Customer Reviews

The 5th Dimension Travelling Sunshine Show with Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters and Merle Haggard [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You have to look at "The 5th Dimension Travelling Sunshine Show" in context. The year was 1971, and the "variety" special was a staple on teevee. The 5th Dimension, a pop group with a string of successful hits at that point, were a worthy choice to host a show like this.

Of course, there had to be a "concept." Here, the group was a bunch of traveling performers, out to entertain whomever they encountered along the way in a wagon with a make believe donkey pulling them through a cardboard cut-out world!

Yes, the set is clearly a studio soundstage, the audience applause is completely canned and every song performed is lip synched. But those elements only add to the fun of this campy relic from the days when Karen and Richard Carpenter could do their brand new single: "Superstar!"

I got the feeling that Merle Haggard never even met the group, since he didn't share a second of camera time with any of them. But he's on the show. And Dionne Warwick and Marilyn McCoo, both future hosts of another camp music program, "Solid Gold," duel it out with Florence LaRue Gordon in an almost cringeworthy "competition" of singing each other's hits. It only gets upstaged by the three of them doing the Tom Jones classic "She's A Lady!"

You'll see the sight gags and hear the typical one-liners and routines you'd expect from a program of this era. Bad special effects and tacky costumes? You betcha! but that's all a part of the charm.

It's fun watching The 5th Dimension standing in the wings, dancing and grooving to Carpenters performance of "Someone Like You."

Also, if you click the "trivia" button on the "bonus features" before you play the program, you'll get a "pop-up video" style blurb every few moments on screen. You'll want to turn this feature off during "Superstar." Trust me.

If you're a fan of The 5th Dimension, Carpenters, or Dionne Warwick, or you are interested in taking a peek into what entertained people decades ago, you'll want to add this deliciously tacky treat to your collection!

Highly Recommended!

I base my rating of two stars on the fact the group's hit songs such as Up Up And Away, Wedding Bell Blues, Acquarius/Let The Sun Shine In, and Stoned Soul Picnic are only very briefly sung with a few lines of each song. I bought the DVD with the idea they would sing the entire song, but was disappointed. If this doesn't bother you, I'm sure you will rate the DVD higher than I did.

I don't know why the other "reviewer" found the video quality poor "for the price". The video quality is excellent and could NOT be better. It is crystal-clear from a great master. Maybe they need to get glasses or clean their TV screen or get a better VCR - who knows! Most likely that reviewer isn't content with anything. Lots of great songs from the group at their prime, not to mention the appearances by The Carpenters and Dionne Warwick.

All of the group's best hits (Up Up And Away, Wedding Bell Blues, Acquarius/Let The Sun Shine In, and Stoned Soul Picnic) are on a medley with only only small portions of each of those hit songs. The rest of the tracks are relatively unknown. I like the 5th Dimension, but this DVD was extraordinarily disappointing.

If you want to see good performances by the 5th Dimenson, I found them: Two DVDs: "Straight from the Heart" and "Straight from the Heart, Vol II". Their performance on those DVDs are excellent! You won't be sorry.

...on a psychedelic post 60s trip full of innocence, kitsch, color and an everlasting smile on their faces. Stunning appearances by Dionne Warwick, Merle Haggard, the Carpenters and, of course, by the 5th themselves. There is and has never been a vocal group in pop history with a capability of creating wonderful, dense harmonies of such a technical brilliance! And this is the pure sound- without the gimmicks of modern music production like in today's casting groups. As natural, fresh and exciting as ever!
Unfortunately, the DVD was obviously produced from a video tape- and has not gone through any digital remastering process. So the picture is not as brilliant as you would expect from a DVD, but good enough to watch (Therefore only 4 stars). Nevertheless, this DVD is recommended! Sit back and enjoy a colorful musical journey into the past...

You probably have to be a 5th Dimension fan to really appreciate this video of their one television special. Among the performers were the Carpenters, Dionne Warwick, and Merl Haggard. I'm not much for Haggard, but the performances by the 5th Dimension, the Carpenters, and Dionne Warick were all terrific, including the Catpenters introducing a new single, "Superstar".
The DVD arrived ahead of schedule, and was very high quality. The person I gave it to for Christmas was thrilled.

The Fifth Dimension was a musical group that was extraordinarily popular in the late 60's and early 70's. Their harmonious sounds with lead vocals by Marilyn McCoo, saw two number one top-40 hits (Aquarius and Wedding Bell Blues). The group split up in 1975, when McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. left the group. At the time of the taping of this program, 1971, the Fifth Dimension were still quite popular in American music. The show is a real nostalgic look back at a unique era of soft-rock love ballad music. The outfits are flashy and colorful and are typical to the "flower" children of that era. The Fifth Dimension are at their visual and audio peak at this point in time. They are very attractive, and they know their sound and how to get the most from it. However, in this DVD, the transfer from the master to the DVD shows some loss of audio quality. It still sounds good, but not as clear as the VHS version (my opinion). The Fifth Dimension are typically upbeat, positive, and exude an air of infectious fun! Musical guests include the Carpenters, who were huge coming off their hits of "Close To You" and "We've Only Just Begun". Dionne Warwick is a special guest star, and she sings a single and a medley of her greatest hits with the Fifth Dimension. Apparently to appeal to country music fans, a very young Merle Haggard sings two songs. Haggard seems completely out of place in this show, as his style of country music is so completely different from the Fifth Dimension.

Here is a song by song recap of the program:

Fifth Dimension - Light Sings All Over The World
Dionne Warwick - Games People Play
Medley of the Fifth Dimension and Dionne Warwick:
Do You Know The Way To San Jose?
Up-Up And Away
Walk On By
Sweet Blindness
I Say A Little Prayer
Lay That Devil Down
I'll Never Fall In Love Again
The fifth Dimension - She's A Lady
Merle Haggard - I've Done It All
Merle Haggard - It Was Fun
The Fifth Dimension - Rainmaker
Carpenters - Someone Like You
The Fifth Dimension - Aria From Pagliacci "Vesti La Giubba"
Carpenters - Superstar
Marilyn McCoo solo - Loves' Angles And Rhymes
Dionne Warwick - Reach Out And Touch
Fifth Dimension Medley:
Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In
One Less Bell To Answer
Stoned Soul Picnic
Wedding Bell Blues
Up-Up And Away

The program is 48 minutes long. It is typical of variety tv music shows of that era. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I wish there was more video available on the Fifth Dimension.

konedog

Although the picture quality is not up to today's standard and it is painfully obvious that certain songs were lipsynched, I was happy to see vintage Dionne & the 5th Dimension girls slug it out in a lipsynched medley. The saving grace is that later on Dionne's solo was sung live. Ditto for Merle Haggard's songs. The Carpenters lipsynched of course as it is just not possible to recreate their beautiful harmonies live.

Fun and campy way to kill a little time without hurting anyone. Correction: The DVD lists one of the Carpenters' songs as "Someone Like You," and I must say one of the reasons I purchased the DVD is that it appeared to contain a Carpenters song I'd not heard before. Alas, 'twas not to be. "Someone Like You" is actually the Carpenters cover of "Reason To Believe," which was almost released as a single by A&M.

This was the 5th Dimension's tv special from way back when. While I am very pleased to have ANYTHING from 5th on DVD, it would be great to have full concert as well. In the meantime with Dionne Warwick, The Carpenters and 5th you should be well pleased with this purchase.