Various Artists - The TAMI Show, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA, 10-29-1964

When I recently posted the 1964 NME Poll Winners' Concert, I got a request to post another stellar 1964, known as "The TAMI Show." Like the NME concerts, this has to be one of the greatest collection of musical talent on one stage in the 1960s. The TAMI Show was made for a movie, which was released at the end of 1964. But I haven't seen just the audio available. So I converted a video of the movie into audio and chopped it into mp3s.

There's so much to say about the TAMI Show. I'm going to try to be relatively brief. It seems some clever people decided that rock music was all the rage in 1964, so if they could get enough big stars together for a concert, it would make a profitable movie. They did, and it did. The result was a classic, regularly cited as one of the best music movies of all time. In 2006, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

The key about the concert is that all the songs were performed live, at a time when lip-syncing was standard for TV appearances. Jan and Dean emceed the concert. They also performed its theme song, "Here They Come (From All Over the World)", written by songwriters P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The concert brought together some British Invasion bands (Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, and the Rolling Stones) with Motown acts (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, and the Supremes), plus some other big names, like the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, and Lesley Gore.

The concert is probably best known for the performance by James Brown, and for good reason. The whole thing is worth watching, but especially his part. The Police even immortalized it in their song "When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What's Still Around," with the lyric:  

Turn on my V.C.R. 
Same one I've had for years
James Brown on the T.A.M.I. Show
Same tape I've had for years

In other words, Sting (who wrote that song) has a video of the TAMI Show, and is fascinated by James Brown's performance, watching it over and over. It's easy to see why. Brown's dancing is so extraordinary, it almost defies the laws of physics. He was moonwalking, and more, back when Michael Jackson was just a little baby. The lyrics are also interesting in that the TAMI Show was very hard to find for decades, generally only being available as a bootleg video, so that probably was an especially prized possession for Sting. It was finally remastered and rereleased as a DVD in 2010.

I worked from the DVD version, converted it to audio, and chopped it into mp3s. The sound quality isn't great, but it's as good as you could hope for from a 1964 concert. The lead vocals were rather low in the mix, so I used the UVR5 program to boost them relative to the instruments.

There was some controversy at the time whether James Brown or the Rolling Stones should be the final act in the show. At the time, the Stones had barely toured the U.S. at all. In fact, this would be only the third stop on their first big U.S. tour. But they were rapidly rising stars, enough for them to be chosen as the final act. However, James Brown wasn't pleased about that, and made sure to steal the show.

Mick Jagger, lead singers for the Stones, later said, "James Brown was probably the best thing about our trip. He is a fantastic artist. When you've seen him, you've seen the act to end all acts. We appeared with him on the TAMI Show and we had to follow him. It was a disaster in a way because nobody can follow James Brown, it’s impossible." Despite the competition, it was a friendly rivalry, and they were on good terms with him when they crossed his path at various times in later years.

By the way, the "TAMI Show" stood for either "Teenage Awards Music International" and "Teen Age Music International" - the producers were inconsistent about the meaning. The fact that they were inconsistent shows it didn't really matter much. Apparently, they just wanted an interesting sounding acronym. 

Here's a good article about the concert, written in 2025, if you want to know more:

https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/teenagers-world-unite-2/

And here's the Wikipedia article:

T.A.M.I. Show - Wikipedia 

This album is an hour and 52 minutes long. 

