Customer Reviews

Hullabaloo, Vols. 1-4

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

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!

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!

I was born right around the time Hullabaloo was being broadcast, never heard of it, and purchased the DVD after seeing the infomercial highlighting videos from the DVD. It was a purchase gamble in some ways, but I figured the musicians highlighted couldn't go wrong, and each week's host seemed to be a sizeable talent still recognizable to me 35 years later. The gamble paid off. The short lived 'Hullabaloo' television show is incredible retro-pop art designy concept program allowing America a glimpse at favored pop music artists in a polished production environment long before MTV or music videos came into existance. It combined personalities, dancers, music and musicians using a very amusing and light hearted manner. The hosts were usually people pushing their own popular TV programs or film or records (Sammy Davis Jr., the star of 'Man from U.n.c.l.e.', Michael Landon, Jerry Lewis, etc.). The dancers are a hilarious assortment of what the producers deemed were 'Amercican' demographic people would want to see with the token asian and black thrown in to help represent, the women were stunning and used as 'props' in many of the sets, and of course the amazing noodle-boy dancer who seems to steal the camera eye with his disgustingly emaciated body writhing about in mid-sixties garb. Finally, and taking center stage, were the musicians who came from the various facets of 60's pop music culture, swathed in expensive 60's Hollywood style, lip synching to the music, doing small skits, being overall 'cool cats'. 'Hullabaloo' is a fantastic time capsule, wether the viewer lived through this era, or for people who want to discover it, and even people that just like some kooky old stuff to have around as mindless eye candy. The old Vaudeville format TV shows highly contrast and shame the modern MTV channels who take themselves so seriously, allowing musicians with empty heads and mouths to drone on unrehearsed for hours instead of packaging them in such fun and inventive ways cooked up in the 60s. Kooky, cheesy and fun- this is a great DVD purchase for those interested in this genre of music and TV.

The answer, of course, is no. A lot of time has been spent whining about the stuff on Hullabaloo that wasn't really rock and roll. Sure, safe acts, crooners and Vegas swingers ruled on the show - particularly as hosts - but it all works as a beautiful period piece. Rock and roll was only a decade old when these shows were filmed, and TV execs were fighting a losing battle to co-opt it. The purity of performances by the Animals, the Yardbitds and the Byrds show how uncontrollable the energy was. Anyone who grew up in the era will love this. And if you remember the actual show, you'll spend days wiping that grin off your face.

I initially bought Vol 3 on VHS, because I'd never seen the Supremes perform "Nothing But Heartaches," being that during Motown's greatest era, I was living in Germany, and didn't have much opportunity to catch any of their appearances shown stateside. Watching the entire clips brings back great memories.
I miss the days of singers who occasionally danced...

I'm probably dead center in the target age range for this disc. I was 14 when these shows aired, and it was definitely Must See TV for me then. When I cracked this open today and popped it in the machine, the opening theme music and cheesy dance routines took me back 35 years in an instant. I'm not sure I would recommend this to anyone who didn't live through it as I did, however. My present S.O. is too young, by about 10 years, and has no recollection of this show, and frankly doesn't see why I got so excited about it. It's hard to explain, I guess, why anyone would be thrilled to see grainy B&W mostly lip-synched performances of extremely light-weight pop music. Well, so be it, but thrilled I am. Some of it is _extremely_ light-weight, too: I could do without about half the acts (Vikki Carr? Gary Lewis? Jerry Lewis?!?) but there's plenty to like, as well.

My only real complaint is that the producers decided to include entire weekly programs(6 half-hours, one hour-long) which means you get the chaff along with the wheat. That's nice for one or two shows, but it gets old, particularly the Top Pop medley segements and the "Odd Pairings for Bad Covers" filler (e.g. Sammy Davis + Supremes doing "Toot Toot Tootsie").

The "bonus tracks" include the best music, and I think I'd rather see more of that stuff, in a "Best Of..." format. With any luck, the next volume (and I hope there's more) will drop the kitsch and emphasize the music more.

This is a must-see for nostalgia fans of the 60's. I mainly bought it because it has Gary Lewis in it--he is a friend of mine and his goofy sense of humor shines in this dvd. And his personality hasn't changed much since then.
The only problem I have with this dvd is that the dubbing is so obvious--especially watching musicians play an electric guitar that isn't plugged in--but it's still fun watching the lip-synching. Heck, people pay big bucks to see Britney Spears lip-sync live.

These dvd's are great, but I am unhappy with the fact that the one episode I remember most is not included. I think it first aired in January 1965 and featured a dance by the spectacular Ms. Joey Heatherton. I was watching it with some teenage friends of mine (we were all about 16 years young), and when Joey came on and the cameraman zoomed in on her...OMG!!! We all sat there with our mouths open!!! That's all we talked about in high school for days!!! If any of you know about this Hullabaloo episode becoming available on dvd PLEASE let us know!!!

I rate this and the other Hullabaloo DVD and VHS sets 4 stars rather than 5 only because most of the color tapes were trashed. So, we get to see mostly kinescopes. But, if you can get past the sub-standard video quality, these are well worth owning, whether you grew up in the 60s (as I did) or you are curious about the entertainment of that era.

These shows make a person feel happy. The reason is that if you look closely you can see that the entertainers are often enjoying themselves. It's infectious. It makes you want to share in their happiness. A person can see that although it may have been a job for the entertainers, especially the dancers, and a lot of work went into the show, they liked what they were doing. It's mostly very upbeat. This is in contrast to much of the entertainment today, which is drenched in empty electronica, fake drums, and urban anger. Hullaballo was about the beat ("Feel that beat, comin on...), the excitement and the dancing. The dancers were a very important part of this show. Watch closely during the Hullaballo A Go Go segments and you will conclude that they are really having fun while they are working. With all of the depressing musical entertainment that exists today, it's refreshing to listen to (mostly)upbeat music in a happy setting. It's like leaving a cold gray rainy winter day to go to a beautiful June wedding reception. So, if you enjoy dancing, or want some escapist happiness, buy this and have a good time! And, don't forget to buy Shindig! too. Very similar.