Greeting,
Some of you may be sitting in confusion right now. I've been celebrating the Bee Gees this weekend, but here I'm doing a post about Sgt. Pepper. AND I am calling it a movie review. Well, if you have no idea what this is all about . . . I envy you! Because I, and many others, know all too well about the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Yes, the album by the Beatles, which is considered by many to be their greatest, was turned into a movie in 1978 and it starred the Bee Gees. I bet the confusion is still there despite this explanation. Let's go in depth, shall we? Hold on tight.
In the late seventies, the Bee Gees were on top of the world, as was their manager, Robert Stigwood. His RSO Records produced Saturday Night Fever in 1977 and released the soundtrack to Grease the following year. At some point during this time, though, someone mentioned that they should make a movie musical based on Sgt. Pepper, and a lot of people apparently agreed. Of course, in hindsight, we all think "No, stop the madness!" But at the time, and in theory, this probably could have worked. It had potential to be something great, but it just didn't happen. The problem, one of them, was that I think they aimed too high. They should have just agreed to make a fun, good movie. That would have been plenty. But no, they wanted more. I've actually heard that the producers hoped it was going to be "this generation's Gone With the Wind". Yeah, that is not what we got. That's for darn sure. What we got was . . . I don't even know what to call it! I suppose you all can decide when you're done reading. I will do my best to take you through all of it, the cast, the . . . plot? Sure, why not? I'll be giving spoilers, too, if that is even possible, but that will give you another excuse not to see it, since you already know what happens. Oh, mercy, here we go.
We begin with the voice of George Burns, who was allegedly brought to the film once they realized that none of their previous cast members could handle lines. He serves as our movie narrator and the mayor of a town called Heartland, USA, because, apparently, Smallville was taken. He tells us the story of Sgt. Pepper and his Lonely Hearts Club Band. According to this story, their music was the secret weapon of the Allies in WWI, and it took our country through all of its highs and lows, until 1958, when Sgt. Pepper dropped dead in the middle of town. And in the middle of playing a note. Twenty years later, the band is reformed. It features Sgt. Pepper's grandson, Billy Shears, of course, played by Peter Frampton, fresh off of "coming alive". He is joined by his three best friends, Dave, Mark and Bob Henderson (Henderson, I'm assuming, based on the line from "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite")and they are played by our beloved Bee Gees. I would tell you which one plays which, but I don't even think it really matters. The new band is introduced to the town by Billy's stepbrother and self appointed manager, Dougie. Yes, Dougie. And as their manager, he is to this movie what Sly Winkle was to California Dreams. He's played by a guy named Paul Nicholas, who I never heard of outside of this film, but he does have a great voice. Anyway, on a summer day, on a lovely gazebo/stage, we get to hear the new band perform. First, the back up Hendersons, then Billy Shears in all his pink-shirted, white-overalled glory.
Now, of course, a band this great can't possibly stay in its piddly little town forever. When a record company shows interest in their music, they make a tape (Google if you don't know what that is, youngsters) and send it to B.D Hoffler, the head of Big Deal Records. He is played by Donald Pleasance. For real. He loves the tape and tells them to come to Hollywood. But, alas, this means that Billy must leave his girlfriend, Strawberry Fields. No, seriously, that is her name. Of all the girl names from Beatles songs, they give her a name that is not even a name. It's a smoothie flavor. Anyway, boo-hoo, Billy leaves with his band for the big, bad city. And what awaits these wannabe rockstars? Drugs and whores, what else? And then we have to watch them get famous and forget their roots. You could choke on the thickness of that originality. Did I say choke? I meant gag.
In the meantime, there is some kind of plot going on to destroy their little hometown. They find this out when Strawberry comes to their recording studio so she can tell them. Oh, and because she is way clingy and thinks that her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Just because she's right doesn't mean she's not obsessive. This all leads to some bizarre stuff with the plot about the old Sgt. Pepper bands' instruments being stolen or something. And there are some bizarre performances, like Steve Martin doing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and Alice Cooper creepily singing "Because". Not to mention Strawberry Fields singing "Strawberry Fields Forever". Okay, so she's obsessive and narcissistic. Now there are actually some good performances mixed in here, too, but I'll get to that later.
This whole wacky plot crescendos with Billy and his "good band" fighting, literally, with the "bad band" played by none other than Aerosmith. No lie. Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees get into a brawl with Aerosmith, and it has not the outcome one would expect. Bye, Steven Tyler! As if that wasn't bad enough, somewhere in the midst of all this, Strawberry falls from this high up stage thing to her death. Well, it's more like the death of a life size dummy. It is very, very obvious. Have they never heard of real, live stunt people?
So we have her funeral back in Heartland where Billy decides to jump from a roof to his own death because he is so distraught. Oh, please! But he is saved when - you'll love this!- Sgt. Pepper comes back! Only now he is Billy Preston. My goodness, Grandpa, don't you look different. And guess who else comes back to life? The obsessive, narcissistic, psycho girlfriend! Hooray! And then we have the final image of the film. It is clearly an attempt at recreating the legendary Sgt. Pepper cover by having the band stand before a load of celebrities all singing the reprise. And just who is a part of this elite group? Well, let me rattle off some names, and I am not making any of this up. We had George Benson, Keith Carradine, Robert Palmer, the gals from Heart, Tina Turner, Bonnie Raitt and . . . Donovan? Oh, you've got to be kidding me! How not busy were these people? And I didn't even mention half the names. I guess they just got tricked into believing they were going to be a part of a legendary film. I mean, they were, but not the way they thought.
After mentioning all these other great people who were involved with this, I am reminded of the one positive thing about this whole ordeal. And it is a major positive. That would be the soundtrack. The soundtrack was and is fantastic. I am not kidding. You've got all these Beatles songs sung by amazing singers, so why wouldn't it be great? Of course, there were a few tracks recorded for comic effect (i.e. George Burns pretty much talking his way through "Fixing a Hole"), but the rest was just a flat out phenomenal album. Aside from Frampton and the Bee Gees, we got an impressive version of "Got to Get You Into My Life" from Earth, Wind and Fire, Billy Preston singing "Get Back" (ironic!) and Aerosmith's now classic take on "Come Together". Oh, and I'd be foolish not to mention Robin Gibb's solo performance of "Oh, Darlin'" which actually went top twenty on the Billboard charts. It was stunning. So, basically, they should have just gotten all these people together to do a concert or something. It would have been a lot easier to swallow.
In conclusion, let me say this. I think we need bad movies so we can more appreciate the good ones. And this will certainly make you appreciate every good movie you have ever seen. It's pretty bad. I mean, the clear sign of a bad movie is when you don't laugh when they're trying to be funny, but you do when they're trying to be dramatic. There was a lot of that. Now, obviously, I am not fully recommending this one, especially if you are a snob about movies. However, if you are a connoisseur of bad movies, or if you're just curious, I say, sure, go ahead and watch it. Just don't say I didn't warn you about all the insanity involved with it. Actually, there is a rumor that John Lennon was on a plane one time and this was the movie they showed. So if he didn't jump out after seeing it, you all should be okay. Or you can just get the soundtrack. It's a lot safer.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