01 [Here They Come] From All Over the World (Jan & Dean)
02 talk (emcee)
03 talk (Jan & Dean)
04 Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)
05 Maybellene (Chuck Berry & Gerry & the Pacemakers)
06 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
07 It's Gonna Be Alright (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
08 Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry)
09 How Do You Do It (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
10 Nadine (Chuck Berry)
11 I Like It (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
12 That's What Love Is Made Of (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles)
13 You've Really Got a Hold on Me (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles)
14 Mickey's Monkey (Smokey Robinson & the Miracles)
15 Stubborn Kind of Fellow (Marvin Gaye)
16 Pride and Joy (Marvin Gaye)
17 Can I Get a Witness (Marvin Gaye)
18 Hitch Hike (Marvin Gaye)
19 talk (Jan & Dean)
20 Maybe I Know (Lesley Gore)
21 You Don't Own Me (Lesley Gore)
22 You Didn't Look Around (Lesley Gore)
23 Hey Now (Lesley Gore)
24 It's My Party - Judy's Turn to Cry (Lesley Gore)
25 The Little Old Lady from Pasadena (Jan & Dean)
26 Sidewalk Surfin' [Surfin' Safari] (Jan & Dean)
27 Surfin' U.S.A. (Beach Boys)
28 I Get Around (Beach Boys)
29 Surfer Girl (Beach Boys)
30 Dance, Dance, Dance (Beach Boys)
31 Little Children (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
32 Bad to Me (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
33 I'll Keep You Satisfied (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
34 From a Window (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
35 When the Lovelight Starts Shining through His Eyes (Supremes)
36 Run, Run, Run (Supremes)
37 Baby Love (Supremes)
38 Where Did Our Love Go (Supremes)
39 Hey Little Bird (Barbarians)
40 talk (Jan & Dean)
41 Out of Sight (James Brown)
42 Prisoner of Love (James Brown)
43 Please, Please, Please (James Brown)
44 Night Train (James Brown)
45 Around and Around (Rolling Stones)
46 Off the Hook (Rolling Stones)
47 Time Is on My Side (Rolling Stones)
48 It's All Over Now (Rolling Stones)
49 I'm Alright (Rolling Stones)
50 Let's Get Together (Rolling Stones & Everyone)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/vRghL7X4

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/IlezlVz2skiZmQ5/file

Since James Brown had the most renowned performance in this concert, I decided it was fitting to have a photo of him on the cover. That photo is from this exact concert. The original was in black and white, but I colorized it with the help of the Kolorize program. All the other text and graphics comes from original promotional material for the concert. But I used Photoshop to do some repositioning and other editing.

Various Artists - NME Poll Winners' Concert, Empire Pool, London, Britain, 4-26-1964

NME stands for "New Musical Express," a popular music magazine in Britain. In 2022, I posted a 1965 NME Poll Winners' Concert. Recently, I mentioned I have the 1964 and 1966 concerts as well. That led to a commenter requesting that I post them sooner rather than later. So let's start with this one from 1964.

NME began their yearly music polls, and resulting poll winner's concerts, in 1953. Apparently, the concerts continued until 1971. Since then, the polls and awards have continued, but with more conventional awards ceremonies. Usually, the concerts were broadcast on TV in Britain. However, it seems all the concerts from 1963 and earlier are either lost or otherwise unavailable to the public. (That missing material includes the Beatles performing in the 1963 concert.) Luckily, though, we have versions of the 1964 to 1966 concerts.

In 1964, the Beatles were arguably the biggest stars in the history of popular music. They sold one-fifth of all the music in the world that year, a feat that nobody else has come close to in the years since. So, naturally, they were the big stars of this concert, and were the closing act. By contrast, the Rolling Stones had had a few hits, and were already stars, but they had yet to become superstars. 

This show is basically a "who's who" of the best known British Invasion bands in 1964. Most of these acts would be left behind in a year or two, because musical trends were changing fast back then. But of course a few would thrive and grow even more popular.

I found an account of this concert at the Beatles Bible website. Here's the link:

https://www.beatlesbible.com/1964/04/26/live-nme-poll-winners-all-star-concert-2/

It quotes from a book written by Derek Taylor, who was the main press officer for the Beatles at the time. Here's the quote from Taylor:

"At the end of my first week with NEMS, on the Sunday, I went with [Beatles manager] Brian [Epstein] to Wembley Pool for the New Musical Express Poll-Winners' Award Concert, which comprised two shows. The afternoon show was the main event, with the Beatles topping a bill that included the Rolling Stones, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Searchers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Manfred Mann, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, the Dave Clark Five, the Swinging Blue Jeans, the Hollies, Freddie and the Dreamers, Joe Brown and his Bruvvers, Kathy Kirby, Jet Harris, Big Dee Irwin and the Joe Loss Orchestra. Stars of the evening show – which featured several Epstein acts including Tommy Quickly, the Fourmost, Sounds Incorporated, and (again) Billy J. Kramer – were the Stones. Everyone used Vox amps and it was quite a day out for fans, I'd say. Roger Moore presented awards and so, with a special one for Joe Brown, did Roy Orbison; and afterwards there was a short set from the Merseybeats. Disc jockeys present for the celebrations included David Jacobs, Jimmy Savile and, from WINS Radio New York City, the one and only Murray the K. During the afternoon show, Mick Jagger and Brian Jones visited the Beatle dressing room. ... A huge smile illuminated Jagger's young face and his merry eyes glittered with the delights of success. There was in that dressing-room a glow of liberated young people at large in a beckoning world, their pockets full of fivers, heads full of songs, bodies full of sexuality. Nothing could stop them now."

