The T.A.M.I. Show

1964's The T.A.M.I. Show (T.A.M.I. is short for Teenage Awards Music International) was the very first live-concert movie of the rock era. And, believe me, this long-unavailable, landmark film is a real groovy treat for any ardent fan of early pop music.

Featuring a bevy of over-zealous go-go dancers and hysterically screaming fans, The T.A.M.I. Show proficiently showcased the budding talent of early-1960's pop music sensations from both sides of the Atlantic.

Filmed in b&w, at Santa Monica's Civic Auditorium (a 3000-seat venue), The T.A.M.I. Show's biggest highlights were The Beach Boys (performing "Surfer Girl"), The Supremes (performing "Baby Love"), and The Rolling Stones (performing "Time Is On My Side").

Directed by Steve Binder - This 2-hour music extravaganza also featured the singing talents of James Brown, Marvin Gaye and Lesley Gore, to name but a few of the 14+ performers.

I saw this in the theater in '64 or '65 when it was released and it pretty much changed my life. I already loved Jan & Dean, the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore (everyone PLEASE note the correct spelling of her first name: it's NOT "Leslie"!), Gerry & the Pacemakers, etc., but was completely unprepared for James Brown and the Famous Flames.

I kinda didn't know what to make of JB's dramatic finale with the cape, etc., at the time. It actually scared me a bit! (As it apparently did Mick Jagger and Keith Richards!) I thought he was having a seizure or something! It's since become sort of a cliché, down to Paul Shaffer's bit on "Late Night," but at that time no white kids I knew had ever seen anything remotely like THAT! Just blew me away completely!

It's also worth noting that the fantastic backing band for the show was led by noted producer/arranger/performer Jack Nitzsche, who worked with everybody from Bob B. Soxx and the Bluejeans to Captain Beefheart, with a few Lesley Gores, Tim Buckleys, Neil Youngs, Rolling Stones, etc., thrown in for good measure! A true unsung legend in his own right!

The Beach Boys' segment has been cut from most versions since then, if you could find the show at ALL. There was a "That Was Rock: the TAMI and TNT Music Shows" tape that was available years ago, but most of the TAMI Show was missing and the TNT Show I didn't care for much.

I recently found a pretty good copy (DVD-R)of the WHOLE THING ("TAMI Show 1964") on eBay, INCLUDING the Beach Boys' segment, and it brought back some incredible memories.

I hope that someday someone will release a "legitimate," uncut, first-generation quality version of this show, although with licensing deals, etc., I'm not too optimistic. In the meantime I've got the next best thing: a decent-quality uncut DVD-R, with much of it in widescreen format!

You can't get any better than this, for both concert films and for content. If you weren't around then the film will let you in on why so many think the period was so great. If you were then it'll reinforce you memories. Steve Binder, who did the Elvis Comeback Special (1968), produces. There are so many technical devices used in making TAMI that I'll leave it to others to explain, but they do come out in how the concert feels, the experience and the sound. Binder does a great job. You notice no detail missed as the house band is tops, another Binder trademark. Listen to them in Lesley Gore's set, especially in 'You Don't Own Me', an overlooked classic on its own, and you can see what I mean. Gore's performance anchors the wide ranging acts and gives TAMI a lot of its era feel. If you don't buy the DVD (came out in 2011) your just plain nuts. A solid classic, a must have. For all music fans.

I'm one of the few who (mercifully) did not see the mutilated PBS version earlier this (2010) year. Finally, SHOUT was able to release (and, yes - WITH the Beach Boys performances restored) this totem of a time of amazing music and performances.

I saw this WHOLE film in the early 80's, here in NYC, at the (original) Irving Plaza. It was a 16mm print, and the place was PACKED (for those who don't know - Irving Plaza was THE place to go to for REAL punk music and alternative music concerts back then. It's still around, but - as far as I'm concerned, in name only).

The pandemonium on the screen was emphasised by the crowd attending this showing (if you don't know, The TAMI Show - and The Big TNT show were held in legal limbo for many years, so to see it - in any format was a treat). Watching it in this setting, one almost felt as if we were there. It was a very special night.

I'll agree with the consensus - James Brown's performance - RIVETING! REAL showmanship! One of my favourite performances (saying one was better than another in this film is impossible)was Marvin Gaye's. I don't want to just throw out superlatives, but - this movie is a must see for anyone interested in seeing a landmark bit of rock & roll. See this, and you'll get sick, thinking about the (very sad) state of music today. There was NO: auto-tuning, misogynistic, violence-riddled garbage. This was the whole SPECTRUM of rock music - with EVERY style represented.

For many years after, I pondered the thought; to try and do a TAMI show today would be impossible. The egos. The costs being demanded. Sure - everyone performing got paid, but, it was more than for the money they did this show.

I'm a huge Teri Garr fan, and seeing her (and Toni Basil!) doing the pony, , the jerk, the frug, the swim.... and so much more is just wild. Add to this, the incomparable Blossoms (and Ms. Darlene Love!).... there are no words to describe the talent encapsulated in this film.

If you're a parent, or just curious to see what rock music was REALLY like, then I highly recommend you purchase this landmark film.

I started collecting 16 mm films in the 1970's--jazz films mostly. Every now and then, though, something outside my area of interest would catch my eye in the film catalogues available on the underground market to collectors. The deliriously entertaining and rockin'100 minute TAMI Show was up for grabs in this format from one collector I knew (who was making prints from a negative he'd struck from a master print in his collection) for a mere $200.

