Network)

Starring:Best of 70's 4pak
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Music Scene - Best of 1969-1970 (Vol. 2)

Average customer rating:

THIS WAS A GOOD MUSICAL VARIETY SHOW,THAT BEGGED TO BE DIFFERENT.
Top 40 nightmare, not flower power heaven
Get it for GROUCHO!
What a memory trip.
Video Content OK. Audio is ONE channel ONLY.

Music Scene - Best of 1969-1970 (Vol. 2)
Starring: Music Scene-Best of 1969-70
Manufacturer: Mpi Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

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Music Scene - The Best of 1969-70
Sixties Rock
Remember the '70s - Greatest Hits Live
Super Hits of the '70s - Have a Nice Day
Sixties Soft Rock

ASIN: B00005AVZR
Release Date: 2001-05-22

Amazon.com

Whereas Music Scene, Vol. 1 preserved a daring TV show's moment in the low-rated limelight, Vol. 2 shows the series in a fascinating tailspin, in the ratings cellar before cancellation in January of 1970. A bold attempt to combine liberal political comedy, harmless pop, and Woodstock-era rock & roll, Music Scene drew its guests from current Billboard pop charts, supplementing those acts with host David Steinberg's intellectual sarcasm and shrewd assaults on the Nixon administration. In these four complete episodes, however, the show is clearly dying, and while the collected performances still qualify as outstanding relics from the volatile Woodstock/Altamont time frame, it's amazing to watch Steinberg--now stripped of his merry band of cohosts--exchanging genial wisecracks for a darker, more cynical acceptance that Music Scene was doomed from the start.

The music is an eclectic, full-course buffet, from lip-synced performances by Creedence Clearwater Revival to the chart-topping ballads of Neil Diamond and Gordon Lightfoot to the defiantly leftist folk of Pete Seeger and Buffy Sainte- Marie. Unexpected highlights include Joe Cocker's sublime rendition of the Beatles' "Something" and Frankie Laine's emotional delivery of "Lord, You Gave Me a Mountain." Throughout, Steinberg is like a protestor with a lost cause, and by the time he's joined by cohost Groucho Marx for the mesmerizing final show, he's lost all pretense of mainstream propriety, and it's TV history like nothing before or since. A full menu of 21 bonus songs is icing on a bittersweet cake, from one-hit-wonders Zager & Evans ("In the Year 2525") to an impassioned "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)" by Janis Joplin, whose own fate would soon echo that of this remarkable, short-lived TV show. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

THIS WAS A GOOD MUSICAL VARIETY SHOW,THAT BEGGED TO BE DIFFERENT........2005-11-11

THIS IS PART TWO OF MUSIC SCENE.!!!SEE MY PART ONE REVIEW.THE SHOW FEATURED MANY ROCK GROUPS,COMEDY ,FOLK AND MUCH MORE.THE SHOW TRIED TO APPEAL TO A YOUNGER AUDIENCE.THIS WAS UNUSUAL FOR ABC IN 1969.THE SHOW BOMBED,IN SHORT ORDER.1/1/2 YEARS TOTAL,AS I REMEMBER BACK THEN.THEY TRIED TO HAVE THE SUCCESS OF HUABLOO, BUT THIS NEVER HAPPENED REGRETFULLY...THERE ARE SOME VERY RARE MOMENTS MAKING THIS SHOW,PART ONE AND TWO,A MUST FOR YOUR DVD COLLECTION. RECOMMENDED. I OWN THIS DISC.

Top 40 nightmare, not flower power heaven.......2004-05-17

These comments apply to both Music Scene dvds equally (this dvd and the other dvd).

Disappointing collection of rock and pop performances. Mostly pop, unfortunately, and some of the worst (the Archies, Tom Jones, too many times Bobby Sherman). The program was run by BillBoard, the hit rating service still around today. Most of the musicians are second, nay third-rate.

True, once in a while you get Crosby Stills Nash and Young, or Ten Years After, or Janis Joplin. But those acceptable performances are few, far between and a pitiful minority of the program. Plus often they aren't playing tunes you'd most like to hear, and they are playing them on stages that are wrong for them, that fail to showcase them. And what do you do with for instance, one measly song from CSNY? You need 3 or 4 to have the opportunity to enjoy it. The program forces Sly and the Family Stone to mush together its songs into a medley so rushed through you don't get a chance to savor it (heck, you question whether you even heard it).