There are some things we can learn from this quote. One key fact is that the recording presented here isn't the complete show. Other acts who performed included Cliff Richard and the Shadows, the Dave Clark Five, Tommy Quickly, and the Fourmost. I also found mentions elsewhere of others who performed: the Applejacks, Cilla Black, Eden Kane, and Frank Ifield. I'll bet Roy Orbison performed as well, since he was there to accept an award. Elvis Presley, who won "Outstanding Male Singer," sent a recorded message which was played to the audience of about 10,000 people.

Fun fact: the lead vocalist on the second track, "Patsy Girl," is Ross MacManus, the father of Elvis Costello. 

The recording quality is a bit rough. Consider it was probably recorded off a TV in 1964, so lower your standards a little bit. But it's still quite listenable, in my opinion. The lead vocals were usually low in the mix, so I used the MVSEP program to boost them for most of the songs. 

In case you're curious about who won the poll awards this year, there's a list at the NME website, which you can see here:

https://www.nme.com/nme-awards/awards-history/1964-606225  

This album is one hour and 58 minutes long. 

One final note. I mentioned above that I previously posted the 1965 NME concert. At the same time I'm posting this, I made some changes to that one. I didn't change the music, but I switched out the cover photo for a better one, and changed the write-up a bit. Here's the link to that one:

https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2022/01/various-artists-nme-poll-winners.html

01 Opening Theme [Instrumental] (Unknown)
02 Patsy Girl (Ross MacManus & & the Joe Loss Orchestra Band)
03 talk (Hollies)
04 Rockin' Robin (Hollies)
05 Just One Look (Hollies)
06 talk (Rolling Stones)
07 Not Fade Away (Rolling Stones)
08 I Just Want to Make Love to You (Rolling Stones)
09 talk (Rolling Stones)
10 I'm Alright (Rolling Stones)
11 talk (Joe Loss Orchestra Band)
12 Kayote Vender [Instrumental] (Joe Loss Orchestra Band)
13 talk (Swinging Blue Jeans)
14 Shake, Rattle and Roll (Swinging Blue Jeans)
15 talk (Swinging Blue Jeans)
16 Good Golly, Miss Molly (Swinging Blue Jeans)
17 talk (Searchers)
18 Farmer John (Searchers)
19 talk (Searchers)
20 Don't Throw Your Love Away (Searchers)
21 talk (Searchers)
22 What'd I Say (Searchers)
23 talk (Freddie & the Dreamers)
24 Kansas City - Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey (Freddie & the Dreamers)
25 talk (Freddie & the Dreamers)
26 Send Me Some Lovin' (Freddie & the Dreamers)
27 talk (Freddie & the Dreamers)
28 Short Shorts (Freddie & the Dreamers)
29 talk (Tremeloes)
30 Candy Man (Tremeloes)
31 talk (Tremeloes)
32 Do You Love Me (Tremeloes)
33 talk (Manfred Mann)
34 Sticks and Stones (Manfred Mann)
35 Hubble Bubble (Manfred Mann)
36 talk (Jet Harris & Tony Meechan)
37 Diamonds [Instrumental] (Jet Harris & Tony Meechan)
38 talk (Jet Harris & Tony Meechan)
39 Big Bad Bass [Instrumental] (Jet Harris & Tony Meechan)
40 talk (Kathy Kirby)
41 You're the One (Kathy Kirby)
42 Dance On (Kathy Kirby)
43 talk (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
44 I'll Keep You Satisfied (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
45 They Remind Me of You (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
46 talk (Merseybeats)
47 I Think of You (Merseybeats)
48 talk (Merseybeats)
49 Don't Turn Around (Merseybeats)
50 I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry [Over You] (Merseybeats)
51 talk (Diamonds)
52 Happy Being Fat (Diamonds)
53 talk (Joe Brown & His Bruvvers)
54 I'm Henry VIII, I Am (Joe Brown & His Bruvvers)
55 talk (Joe Brown & His Bruvvers)
56 The Seculy Gas [Instrumental] (Joe Brown & His Bruvvers)
57 talk (Joe Brown & His Bruvvers)
58 What a Crazy World (Joe Brown & His Bruvvers)
59 talk (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
60 I Like It (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
61 talk (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
62 I'm the One (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
63 talk (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
64 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
65 talk (Roger Moore)
66 talk (Beatles)
67 She Loves You (Beatles)
68 You Can't Do That (Beatles)
69 talk (Beatles)
70 Twist and Shout (Beatles)
71 Long Tall Sally (Beatles)
72 talk (Beatles)
73 Can't Buy Me Love (Beatles)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/RLHMHeFi

