guy too (see the endless disco break during "She's So Heavy").

disco is the bad guy/Bee Gees lolz

The YouTube link is above - you can see for yourself!

That's the point though, I can't hear it!

Ooo, I really want to hear the version of She's So Heavy with disco breakdowns! Doesn't seem to be on YouTube.

George Burns

The youtube clips are painfully bad. This movie had porno lighting!

Sgt. Pepper vs. Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park

Kiss should have been in this instead of Aerosmith. Robin Gibb kicking Gene Simmons' ass would've been awesome.

Sgt. Pepper vs. Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park

Good lord, that's a tough one.

It's a bit long after the fact (to put it mildly), but herewith my review of "Kiss Meets The Phantom of The Park" (linked to Culture Catch from my silly weblog). It should be noted that since this DVD came out, it has been "officially officially" re-released by Kiss themselves as part of the Kissology series (appended with ersatz MST3k style commentary).

Anyway, Click here if you care.

I'd be surprised if the video ever came out in anything other than Betamax.

I own it on both VHS and DVD. Like I said, guilty pleasure. (It makes a great twofer with either the Village People's Can't Stop the Music or the starless The Apple.)

The Apple crushes both of these films no contest (so does the completely unrelated 1997 Iranian film of the same name). Can't Stop the Music would've been much improved with at least half an hour shorn. Sgt. Pepper is ultimately too dull to be a guilty pleasure. Esp. since it moves from dull to infuriating. Then death happens to all involved with your imaginary finger pistol aimed at the screen. That's prolly another reason why the finale is such an up - you can pick off each guilty participant off one by one with ease.

scratch that second "off"

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Also missing from poll:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1I3YW9aZM-o&feature=related

he didn't do it bluegrass then?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddtDTy_UuDA

From around the same time, another double LP soundtrack came out, this time for *this* also flop movie...

Can't see what that is here at work - The Wiz?

oh wait, a better guess: All This and World War II?

Yes.

did every studio make a massive flop musical as a taxloss or something? it's incredible so many bad ones were made; The Wiz, Xanadu, Can't Stop The Music, this. did we ever have a Bad Seventies Musicals poll/thread? i'd sure like to see one if so.

I would participate in that thread.

I think The Wiz and Xanadu are legitimately great in a lot of ways. Can't Stop the Music and The Apple, otoh, phew!

The Apple is awesome!

pumpin' power by the hour

Xanadu has some really good songs in it (so does the Wiz) but man the film itself is just wall to wall ineptitude. it makes me feel sorry for Gene Kelly.

The Wiz has probably my favorite song score of any musical I can think of.

crazy talk

The Wiz is one of those things where it looks like a decent musical, but its directed by someone with no clue about how to film it. All these long, wide static shots. just stupid

The direction is a disaster, no doubt. But Q's arrangements and the enthusiasm of the performers manage to cut through Lumet's predictable ineptitude.

My wife, recalling childhood fondness for this movie and disbelieving my and the video store clerk's claims to its awfulness, made me sit through this the other night. I had forgotten that there is absolutely zero dialogue

The Wiz, Xanadu, Can't Stop The Music, this. did we ever have a Bad Seventies Musicals poll/thread?

also ^^^ this. why were so many of these made in such a short time, were they all chasing Grease or something? it's just nuts.

Everything I said upthread about The Wiz, posted over again here.

you think the enthusiasm of the performers really cuts through the dreck?

The Wiz feels like it's about the remnants of humanity singing and dancing their way through their final days on a barren earth. Those long distant shots of bizarre, empty cityscapes are terrifying.

I think The Wiz might have some of the most enthusiastic performers this side of Flaming Creatures.

I meant in regards to Sgt Pepper's

At least The Wiz had been a successful Broadway musical; making a film out of it wasn't a batshit idea (on paper), especially compared with the others mentioned.

cuz a lot of the Sgt Pepper's performances are, how to put it kindly, lackluster. The Bee Gees are clearly hating it/fucking around (they make Maurice play the drums for chrissakes!), Aerosmith can barely stand up, etc.

xp

Which is worse: Sgt. Pepper's or this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WmOvoqlmZE

I'd only read about that ^ ...it's even more bizarre than I imagined. There really were dancing strawberries!