In 1978 not a whole lot of people were hip to this amazing little documentary or to many of the artists performing in it; I remember its being briefly released theatrically in the mid-1960's when I was in high school as a Rolling Stone concert film. It was much more than that.

Filmed in 1964 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in "Electronovision" (i.e., videotape later transferred to film), the TAMI Show is a record of one truly great concert hosted by the marginally talented Jan and Dean, featuring a mixture of groups and individuals and musical styles that pretty much summed up popular music of the era: American rock and roll(Chuck Berry); Motown (The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and Marvin Gaye--who was himself backed by Darlene Love and the Crystals, though the latter are credited as 'The Blossoms', their SHINDIG name from television); California surf music (the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean; sadly enough, the true pioneers of surf music, such as the legendary Dick Dale, are not represented here); American garage band (the Barbarians); the uncategorizable (but described in the TAMI theme song, sung by Jan and Dean, as representing New York City) Leslie Gore; the British Invasion (Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Rolling Stones); and the incandescent James Brown and His Famous Flames.

The whole spellbinding production was masterminded by Jack Nitzsche and directed by Steve Binder (who later gave us 'The Singer Special', the unforgettable 1968 Elvis Comeback Special).

Before screening The TAMI Show in Austin, TX, at a girlfriend's theater, I would briefly explain the film's background: T. A. M. I. stands for "Teenage Music International", a foundation devoted to providing music scholarships to teens. The film itself was to be shown at the TAMI Foundation's first annual awards ceremony, where the scholarship winners would receive a TAMI, an award like an Emmy or an Oscar. Evidently the foundation never made it that far. As I've said, the film was released to theaters, then quickly withdrawn and never seen again.

The Beach Boys segment was included in the theatrical release print, but my print included none of their performance. In fact, except for the opening sequence--a montage of film clips of the audience members and the show's performers arriving at the auditorium (including a WONDERFUL shot of Diana Ross applying her lipstick)--and some brief shots of them and the rest of the performers massed together onstage as the Stones perform 'Dipsy Doodle' (!) at the show's conclusion, we never got to see The Beach Boys performing.

That changed when the DVD of the film was finally released in a letterbox format with the missing Beach Boys sequence included. The transfer to digital is sharp and clear and the sound is magnificent. The Blu-Ray version is truly outstanding.

It's true that actress Teri Garr is among the TAMI Show's SHINDIG-like dancers (wearing a sweatshirt with what looks like a target on the front); also true is that Glen Campbell and Leon Russell appear in the house band, in tuxes no less. NOT true is that Ann-Margret dances behind Chuck Berry during his performance of "Sweet Little Sixteen" and caught the eye of some Hollywood hosebag who sought her out and made a movie star out of her. The young lady in question does look like A-M, but it's not her; besides, she was already deeply involved in show biz by this time.

Everybody is just great: Chuck Berry opens and trades off with Gerry and the Pacemakers, a peripheral British Invasion band that NOBODY I knew listened to (though Gerry Marsden was a pretty decent guitarist); Smokey Robinson and the Miracles follow with some choice material, ending with Smokey singing "Mickey's Monkey" and everybody dancing. Marvin Gaye does his thing next backed by the aforementioned Crystals.

Petite Leslie Gore, whose hair has been lacquered with hairspray for the occasion--it was a different world then, y'all--sings her hits, including "You Don't Own Me", which never failed to get a cheer from the audiences to whom I showed the film. Missing was the execrable "Sunshine and Lollipops", an inexplicable hit written by the no-longer-worth-maligning Marvin Hamlisch.

Jan and Dean follow with a few of their hits; Dean Torrance's falsetto sounds absurd onstage. The Beach Boys sequence follow with 4 songs: 'Dance, Dance, Dance,''Surfin' USA,' 'Surfer Girl,' and 'I Get Around'.

Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas (Kramer's friend John Lennon - who wrote "Do You Want To Know A Secret?" for him - suggested that Kramer add the "J" to his name) follow with their three great Lennon/McCartney-penned hits "I'll Keep You Satisfied," "From A Window," and the beloved "Bad To Me." I could never watch Billy J without someone commenting on how much he resembles Andy Kaufman.

Next in this lineup are the original Supremes. When this film was originally distributed, the sound for the Supremes sequence was out of synch with the visuals; even the trailer for the film contained this annoying flaw. The DVD release corrected. Look for actress Teri Garr as a dancer in this segment.

The Boston group The Barbarians follow; they're remembered for two hits "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl?" and "Moulty," which is about the band's drummer, Victor Moulton, who had lost a hand in an accident and holds a drumstick in a claw? "Moulty" Moulton was backed on the song by Bob Dylan's band, listed as "Levon and the Hawks" on the 45. The Barbarians sing one song on the TAMI Show, but it's a good one, characterized by more of a '60s garage band/'80's punk band sound.

THEN--James Brown enters from stage left, skating one-legged the whole way. An electrifying entrance. James Brown sequence pulls out ALL the stops, dropping to his knees (hard too), dancing faster than God usually allows, shouting, whispering, screeching, imploring, and shutting down everything that came before. At the end of his set, even the hardened studio musicians backing everybody up stand to applaud him. And he's called back from the wings at least twice to a sustained ovation.

The Stones are next; and to this day Keith Richards says that following James Brown at the TAMI Show was the biggest mistake of their lives. But they put on a pretty damn fine show nonetheless; in fact, it still stands as my own favorite Stones performance.

A brilliant show. It's available to buy on dvd for about 12 bucks.