Beat Club - Available on YouTube

[Firth]

Looks like about 2 months ago Beat Club released a huge load of eclectic videos on YouTube. Beat Club was produced on German TV, but looks like it was shot on film. Interesting mix of protoProg and Prog going from 65 to 72. I was impressed with a video of Passport in 71. Check it out:



And others:

[GuitarGeek]

I have that Passport clip on a VHS tape one of my old AOL friends sent me back in the 90's. I've been wondering for the last 22 years what that chick is saying during the intro. BTW, that's almost a Amon Duul performance, given the presence of Lothar Meid, Jimmy Jackson and Olaf Kubler.

The thing I'm still wondering is, how much unseen WDR has in the vaults from Beat Club. We know that they filmed 30 something minutes of King Crimson in 72, but only showed that truncated version of Larks Tongues I. Same thing with the Grateful Dead, they did something like 60 minutes, but only aired One More Saturday Night. I've seen footage of Popol Vuh, Can, and the short lived Schneider/Dinger/Rother lineup of Kraftwerk, among many others, from that show. How much did even each of them do? Is tthere like 50 minutes of Damo era Can or Dinger/Rother era Kraftwerk in the vaults someplace/ And what about Deep Purple, one wonders what they have of them.

Oh, and I don't think it was shot on film, that looks like videotape to me.

[TheH]

I have that Passport clip on a VHS tape one of my old AOL friends sent me back in the 90's. I've been wondering for the last 22 years what that chick is saying during the intro. BTW, that's almost a Amon Duul performance, given the presence of Lothar Meid, Jimmy Jackson and Olaf Kubler.

The chic explains that all bands have to Play live. Some members of Passport wanted to play several Instruments at the same time, which
of Course doesn't work live.

So the Clip is a mix of two live Performances tricked to look and sound as one. The differnt Performances are split left and right side of the screen.

[Firth]

I have that Passport clip on a VHS tape.
Oh, and I don't think it was shot on film, that looks like videotape to me.

Any video from that time looks like total crap. It could be scan of film to high quality video, and then digitized. To me it reminds me of some of the early Genesis stuff which was shot on 8mm and then transferred to video. If you took 8mm today and used the best digitization via scanning, it looks very good. The contrast of these videos is exceptional for those years.

For all of the stuff you mentioned, I saw titles for but can’t vouch for how much duration was included. Many of the shows are cut up into separate videos. The Stills/Manassas stuff was.

[popeyebonaparte]

Any video from that time looks like total crap. It could be scan of film to high quality video, and then digitized. To me it reminds me of some of the early Genesis stuff which was shot on 8mm and then transferred to video. If you took 8mm today and used the best digitization via scanning, it looks very good. The contrast of these videos is exceptional for those years.

All Beat Club videos were shot on videotape, there's no question about that. That's why it can never truly superseed standard definition, unlike some of Belgian TV footage which was shot on film such as Genesis at the Bataclan or Pop Shop 1971.

[lovecraft]

I think the quality of the beat club stuff is great for its period, occasionally questionable camerawork aside.

But then I am a big fan of video taped tv from the period in general and prefer it to film. Blakes 7 rather than Star Trek thanks.

[yesman1955]

Based on my viewings of many of the BC videos from the early 70"s, I would maintain that The Beat Club was a standard-definition video-based TV show that used chroma key effects to superimpose the bands over various backgrounds (sometimes as simple as an album cover - other times weird electronic visual effects). The good thing was that BC always used live recordings, not playbacks with bands miming their performances. They were recorded live onto videotape with the chroma key effects embedded.

[Mister Triscuits]

The good thing was that BC always used live recordings, not playbacks with bands miming their performances.

Well, not always.

[GuitarGeek]

The good thing was that BC always used live recordings, not playbacks with bands miming their performances. They were recorded live onto videotape with the chroma key effects embedded.

They did in the 70's, but if you go back to the black and white episodes from the 60's, those are mostly mimed. There's a clip of The Who, for instance, miming Pictures Of Lily where Entwistle pulls out his French horn for the solo, something he wouldn't have been able to do if they were actually playing live.

I remember MTV used to show a lot of Beat Club stuff on their old Closet Classics show back in the 80's. I remember they showed clips of The Who, Cream, Manfred Mann, Steppenwolf, The Byrds, Deep Purple (apparently Ritchie must have been in a bad mood that day, because for the duration of his solo during Highway Star, he just makes a bunch of noise), The James Gang, Eric Burden & War, King Crimson, the Grateful Dead, and I forget who else. I think that was how I first heard 70's era Crimson (I heard the 80's quartet first, also thanks to MTV) and The James Gang.

[GuitarGeek]

The chic explains that all bands have to Play live. Some members of Passport wanted to play several Instruments at the same time, which
of Course doesn't work live.