I did have a go at watching it in ten-minute sections. I think I made it through 40 mins.

It even might still be on my pad here, hang on..... Yep. One hour 51 mins total..

good god what is the story with that Rolling Stone thing that is unbelievable

Nixon singing I'm a Loser

Beatles tributes suck, that's the rule.

There was one cd that was almost ok, once..

that one sucks in ways previously unimaginable.

Broadway has so much to answer for.

I Want You (She's So Heavy) - The Bee Gees, Diane Steinberg, Paul Nicholas, Donald Pleasence, Stargard

Nowhere near enough Donald Pleasance tbh.

I can't stop laughing at this amazing bit of self-delusion.

https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/16/archives/inventing-a-plot-for-sgt-pepper-sgt-pepper.html

When Mr. Stigwood and I talked, the entire music industry was abuzz with the startling success of the tasselhaired rock performer Peter Frampton, whose gentle, folk‐flavored romantic approach was breaking LP sales records as they'd never been broken before. Old‐fashioned sentiment and melody were in, and it seemed to me that a contemporary pop movie should reflect this return to romance. So I decided to cast “Sgt. Pepper” in the tradition of those American films that presented a vision of an unspoiled small town whose innocence was threatened by villainy from the slick, mean city.

Which is worse: Sgt. Pepper's or this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WmOvoqlmZE

― Doggy McBaby (Old Lunch)

This video should be played in rehab clinics. “You know how you think you’re so cool when on drugs? Well here’s a documentation on how it actually looks like”

Yeah, EWF's track is great, and Aerosmith's is actually a decent cover.

I always wondered how EWF felt about everything else sucking. It's kind of embarrassing that they brought their A game, only to have it wasted on a pile of shit. Two piles of shit if you want to count the film and soundtrack separately.

Just saw half hour of this shit on youtube and I think I hate The Beatles now.

Can’t believe there isn’t a name yet for that genre of 70s disco flop cash-in movies. I sure do love reading about them. There should be a book about them all.

Fun fact: the film was directed by Michael Schultz, who also directed Cooley High.

Mr. Stigwood eradicated the notion that there could be a “wrong”solution. He felt he could stimulate good work by never displaying a disapproving attitude. Everyone working on “Sgt. Pepper” felt this generosity.

That squares with this (via wikipedia):

The Bee Gees blamed their declining popularity in part on their involvement with the whole project, coupled with their mutual struggles with drug addiction. The latter was exacerbated by the environment of making the film and its soundtrack, with Maurice Gibb expressing shock at seeing crew members carrying around bags full of cocaine.

This video should be played in rehab clinics. “You know how you think you’re so cool when on drugs? Well here’s a documentation on how it actually looks like”

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, March 13, 2021 9:15 PM

https://i.imgur.com/ZlgwBVW.png

was it directed by david lynch ffs????

I always wondered how EWF felt about everything else sucking. It's kind of embarrassing that they brought their A game, only to have it wasted on a pile of shit. Two piles of shit if you want to count the film and soundtrack separately.

From what I remember of the one time I heard the soundtrack, George Martin was all over it trying to make sure nobody departed too far from the original recordings he had made (with some help from some band or other called the Beatles). I'm assuming the EWF track was 100% Maurice White and that George Martin would not have been allowed anywhere near the recording studio.

Yep, the EWF track was indeed produced by Maurice White, far from the Martin-produced sessions.

And Martin only (and reluctantly) took on the project because he figured, if someone else was at the helm, they’d really screw it up. Also, I believe a truckload of money was involved. But he supposedly later said that the EWF track was by far his favorite on the record.

It would probably have been a lot better if Martin hadn't been involved.

Just imagine what Donald Pleasance could have managed with "I Want You" if left to his own devices.

*evil jazzbo vibes*

“I want YOU...to die.”

I can imagine Barry Gibb or somebody in the studio trying to record something and George Martin standing over him, in his suit and tie, droning away, "No no, the boys would never have done it that way, that just won't do".

I believe George heard the EWF track and said 'we should have let everybody do it their own way' (or wtte)

Plus, 'All this and world war 2' came out around the same time, with more OK beatles covers than this. (I even thought the EWF track came from that)