Customer Reviews

British Invasion: 5 DVD Box Set featuring Bonus Disc

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With the names of Producers David Peck, Philip Galloway and Tom Gulotta(of Reelin' in the Years Productions) on this package, I knew I was in for something special. These are the guys who find fabulous archival TV footage from European TV stations, who - unlike the US networks - preserve their archives - and have produced such great series as The American Folk Blues Festival, the Motown series with The Miracles and Marvin Gaye, the Pete Seeger Live in Australia (the first of their Folk Icons series and, the real gem, The four box sets in the Jazz Icons series.

This box set of four DVDs (including the "Bonus Disc") carries on the tradition but goes one step further. The Icons series consisted of just performances. For three of this British Invasion discs, there is a story to be told and Peck has "Directed" these so that interviews with the artists (and a few "friends") are woven into a story. There is no Narrator; the interviews tie everything together. The documentaries contain full songs but then you have the option of watching just the performances with two to four ADDITIONAL performances. There's almost two hours of material on each of the three "individual" DVDs and over 2 ½ hours (60 minutes of performances and 90 minutes of interviews) on the "Bonus Disc. So, in this reviewer's opinion, there is no reason to buy the individual DVDs. You need the box set with the Bonus Disc! Not only that, but each of the interviews on the Bonus Disc - which excerpted in some cases on the other volumes, takes the career of each of the artists interviewed, from the first time they picked up an instrument to the peak of their popularity and you'll find all of them great conversationalists as well. The only exception is Burt Bacharach, who comments on Dusty Springfield, and seems, not only egotistical, but not very interested in talking. Contrast this with Peter Noone (Herman's Hermits), who is so delightful and engaging (and self-deprecating) that you'll want to hear another hour from him. Gerry Marsden (Gerry and the Pacemakers) still lives in Mersey and you'll have a new respect for his career after watching the performances and hearing his talk. Both these groups grew up in Liverpool and played The Cavern at same time as the Beatles. (Marsden recounts a "supergroup" concert he and his band members did with the Beatles that will have you wishing that it was recorded - and that Peck and Galloway found the tapes and issued them!).

Each disc has new interviews (done by Rob Bowman who really brings out their personality) except for the late Dusty Springfield. There are some excellent archival interviews with her. You'll learn why the Springfields broke up, where she got her first name from and much more. The only group I haven't mentioned so far is Small Faces. They are the oddball group in a set titled "British Invasion" because they never performed in the US at the time of these performances and only had one US hit single ("Itchy Koo Park"). But they were important in the British music scene and formed the basis of the later Faces (with Rod Stewart).

The performance are sometimes lip-synched but most were done "live" and the clips from the New Music Express Awards Annual Concert are probably being seen for the first time and show one of the first performances by Herman's Hermit's playing live outside of TV studio dance parties.

The word "Quality" is all over this set. The archival footage looks and sounds GREAT! Each disc has a 20-page booklet of detailed notes, track list and great graphics. This is the GOLD STANDARD of music DVDs.

I could go on for pages on how fine this compilation is but, if you just look at samples on the Reelin In The Years Website you'll see what I mean and just go out and buy it. And then you'll spend a week watching and listening (and going back to view favorite performances) and then, like me, wonder how Peck, Galloway and Gulotta are going to top this one for their next project!

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

This 5-DVD set is simply fabulous. The four main discs each give you a 70 to 80 minute documentary about the artist in question(Small Faces. Dusty Springfield, Herman's Hermits & Gerry and The Pacemakers), plus a supplemental section where all of the same music performances from the documentary(and additional bonus performances) appear complete and uncut. And the documentary producers have searched the world for rare and previously unseen material, not only from American, British & German T.V. programs, but also from Australian, Swedish & Norwegian programs.
The Herman's Hermits documentary features interviews with all four of the surviving group members(Lek Lekenby died in 1994), and footage of an early line-up(before the start of the group's recording career!) filmed at Liverpool's legendary Carvern Club, and an assortment of T.V. performances(most of them live), and a supplemental section with a complete live 25 minute performance from Australian T.V.
The Small Faces documentary has nearly all known surviving television footage of the group, and interviews with surviving members Kenney Jones & Ian McLagan(and limited interview footage with deceased members Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane). The Gerry & The Pacemakers documentary features extensive interviews with frontman Gerry Marsden & Liverpool music journalist Bill Harry. And The Dusty Springfield documentary features interviews with background vocalist Madeline Bell and a limited amount of interview footage with the late Ms.Springfield herself. There have been numerous DVD collections of Dusty released around the world, and some of the significant footage was already used elsewhere(and so those clips aren't here), but the surprise is that the producers have managed to locate many clips that hadn't been seen before. About half of the Dusty Springfield clips are live, but for the lip-synced performances on all four documentaries, full fidelity(often stereo) audio has been dubbed in.
All four of the main DVD's give you material from the 1964,1965 & 1966 New Musical Express Poll Winners Concerts. The exclusive 5th disc gives you further T.V. performances(these ones lip-synced) by Herman's Hermits & Dusty Springfield, plus 90 minutes of outtake interview footage that wasn't used in the main documentary. The producers' attention to quality & detail are outstanding, and the producers are planning further releases this fall, including one by Manfred Mann.
This box set is a quality product. It is a lesson on how to do vintage rock right on DVD. Because the music clips are included in the documentaries and then included again complete and uncut, means that documentary fans and the fans who just want the music can all be satisfied.