The people who put on the program selected their musicians disastrously, and apparently were rightly cancelled due to deservedly poor ratings.

The show is somewhat interesting sociologically for those who experienced those times first hand. You are revisiting the TV culture of 1969, after all, for better or for worse. But that's about it. Save your money for a better purchase than this.

Get it for GROUCHO!.......2002-08-07

As a nerdy 12-year-old in 1969 who spent too much time listening to music (a habit I hold to this day), I absolutely LOVED this show. However, thinking back, I really didn't appreciate what was going on here; mixing different styles of music to make everybody happy--if you don't like rock, hang on a minute, here comes Buck Owens! Don't like country? Here's some soul music, etc.

While both of these volumes are worth having, Volume 2 takes the cake simply because some of the show lineups are positively bizarre--no more so than the last show, which the cast and crew KNEW would be the last show.

Host and comedian David Steinberg had become a good friend of Groucho Marx and invited him to be on the show. Great move. Still "with it" at age 74, Steinberg's interview with Groucho in the middle of the show is positively classic. His genuine compliments and good-natured kidding of singer John Sebastian, who is clearly in awe of Groucho, are positively touching.

At the end of the show, Steinberg brings Groucho back and Groucho pretty much takes over; so much so that Steinberg finally stops him in mid-"shtick" and says, "Uh, Groucho, I have to go home!"

Musically, this disc has some neat stuff. Pete Seeger leading a group of kids singing "Bring 'em Home" still gets you going, and you want to go start a war just so that you can send boys over there and bring 'em back.

Janis Joplin's "Try" is great, too, shot in the same studio as the Seeger bit (it appears this show was shot in various locations depending on the audience needed to make the act work.)

It would have been nice if they could have licensed the use of the Beatles' video "The Ballad of John and Yoko" (Music Scene was the only show that dared to show this video in '69, albeit with the "Christ" bleeped out), but alas, it's not here.

Interesting to see Lily Tomlin in her pre-Laugh-In days, and it's easy to see why she jumped ship before the show was finished.

The MOST interesting thing about these DVDS are the trailers that sold this show. They featured some of the comedians that showed up on the program along with comedians (including Howard Hesseman under a different name) and a band that didn't--The Rolling Stones. Obviously, the Stones were supposed to play a much bigger part in what this show was supposed to be, and somewhere between preview and premiere, that all fell through.

Whether you really need more than one version of "Take a Letter Maria" is totally up to you, but otherwise this is a great collection. Get both volumes and enjoy!

What a memory trip........2001-07-23

I just watched "MUSIC SCENE"-Best of 1969-1970 Vol. 2. I didn't know what to expect in the title of this DVD, I haven't heard of this show before now, so I didn't go out and buy it like I did hullaballoo when it came out on DVD. I like Classic Rock, I was too young to experience most of it in my early life, being 2 years old when this show started, but this DVD Video brings it to life. I loved Pete Seeger's Anti-War song, I have neve heard it before, but loved it. Watching most of the kids on this show clapping and singing with a lot of urgency, made me see how scary it must have been to have to worry about the draft. It was great to see these artists (some being the first time for me), who sang these classic songs from over 30 years ago. I liked Neil Diamond singing "both sides now", I've never heard a guy sing it before... Take a letter Maria, is a classic, and great to see RB Greaves sing it. Cass Elliot is great on it too. So much music on this DVD. The clothes people used to wear at this time on this DVD, make the Brady Bunch clothing look tame... :) haha I can't wait to get Volume 1.

Video Content OK. Audio is ONE channel ONLY........2001-07-04

I purchased Music Scene - Best of 1969-1970 (Vol. 1) DVD and decided to go for number 2.

Number 2 has excellent video but ONLY ONE audio channel.

Vol 1 has, at least, 2 channels and I do not know how vol 2 comes with ONLY one audio channel (which is the center channel, by the way).

If you are looking for video and the images, its OK. If you are looking for the audio, be ready to listen to ONE channel only.

