Live It Up!

David Hemmings and three other GPO Express riders form. Band and try to make a go of it, despite the doubts of his father, Ed Devereaux.

Lance Comfort directs the first of two movies he did, with a thin plot eked out to length by many musical acts. The story, such as it is, takes up perhaps 40 minutes, while a pop music piece by various 'guest artists' range from a fine blues number "Hand Me Down My Walking Shoes" to a Dixieland version of Mozart, with stops in between at bubblegum pop. Cameraman Basil Emmot shoots the musical numbers in a wide variety of looks to lend them some individuality.

Comfort, Hemmings and Emmot would team up again a couple of years later for a similar movie, BE MY GUEST.

I saw this movie in 1964 at the local theatre when I was 14 years old. Its about a bunch of young British teens who want to form a rock band. No doubt the Beatles were an inspiration for this movie and one of the players mentions the Beatles by name in one scene. Nobody in America had heard of the Beatles when this film was made. The plot is pretty forgettable. What I really enjoyed most was the musical numbers that would come up every few minutes. The two groups I remember most were The Outlaws and Sounds incorporated. They were instrumental bands and the two numbers performed made an impression on me as the sound was so very indicative of British pop music of this time.I was always big on pop music from England and there are many fans out there who would really get a charge out of the musical sequences. As a matter of fact Sounds Incorporated opened up for the Beatles during the 1965 Shea Stadium concert.For fans of this specialized kind of pop this movie is a must. I wish I could remember the other acts in this movie. The musical numbers are well staged and the movie has a good professional feel about it. At last check this film is not available in video. Too bad. Its all but forgotten really.

Since I was only four in 1963 the actor who's presence in this film is for me most evocative of the early sixties is dear old Peter Glaze from 'Crackerjack'. But there's someone for everyone to watch out for in this agreeable time waster by veteran director Lance Comfort; including Kenny Ball and Patsy Ann Noble (stars of Pinetree Studio's 'Don't Give Me That Jazz').

And of course there's the 21 year-old David Hemmings, already capable of carrying a feature film on his young shoulders while convincingly playing a teenager.

As someone who lived through it, I am mortified to read some of the history of British rock and roll. It did not start with The Beatles. At the time that this film was being put together, The Beatles were just gathering their phenomenal momentum. And - although Cliff and the Shadows, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan and Helen Shapiro are omitted - this is what the British rock scene was like. There are some familiar people here: Australian actress/singer Patsy Ann Noble, Heinz from The Tornadoes is the singer in David Hemmings's band. Also watch out for cult band The Outlaws which contains Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore, and Chas Hodges from Chas and Dave.

Some people think that all the music is by Joe Meek. Although the film is a must for Joe Meek fans, I know for a fact that Patsy Ann Noble was under contract to Norrie Paramor at EMI. So far as I am aware, she had no connection with Joe Meek at all.

If the story of the film is good or bad, and if the bands are miming, who cares? The film is a time capsule, and a look at a British pop industry that was about to undergo a huge revolution and would never be the same again.

The late David Hemmings plays teenager Dave Martin, a postman who fronts his own group called The Smart Alecs who dream of being bigger than The Beatles. They record a demo tape at a recording studio to take to the record companies, but things seem to be going pair shaped when he loses the tape. There is also his father to contend with who thinks he's wasting his time with all that pop music nonsense.

A minor British pop musical made at the height of Beatlemania. There are some well staged musical numbers from Kenny Ball & The Jazzmen who perform Hand Me Down My Walking Shoes, Heinz sings the title song and Don't You Understand while Patsy Ann Noble's in there too with Accidents Will Happen. The direction by Lance Comfort is smooth while the musical numbers are composed and arranged by the legendary British pop producer Joe Meek who made hits such as Johnny Remember Me by John Leyton, Just Like Eddie by Heinz and Have I The Right by The Honeycombs. All in all nostalgic fun!

I bought this film on video in Oxford just before Christmas on the same day that the press announced David Hemmings had died! Incidentally, the cast includes Nancy Spain and the film was shown at our local cinema on Grand National day in 1964 when my father saw the film - the day that Spain was sadly killed in a car crash.

Live It Up was followed by a sequel, Be My Guest, which is in the same dated but entertaining and nostalgic vein as this one.