So the Clip is a mix of two live Performances tricked to look and sound as one. The differnt Performances are split left and right side of the screen.

I kinda figured it was something like that, the moment where she looks first to her left, then her right, kinda made me think that was essentially what she was telling us. A lot of clips I've seen from Beat Club, she just says the name of the band and the title of the song (e.g. "Can mit Paperhouse"), and that's it.

[Firth]

All Beat Club videos were shot on videotape, there's no question about that. That's why it can never truly superseed standard definition, unlike some of Belgian TV footage which was shot on film such as Genesis at the Bataclan or Pop Shop 1971.

Anyway the contrast is excellent.

[Firth]

They did in the 70's, but if you go back to the black and white episodes from the 60's, those are mostly mimed. There's a clip of The Who, for instance, miming Pictures Of Lily where Entwistle pulls out his French horn for the solo, something he wouldn't have been able to do if they were actually playing live.

I remember MTV used to show a lot of Beat Club stuff on their old Closet Classics show back in the 80's. I remember they showed clips of The Who, Cream, Manfred Mann, Steppenwolf, The Byrds, Deep Purple (apparently Ritchie must have been in a bad mood that day, because for the duration of his solo during Highway Star, he just makes a bunch of noise), The James Gang, Eric Burden & War, King Crimson, the Grateful Dead, and I forget who else. I think that was how I first heard 70's era Crimson (I heard the 80's quartet first, also thanks to MTV) and The James Gang.

Night Flight (USA network) played many also.

[JJ88]

Yes, in the mid-late 60s it was more often mimed. I guess 1969 or so is where the shift to live performances happened. Family did a barnstorming version of 'The Weaver's Answer' for the show around then.

There was another German show which was generally live called Beat Beat Beat. Acts of the calibre of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Small Faces, The Hollies and The Yardbirds (with Jimmy Page) were on it, and did short live sets in front of an audience.

[Paulrus]

I get the sense that the French show Harmony was a competitor to Beat Club for a brief time. They also made heavy use of video layering (see Genesis: "Suppers Ready").

[TheH]

The Show was continued under a new name "Musikladen" (Music Shop) for many years, although there where far fewer Prog relevant Clips.

[Jay.Dee]

Fanny!

[Firth]

The Show was continued under a new name "Musikladen" (Music Shop) for many years, although there where far fewer Prog relevant Clips.

Yes, and when the Beat Club YouTube channel was setup, some Musikladen videos were included according to what I read. Musikladen started in 72, and I think the Beat Club channel is limited to 72. I googled Musikladen last night and most videos that showed were 80’s. The “new wave” ones looked cool, but there was a lot of pop 80’s crap.

[D.Eric]

Return to Forever (Bill Connors version) has a very good performance from Musikladen.

[TheNefariousHED]

So many excellent videos abound on the Beat Club channel. Things we've seen before, but typically with improved audio and video.





June!

[GuitarGeek]

The Show was continued under a new name "Musikladen" (Music Shop) for many years, although there where far fewer Prog relevant Clips.

Vh-1 Classic used to show the occasional MusikLaden clip. In particular, they had a clip of Stevie Wonder doing Living For The City that I always liked.

[Firth]

So many excellent videos abound on the Beat Club channel. Things we've seen before, but typically with improved audio and video.
!

Yeh man

[arturs]

The thing I'm still wondering is, how much unseen WDR has in the vaults from Beat Club. We know that they filmed 30 something minutes of King Crimson in 72, but only showed that truncated version of Larks Tongues I.

For those not in the know. The 45' King Crimson Beat Club performance was released in full on the DVD disc of the Lark's Tongues 40th Anni release. It is also on the big Muir-era box but you don't have to buy the box to get it. Absolutely essential. Sadly KC wised up for the subsequent boxes and they make you buy the full box if you want some good KC video from the different eras.

There is also a DVD of the complete Zappa/Mother's Beat Club set (well over an hour IIRC) that came out several years ago on Gonzo. Also essential!

Finally I think the full Dead set (also over an hour) circulates on the various trader sites.

Amazing material, all of it!

[Trane]

I get the sense that the French show Harmony was a competitor to Beat Club for a brief time. They also made heavy use of video layering (see Genesis: "Suppers Ready").

Not sure the French caught much of German TV (or the reverse) back in those days, except for Alsace and maybe Lorraine (I was north of the 49th P, anyway, then). Only smaller countries like those in Benelux were showered with foreign TVs airwaves bleeding over the borders. My parents told me thaqt cable TV became a reality for most french outside big cities only in the later 80's.

[Firth]

What a great performance caught on video

[lovecraft]

Yeah, even a previous girlfriend who loathed them, was impressed with this clip.