Amazon.com

A ratings disaster when it premiered on the ABC network on September 22, 1969 (and lasting a mere 16 weeks before cancellation), Music Scene now stands as a sublime time capsule of the "flower power" era. Although it was smartly conceived by the hipper-than-average producers of the controversial Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, the show was riskily scheduled opposite ratings juggernauts Gunsmoke and Laugh-In, and its fate was sealed. Now, with the passage of decades, these shows display a laudable effort to lure serious rock music into the pop-cultural mainstream--there were few if any opportunities for these acts to gain prime-time TV exposure, so it wasn't unusual to find Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young colliding on the guest list with bubble-gum pop stars like Bobby Sherman and MOR crooners like Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme.

Struggling to bridge the generation gap, host comedian David Steinberg--with a group of five regular cohosts including Lily Tomlin and occasional guest hosts--is a well-chosen mouthpiece for Hollywood's anti-Nixon liberalism, able to distinguish the important (Joe Cocker, Richie Havens) from the ridiculous (the nonexistent Archies and their #1 hit "Sugar Sugar" are duly dismissed). This Volume 1 DVD offers four complete shows, combining sociopolitical comedy with a potpourri of music (either live or lip-synched) selected each week from Billboard magazine's Top 100 pop, rock, country, and soul charts. An additional 21 bonus performances are packed onto side B, along with Music Scene promo spots featuring the Rolling Stones. All in all, this may be one of the best DVDs to showcase nostalgic TV in a meaningful and entertaining way, by rescuing a short-lived series from oblivion to remind us of the very best (and not-so-best) that American pop culture had to offer during the height of the Vietnam War. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

A true cultural artifact.......2006-10-04

If its hard to imagine someone waiting all week to see both Ten Years After and Bobby Sherman the only explanation I can offer is that hey, we didn't have 900 channels.

The music here is mostly disposable (as are all the comedy routines) but its pretty interesting to see how television shows were put together and how we struggled with Vietnam as a backdrop.

In one amazing segue, Tommy Smothers introduces someone "from the other side". Its Merle Haggard and he sings he's proud to be an Oakie. The performance ends with Merle in a sea of flags. This was a pretty common sight back then only it was usually coffins (the politicians have gotten smarter and now they don't allow this).

Anyway, I thought Jerry Lee Lewis was insanely cool. The Rascals were great, too (drummer Dino Danelli was something). It was almost frightening to watch Janis Joplin struggle to hold it together. Della Reese and Edie Gorme were not to my taste but Different Strokes For Different Folks-yeah! And then there was Buffy Saint Marie, perhaps the only pop musician my dad and I ever agreed on.

I can't see why anyone would want to own this but if you can rent it, by all means do.

MUSIC SCENE PART ONE,.OF TWO,.WAS A GOOD MUSICAL VARIETY SHOW,THAT WISHED TO BE ANOTHER HULABLOO.........2005-11-11

THIS SHOW WANTED TO BE DIFFERENT.THEY MIXED HARD ROCK,FOLK,COMEDY,AND MORE.THE SHOW WAS TO APPEAL,TO A YOUNGER CROWD.TRIED TO BE HIP.THERE WERE A LOT OF GREAT GROUPS. SOME LIVE,AND SOME LIP-SINKING,PERISH FORBID.THE TRIED TO DUPLICATE THE SUCCESS OF HULABLOO,BUT FAILED,AND WAS CANCELED IN LESS THAN 1/1/2 YEARS.THERE ARE SOME VERY SPECIAL AND RARE MOMENTS.I WOULD DEFINITLY SPRING FOR THIS DVD. 4 STAR RECOMMENDED. I OWN THIS DISC.

Buyer Beware!.......2005-11-04

I bought this because of rave reviews, but 75% is lip-synced junk or at best live singing over backing tracks. If you're an obssesive fan of CSNY and Sly & Family Stone like I am, then you have to buy this for their real live songs. That adds up to a great 10 or 15 minutes. The Rascals, Janis and a few others are live and decent, but wait till you can get this for $5 bucks, not $20. James Brown without his band! It's a crime against humanity. Most of this you will watch once at most.
I mean Smith? They walked right out of the Billy Jack movie.
Do you want to see David Steinberg and Lily Tomlin before they were famous, or funny? Some day Sly and CSNY will put out decent DVD's of all their live performances. C'mon Neil!