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/VIOOKmfwfsb8k2S/file

The cover photo of the Rolling Stones is from this exact concert. It shows Brian Jones on the left, and Mick Jagger on the right, hold maracas. Actually, technically, this is a composite of two photos. One of them had a good Jones but Jagger was messed up, and the other one had a good Jagger but Jones was messed up. So I used Photoshop to combine them. They were in the exact same positions in both photos; it was just a matter of using the best parts.

The original was in black and white. But I colorized it with the use of the Kolorize program. As for the text, I used some promotional material for the album I made for the 1965 NME concert. For this cover, I just copied that over, and changed the dates and musical act names and so forth. 

The Bee Gees & Friends - The Midnight Special, NBC Studios, Burbank, CA, 8-10-1973

Here's a full episode of the "Midnight Special" TV show. It was a rare episode with a theme, with the theme being a focus on British Invasion bands that were big around 1964. The Bee Gees were the hosts, but their role was less than usual, since there also were performances from Herman's Hermits, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders, the Hollies, the Searchers, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas.

For some reason, the Midnight Special TV show really liked the Bee Gees in 1973, even though their popularity was near a relative low point around that time. They hosted the show four times that year, and made additional appearances on top of that! I plan on turning that into four albums, with this one being the first to get posted. 

Generally speaking with these Midnight Special albums, I cut them down to just the host act and maybe one more, because I want them to stay musically consistent. But if the show has a musical theme, like this one does, I have no problem posting the whole thing. That's what I did here. However, there still are some cuts. For instance, I removed a section where the musical acts on the next episode are all named. I also did a lot of editing to get rid of the commercial breaks, usually smoothing them over with extra applause. 

This must have been one of the first mass media instances of a British Invasion revival, since it had been less than ten years since the "Invasion" actually happened. Unfortunately, show business is an unforgiving business, and most of the acts on this show were far from the singles charts in 1973. The only exceptions were the Bee Gees, though as mentioned above 1973 was a slow year for them, and the Hollies, who'd had a big hit with "Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)" in 1972, and Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits, who had some success with a solo career in the early 1970s. 

By the way, note that "Long Cool Woman" was co-written by Allan Clarke of the Hollies, who also was the lead singer on it. He left the Hollies in 1971, and rejoined in July 1973. But the lead singer seen and heard in this episode is band member Terry Sylvester. So this episode must have been filmed shortly before Clarke rejoined the Hollies. (Unfortunately, for virtually all the Midnight Special episodes, I only know the broadcast date, not the actual recording date, which I always prefer.)

Performing for this show must have been a bit strange for most of the musical acts here. It hadn't been that many years since they had been big stars, and they basically looked and sounded the same as before. But other than rare short appearances like this show, most of them must have been touring supper clubs, on an oldies circuit. But kudos to this show for giving them a national TV platform like this, when their probably wasn't a big call for it.

Musically, I think the highlight has to be a long medley of Beatles songs performed by the Bee Gees in the middle of the show: "If I Fell," "I Need You," "I'll Be Back," "This Boy," and "She Loves You." If you're a Bee Gees fan, it's worth getting this just for that medley. They never put any such medley on an album. 

