Lesley Gore | Through the Shattered Lens

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American-International Pictures takes the “Beach Party ” concept to the slopes in 1965’s SKI PARTY, an endearingly goofy ball of fluff headlining Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Deborah Walley , and a pre-‘Batgirl’ Yvonne Craig . It sells itself with a sly wink to the audience that says, “We know the whole thing’s absurd, and we don’t care”! Besides the off-the-wall comedy, the film features above average musical interludes by guests Lesley Gore and the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown.

Frankie and Dwayne play a pair of slightly overage college students (Avalon was 25, Hickman 31!) trying to woo Deborah and Yvonne. The two knuckleheads can’t figure out why they can’t get to first base, while college Romeo Aron Kincaid scores with every babe on campus. When the whole gang (including Beach movie regulars Luree Holmes, Michael Nader, Salli Sachsee , and surfing champ Mickey Dora) go on a…

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Five years before Woodstock, there was T.A.M.I. Show.

In 1964, a concert was held over two days at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Free tickets were distributed to local high school students and the best footage from the two shows was edited into one movie. Distributed by American International Pictures, T.A.M.I. Show was one of the first concert films.

T.A.M.I. stood for Teenage Awards Music International but no awards were given out during those two days. Instead, 12 of the most popular music acts of 1964 performed on one stage. The Beatles may not have been there but almost every other hitmaker of the year showed up.

Among the highlights of T.A.M.I. Show was the performance of James Brown and The Famous Flames, which many consider to be one of the best musical performances ever captured on film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09qbhwcpA6A

James Brown’s performance was followed by The Rolling Stones. Though Keith Richards once claimed that trying to follow James Brown was the biggest mistake of their careers, T.A.M.I. Show was the first time that many American teenagers actually saw the Stones perform.

Also performing: The Supremes, at the height of their popularity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7Cn57BNVoM

The Beach Boys’ performance has become semi-legendary because, as a result of copyright issues, it was edited out of prints of T.A.M.I. Show following the initial theatrical run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh1XVOQEMOE

For years, T.A.M.I. Show was unavailable for home viewing but finally, in 2010, Shout Factory released this landmark of movie and music history on DVD and they even included the long censored footage of the Beach Boys. For music lovers, T.A.M.I. Show is a must-see record of the rock scene in between the start of the British invasion and the rise of the counterculture.