A Pop Culture Time Capsule!.......2005-09-24

What a wonderful discovery on DVD!

There are two DVD's that comprise the complete series, which was only on from September, 1969, to January, 1970. David Steinberg is great as the host, and was one of the writers of the show. What a great showcase of the talent of the late 60's! It's an interesting variety of musical artists, and a neat time capsule of pop culture.

One of the coolest episodes, in my opinion, is the very last one, co-hosted by Comedy Legend Groucho Marx!! They did a little 'chat' session with Groucho and David Steinberg which is a classic!

Apparently this show was cancelled due to low ratings and competition from 'Laugh-In' And 'Gunsmoke', and I bet the producers/writers/performers never thought it'd ever see the light of day in any form after cancellation, but HOORAY for the DVD's!!!!

Some of the best things about the DVD's are all the Extra Bonus Material! It appears to be segments/songs/musicians cut from the original episodes! It's some killer stuff, and I'm amazed that all this fabulous material got the AXE during the original run of the show! Well, they only had 45 minutes per episode to get so much material in, I guess....

This is a must-see for fans of pop culture and music of the late 60's!

I highly recommend it!

Classic and Priceless!.......2005-06-24

After reading the reviews here I wasn't expecting Volume 1 to be as great as it is! Sure there's lots of filler, but the gems are incredible! High points include:

Baby It's You - by one hit wonders "SMITH" featuring Gayle McCormick who sings the HECK out of the song. Maybe its because she knew that Janis Joplin would be following her on the same night?

World - James Brown sings about tolerance and understanding to a stage full of extras giving him the cold shoulder!

I Want To Take You Higher - Sly and the Family Stone tear this song up in a medley that includes "Don't Call Me Nigger Whitey!". Probably the first time that word ever got sung in prime time!

Down By The River - Crosby Stills Nash and Young rock out! Neil Young looks like a teenager! And he's sooooo good!

Walk On By - Isaac Hayes struts his ultra cool black stuff!

Maybe - Janis Joplin picks up the gauntlet thrown down by Gayle McCormick and does her one better!

I could go on and on. And don't forget this is a DOUBLE SIDED DVD, flip it over for an incredible rocking medley by The Everly Brothers (go figure?) which includes the Beatles "The End!". Other flip side highlights include James Brown's sexy protege Marva Whitney, B.B. King, Lulu, Joe Cocker, Little Richard and more!

By the way folks, these are mostly LIVE performances ( But I think the Temptations "I Can't Get Next To You" is lip-synched.)

Best of the 70's (All The President's Men/Deliverance/Mean Streets/Network)

Average customer rating:

Best of the 70's (All The President's Men/Deliverance/Mean Streets/Network)
Starring: Best of 70's 4pak
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

The Best of the 60s (Bonnie and Clyde/Bullitt/Cool Hand Luke/The Wild Bunch - The Director's Cut)
Best of the 50s (North By Northwest/Rebel Without A Cause/The Searchers/Streetcar Named Desire)
Chinatown
Best of the 40s (Adam's Rib / The Big Sleep / The Maltese Falcon / Mildred Pierce)
Midnight Cowboy

ASIN: B00011ZBJI
Release Date: 2003-12-02

The Beat-Club: The Best of '70, Vol. 1 [Region 2]

Average customer rating:

The Beat-Club: The Best of '70, Vol. 1 [Region 2]
Starring: Eddie Vickers , Dave Lee Travis , and Wilhelm Wieben
Director: Michael Leckebusch
Manufacturer: Studio Hamburg/Radio Bremen
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

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Beat-Club: The Best of '70, Vol. 2 [Region 2]

Average customer rating:

Beat-Club: The Best of '70, Vol. 2 [Region 2]
Starring: Eddie Vickers , Dave Lee Travis , and Wilhelm Wieben
Director: Michael Leckebusch
Manufacturer: Studio Hamburg/Radio Bremen
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Average customer rating:

Best of 70's
Starring: Various Artists
Manufacturer: Glass
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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