This album is an hour and two minutes long. 

01 talk by Wolfman Jack (Bee Gees)
02 New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Bee Gees)
03 talk (Bee Gees)
04 I'm Henry the VIII I Am (Herman's Hermits)
05 talk (Bee Gees)
06 How Do You Do It (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
07 I Like It (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
08 talk (Bee Gees)
09 The Game of Love (Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders)
10 talk (Bee Gees)
11 Long Cool Woman [In a Black Dress] (Hollies)
12 talk (Bee Gees)
13 Needles and Pins (Searchers)
14 talk (Bee Gees)
15 If I Fell - I Need You (Bee Gees)
16 I'll Be Back (Bee Gees)
17 This Boy - She Loves You (Bee Gees)
18 talk (Bee Gees)
19 Little Children (Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas)
20 Ferry Cross the Mersey (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
21 talk (Bee Gees & Peter Noone)
22 Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (Herman's Hermits)
23 A Groovy Kind of Love (Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders)
24 He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (Hollies)
25 Turn of the Century (Bee Gees)
26 Sweets for My Sweet (Searchers)
27 There's a Kind of Hush (Herman's Hermits)
28 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
29 I Can't See Nobody (Bee Gees)
30 Love Potion No. 9 (Searchers)
31 talk (Bee Gees)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/rCWB1ARe

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/a5Qh8RSzKdG23Zd/file 

The cover of the Bee Gees is a screenshot taken from this exact concert, during their Beatles medley.

Gerry & the Pacemakers - BBC Sessions (1963-1966)

To be honest, I'm not much of a Gerry and the Pacemakers fan. Until I made this, I only knew a few of their hits. But I'm planning on posting just about all the 1960s artists that have enough material for BBC albums, so I got to get to know their music better making this. I have to admit that I'm fairly impressed. For one thing, lead singer Gerry Marsden actually wrote many of their songs, including their big hits "Ferry Cross the Mersey" and "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." For another, they actually could rock. You can see that here with lots of covers of famous rock hits mostly from the 1950s, such as "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" and "Slippin' and Slidin'."

The band's most successful years were 1963 and 1964. But weirdly, their BBC recordings here are mostly from 1965 and 1966, with only three from the tail end of 1964. I assume that's because earlier sessions didn't survive. That assumption is strengthened by the fact that many of the biggest hits aren't represented by any BBC versions. So I've supplemented the BBC stuff with some versions done on various TV programs, most especially the Ed Sullivan Show. Luckily, between the BBC and TV versions, all their major hits are included here.

All the BBC recordings come from an official live album called "Live at the BBC." The others are all unreleased. The sound quality is excellent throughout, though the BBC versions sound a bit better. 

As is usual for recordings from this time period, the BBC DJs sometimes talked over the music. I'm surprised there are only five cases like that here (marked with "[Edit]" in their names), which is a lot less than average for these years. Also like usual, I fixed those using the audio editing program X-Minus.

This album is 62 minutes long.

01 A Shot of Rhythm and Blues (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
02 How Do You Do It (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
03 You ll Never Walk Alone (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
04 Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
05 I'm the One (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
06 I Like It (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
07 Dizzy Miss Lizzy (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
08 Slippin' and Slidin' (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
09 Ferry Cross the Mersey (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
10 Why Oh Why (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
11 You You You (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
12 Baby You're So Good to Me (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
13 I'll Be There (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
14 Slow Down (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
15 My Babe [Edit] (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
16 It'll Be Me [Edit] (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
17 You Win Again (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
18 Reelin' and Rockin' [Edit] (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
19 Hallelujah I Love Her So [Edit] (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
20 Walk Hand in Hand (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
21 Chills (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
22 La La La (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
23 Shop Around (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
24 Girl on a Swing (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
25 Guatanamera [Edit] (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
26 A Fool to Myself (Gerry & the Pacemakers)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15118274/GerryntPace_1963-1966_BBSessions_atse.zip.html

The cover photo was taken backstage during an appearance on the British TV show "Thank You Lucky Stars" in 1964. There is a song here from that show, but it was a different episode.