Raquel

I recently caught this old TV special on a local music channel and I couldn't believe what I was watching. Over-the-top comes to mind. My jaw was on the floor. They must have spent a lot of money on this TV special.

RAQUEL! is true time capsule. Except for the studio bound ending with Bob Hope (the weakest part of the special, even though Raquel makes a sexy Mae West), the rest was filmed all over the world, most of it in outdoor settings and the effect is quite surprising. The over-the-top musical moments are like watching over-the-top Duran Duran videos, made a decade before the Brit pop band was formed. The "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" moment has to be seen to be believed. And the trippy dance sequence during the opening song "California Dreamin'" set in Paris is a total hoot! BTW, beautiful Raquel was made to look a lot like Brigitte Bardot in the Paris bit.

It's trippy, gaudy, and a true glimpse of what was "in" in 1970. But what's really surprising is how much I like Raquel's version of those songs. I wish they were available on CD. The orchestration is excellent.

RAQUEL! is a true oddity (why John Wayne and Bob Hope?) and a true one-of-a-kind TV special. I love it!

Screen goddess Raquel Welch, famed for ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. in which she made bikini history... in an April 1970 TV special. If this is not a Collector's Item, I don't know what is.

No, I haven't seen RAQUEL! But right after submitting this review, I'm gonna start an initiative to find it on my seller site.

{note: found it after frantic search, it was hidden away, but yeah, planning to go for this next week!}

Hopefully I can one day update this. In the meantime, this counts as a review for one particular segment, the above- mentioned song(s).

When doing research on MYRA BRECKINRIDGE some time last year, I came across a download of this very old music video, "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" and, yes, like one of the other reviewers called it, "trippy" and really, a time capsule for a bygone era. Hey, the Kylie Minogue music video "Celebration" has a very similar "drummers" scene in it, obviously inspired.

This is a vintage music video from way back and I would dearly like to have it on proper DVD. No, I do not think Raquel is THAT great as a singer, but here, in a wild costume, she sure tries, and most certainly is hot, and this is, like, HISTORIC, man!

For any student of surrealism and/or pop culture, this 1970 curiosity is a must-see. See Raquel jam onstage with Tom Jones. See Raquel tour a Mexican orphanage with John Wayne. See Raquel joke/sing "Rocky Raccoon" with Bob Hope. All this when she's not crooning top 40 hits of the era (songs from HAIR, Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate, etc.) while traipsing around exotic locales (Paris, London, the pyramids of Mexico!) in a couple dozen gloriously gaudy Bob Mackie costumes that look like they were designed by the "I Dream of Jeannie" crew on LSD. A prime example of the "star-vehicle" tv-special centering on the acting, singing, dancing, dressing, clowning talents of Raquel. Any fan of Ms. Welch must catch this rare showcase. Anyone looking for a camp extravaganza won't be disappointed.