114 of 117 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A 60's Music Flashback, December 31, 1999
This four-volume box set has a total running time of about four hours. It contains seven complete Hullabaloo shows (six half-hour shows and a one-hour special), plus eighteen bonus songs. Details are given at the end of the review.
Each show is fronted by a different guest host, who - as well as introducing the acts - also performs one or two songs of his own. Featured throughout are the Hullabaloo Dancers, who twitch their bodies and shake their mop-tops in time to the music. The shows themselves are made up of three separate elements.
Firstly there are guest acts performing their latest recordings. Although a few are clearly miming, most do actually sing their numbers live.
In the middle of the show comes the medley. In many ways the medleys are the most interesting to watch - since it gives us a chance to see our Sixties heroes performing numbers not associated with them. Some struggle in the attempt, others are plainly nervous - but they all make it through to the end. It is this element of uncertainty that makes the medley fascinating to watch more than thirty years on.
The show ends with a visit to the Hullabaloo A-Go-Go, where a live act performs to an audience of that week's guests - complete with Go-Go dancers in cages. My only disappointment with this section is that the cameras focus mainly on the dancers - providing only brief glimpses of the performers. And, with performers like The Yardbirds, that today feels like an opportunity missed.
Hullabaloo was broadcast from January 1965 to August 1966, and - for the first three months - included a segment from London hosted by Brian Epstein. Many of the bonus songs on these tapes come from these London segments, and feature Brian's somewhat shy introductions.
Here are the details:
Volume One: April 11, 1966 (in colour); Paul Anka (host) - What now my love; The Cyrkle - Red rubber ball; Lesley Gore - Young love; Peter & Gordon - Woman; Wrong from the start; plus Academy Award Song Medley, including What's new pussycat by The Cyrkle
December 6, 1965; Frankie Avalon (host) - Do I hear a waltz?; The Hollies - Look through any window; Nancy Sinatra - So long babe; Lola Falana - Loverly; The Yardbirds - I'm a man; plus TV Theme Song Medley
Bonus Songs; Gerry & The Pacemakers - I'll be there; It's gonna be alright; The Bobby Fuller Four - I fought the law; The Vogues - Five o'clock world; Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Going to a Go-Go
Volume Two; November 29, 1965 (in colour); Michael Landon (host) - I like it like that; The Byrds - The times they are a-changin'; Jackie DeShannon - A lifetime of loneliness; Chad & Jill - The cruel war; Paul Revere & The Raiders - Steppin' out; plus, Top Pop Medley, including Do you believe in magic by The Byrds
March 14, 1966; Gary Lewis (host) & The Playboys - Run for your life; The Mamas & The Papas - California dreamin'; Dionne Warwick - Message to Michael; Bobby Rydell - The joker; Noel Harrison - (It's all over now) Baby Blue; plus, Top Pop Medley, including Nowhere man by the Mamas & Papas
Bonus Songs: The Moody Blues - Go now; The Marvelettes - Don't mess with Bill; The Turtles - You baby; The Animals - I'm crying;
Volume Three; September 20, 1965 (in colour); Jerry Lewis & Gary Lewis (host) - Help; Gary Lewis & The Playboys - Everybody loves a clown; Barry McGuire - Eve of destruction; Paul Revere & The Raiders - Ooh poo pah doo;
Joannie Sommers - Before and after; plus Top Pop Medley, including It ain't me babe by Gary Lewis & The Playboys
September 13, 1965; Sammy Davis Jr (host) - I know a place; The Lovin' Spoonful - Do you believe in magic; The Supremes - Nothing but heartaches; Sonny & Cher - I got you babe; The Strangeloves - I want Candy; Sammy Davis Jr & The Supremes - Toot-toot-tootsie; plus, Top Pop Medley, including (I can't get no) Satisfaction by Sonny & Cher
Bonus Songs: The Searchers - Love potion #9; What have they done to the rain; Marvin Gaye - Ain't that peculiar; Dusty Springfield - Some of your lovin'; The Young Rascals - Good lovin';
Volume Four; May 4, 1965; Trini Lopez (host) - What'd I say; Sad tomorrows; I've lost my love for you; Sir Douglas Quintet - She's about a mover; Herman's Hermits - Mrs Brown you've got a lovely daughter; Silhouettes; Can't you hear my heartbeat; Chuck Berry - Johnny B Goode; The Four Seasons - medley: Dawn (go away), Rag doll, Toy soldier, Bye bye baby; Vikki Carr - There goes my heart; Martha & The Vandellas - Nowhere to run; Freddie & The Dreamers - You were made for me; The Travellers Three - San Francisco Bay blues; Trini Lopez & Chuck Berry - Memphis; Trini Lopez & Vikki Carr - If I had a hammer; Entire cast - Do the Freddie; plus, Top Pop Medley, including Do you wanna dance by The Four Seasons
Bonus Songs: Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders - Game of love; The Four Tops - Something about you; Gene Pitney - Town without pity; Johnny Rivers - Midnight Special
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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great record of music in the mid '60s, August 24, 2001
This review is from: Hullabaloo, Vols. 1-4 (DVD)
I absolutely HAD to buy this DVD -- I was only 8 or 9 when Hullabaloo first aired and I only managed to see it once or twice (this was in the days when a family only had one TV set and my parents controlled the shows we watched in prime time -- for some reason, they didn't care about watching Herman's Hermits and Paul Revere and the Raiders). I remember worshiping the Hullaballo dancers -- I still do watching the DVD. They were just the definition of cool wearing the original go-go boots. What most surprised me when watching the shows was that pop and rock music had not quite separated in 1965-1966. Who could imagine Sammy Davis Jr. and the Moody Blues on the same disk? Especially noteworthy are the introductions by Beatles manager Brian Epstein, who used the show to promote more of his acts (none of which ever came close to reaching the Beatles' popularity).... I had no problem with the mix of color and back and white show -- hey, most of us had black and white in those days, anyway... A great blast from the past!
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Television will never again be this fun, July 16, 2001
This review is from: Hullabaloo, Vols. 1-4 (DVD)
Despite the lack of color for all but 2 or 3 of the episodes(due to the fact that the original color tapes were destroyed by NBC) this volume of past Hullabaloo episodes is fab. These shows all aired a year or two before I was even born and they far exceed, in terms of sheer musical and entertainment quality, anything that todays musical acts or MTV, VH1 or any such music network could ever hope to produce. Among my favorite bits are both appearances by Paul Revere and the Raiders during the "A Go Go" segment at the end of the show(an absolute blast), the Go Go dancers, an appearance by the Byrds doing their excellent version of "The Times They Are A Changing", the Go Go dancers, the Cyrcle doing their best known number 1 "Red Rubber Ball", the Go Go dancers, Michael Landon as guest host in one episode acting as though he is the coolest cat ever to host a show(its hard to imagine Little Joe acting this way. What would Pa and Hoss have to say?), and did I mention the fabulous Go Go dancers? Just buy it. I dont care how old or young you may or may not be. After enough viewings, YOU WILL be up on the floor doing the Swim, the Jerk, the Shake, the Shimmy, the Shag, or whatever other dances they did back then. If they ever invent a time machine that allowes only 1 trip into the past with no possibility for return, I'm going back to 1965. See you all there!
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