Loved everything from the package on. Great interviews, wonderful archive footage with loads of never seen before stuff. And the best thing is they run the entire live performances. You can even access those separately. These are music DVDs done right!

I am so very, very impressed with this set. Everything from the sound and video quality to the editing to the AMAZING content has been handled with such first class treatment! This is the standard that all documentaries should be set to. I just can't get enough!

From the notes in the booklets, I am encouraged to read that this is the first four in a series. Producers if you are listening, I would like to give you a few ideas for further volumes: The Searchers, Manfred Mann, Cilla Black, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Zombies, The Yardbirds, The Spencer Davis Group, The Move, and The Animals.

It is so refreshing to finally see these wonderful musicians getting to tell their story. Whether or not people realize it, we all owe them so much.

I just loved,loved, loved watching these DVDs. Took me back in time. I learned so much about Dusty Springfield. What an amazing woman, how she actually produced her records but was never given credit. But I think my favorite part was finally learning why Gerry Marsden always played his guitar so high up on his chest. I always wondered about that. Want to know why? Well, you'll just have to watch the DVD to find out. Plus there's a bonus of Gerry singing one of my all time favorites, Ferry Cross the Mersey, at the Cavern Club in 2009. That alone, makes the whole series worthwhile.

Reelin' in the Years' five-DVD set includes excellent documentaries on Dusty Springfield, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits and the Small Faces, which are also available individually. Each film is packed with full-length performances (some live, some lip-synched for TV) and interview footage with the principles and other key personnel. Though all four documentaries are worth seeing, the chapters on the Small Faces and Herman's Hermits are particularly fine. In both of these episodes the filmmakers were able to get hold of a deeper vein of period material, and with the Small Faces relatively unknown in the U.S. and the Hermits known only as non-threatening hit makers, the stories behind the music are particularly interesting.

The bonus disc, available only in the box set, adds nine more performances by Dusty Springfield, seven more by Herman's Hermits, and over ninety minutes of interview footage that was cut from the final films. The music clips include alternate performances of hits that appear in the documentaries, as well as songs (such as a terrific staging of Springfield's "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa" and the Hermits' obscure "Man With the Cigar") that don't appear in the finished films. The interview material really show how unguarded and unrehearsed such encounters were in the 1960s. Fans of specific acts are recommended to their individual film, but anyone who loves the British Invasion should see all four plus the bonus disc. For reviews of the individual documentaries, please see here, here, here and here.

This is the best DVD set of its type I have ever seen. The main reason is that most such productions give about a 30-second clip of each song and then cut back to the interviews. In this set all the songs are performed in their entirety. The sound has been nicely cleaned up and although quite a few songs are lip-synched, that was the way they were presented then.

The interview style is very simple, just the artists talking to an invisible interviewer, and unlike many retro sets there is no attempt to cram interviews with as many people as possible into the program. The result is a far more in-depth look at each artist or band.

As a bonus feature, all the complete performances can be viewed without the interviews. This is great, because, as far as I am concerned, I can only watch the interviews a few times, but the songs can be listened to over and over again.

I hope this set will be as successful as it deserves to be and the producers will issue more sets with the same format. Very highly recommended.

Just to add a footnote: the 'Complete performances' section on each disc not only carries extra songs, but in some cases, most notably the Small Faces disc, different performances of the same songs. That's the kind of added value typical of this wonderful set.

This is as good as it gets. If u r 50 or over you will think u have died & gone to r&r heaven. Once u get this,small faces,herman's hermits,gerry & the p/makers & dusty springfield,go & get the hollies look thru any window available by itself. you will not be dissapointed.Hopefully reelin in the years productions will continue to impress & put out another box set including the likes of the beatles,the animals,the kinks, dave clarke 5,the who, or even donovan.

I was a bit skeptical about the sound & video quality, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good both are - especially when played through my home stereo. I don't care for the "Small Faces" DVD, but the Herman's Hermits & Gerry & the Pacemakers" DVD's are worth more than the total price of this set, even without the bonus DVD. In fact, after watching this set, I knew I had to have the double CD "Herman's Hermits Greatest Hits" which I recently reviewed.

This is one of the best collections I have ever seen. Not only was the sound and picture perfect, but there are many live appearances shot in England, that we havent seen before here in the U.S. Kudos to " Reeling In The Years " I just bought The Hollies dvd made from the same company and wow, its great. You will love the quality and the nice memories it will bring back. I am listening joyfully as I write this review. Keep up the nice work with more of the same.