DVD News

Watch The DVD

Early November 2008 saw the release of the 4th official Earth Band DVD, 'Watch The DVD'.  When back in 2005 I was invited to help research the 'Unearthed - Best Of' DVD, the footage which I had first seen in Rumbelows in St.Helens in 1978 immediately came to mind. This was of course the video promo film which had been put together for the launch of Watch.  For my life I can never understand why I didn't ask the record shop if I could have the video when they had finished with it (I did end up with a number of extra covers for Watch as there was a big display stand as well).  Given the promo footage included a significant number of MMEB tracks it seemed to offer a quick win for the 'Best Of' DVD at a time when we weren't sure what else we would be able to locate.  However was there a decent copy of he Watch footage available? Whilst other footage (with the assistance of other fans) turned up at TV stations across the world, the Watch footage couldn't be found.  Then Steve Fernie managed to locate a master copy at EMI's famous Abbey Road studios.  I was lucky enough to be able to go with Steve to Abbey Road to pick up the tape (Steve had worked there some years ago for EMI) and managed to get a tour including the studios.

With the tape secured and the availability of more footage than we had initially expected, it became clear that 'Watch The DVD' as a project should be added to the list of possible releases.  To see this video in its pristine state after all these years was exciting and now it was a case of working out what to do about the missing tracks, 'Drowning' and 'Martha'.

The animated films used on 'Unearthed' had been an attempt to represent the well remembered films the band used to such great effect during the late 70's and early 80's.  Two which 'we had to have' were 'Instant Sex' by Bob Godfrey (of Roobarb' fame) and 'The Beard' by Ian Emes.  Having met up with Ian (who also did the famous Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon' animation) to get hold of 'The Beard', he was an obvious choice to see if the had anything which might accompany 'Drowning'.  The resultant animation can be seen on the DVD.  This was not created for this DVD but the silhouetted figure certainly has the same choice of headgear as Manfred.  The choice for 'Martha' was in many ways harder and then obvious.  Various ideas were considered - was there any live footage we could use?  What animation would fit?  In the end the answer was to return to 'The Beard'. The full animation is some 12 minutes long, here a 9 minute plus edit is used which allows more of this dark film to be seen and enjoyed.

The order of the tracks is determined by 'Davy' having the opening titles over its start and 'Blinded' having the closing credits.  Between those the track order from the CD is followed.

That took care of the 'Watch' footage, now what else could be added?  The original intention had been to issue a DVD/ CD combination but ion review this would have seen many buyers paying for a CD they already owned and this idea was shelved.  Any material from the Watch era is incredibly hard to come by.  While the earlier and later tours are all represented with audio bootlegs and TV appearances, Watch (which was released at the bands most commercially successful period) is marked by a complete absence of anything - other than the video already described above.  About 12 months ago I was contacted by Jacob Hastedt who had a copy of a TV concert recorded in Austria in 1979, which was subsequently posted over to have a look at.  On checking this was one of the segments we had identified in the initial research and we already had the contact details for this.  Steve contacted ORF TV in Austria and the footage was sent over.  Although from the 1979 'Angel Station' tour it does follow on from the 'Watch' material in a number of respects.  Firstly it shows the evolution of the lineup following the split at the end of the Watch tour.  Secondly it includes live versions of some of the 'Watch' tracks and finally it provided more evidence of the animation's in their original context.  Adding this film as bonus material again allows the fans to see first rate footage that had previously been available only as black and white grainy footage.  The 'Ohne Maulkorb' film is approx. 25 minutes long and includes live tracks, and some short interview clips with Manfred.

To finish off an interview also seemed like a good idea, the chance to ask Manfred about his recollections of the Watch tour and era would round off the DVD nicely.  So in May this year I was lucky enough to film three interviews at Manfred's house in London.  The first you have already seen as it was specially filmed for the last Yawn.  The second relates to 'Watch' and is on this DVD, the final one relates to the 'Then & Now' project and relates to the bands tour of Australia in 1972 (and you should get to see that later this year).

So there you have it, 'Watch The DVD'.  The cover photo incidentally was shot at the interview session in May by Luke Weall who also did the 'Unearthed' and 'Budapest' DVD covers and artwork.  It pays 'homage' to the original Watch design but cleverly updates it with a current photo of Manfred. 

The Manfreds Sold Out

 November also saw the release of the 'Sold Out' DVD from The Manfreds.  Filmed at The Fisher Theatre in Bungay, Suffolk in November 2007, it is the first DVD from the band.  The theatre was hired for three days to allow The Manfreds to film one day, The Blues Band the second day, both before a live audience.  The third day was used to shoot additional angles and some interviews.  The audience was limited to 160 each evening to accommodate the cameras.

The Manfreds set includes all the famous sixties hits and provides an intimate concert experience.  Also included are about half an hours interviews with the band talking about the 60's and how the band developed.  I was also lucky enough to be invited to write the sleeve notes for this DVD and this led to lunch with Tom McGuinness and Mike Hugg to discuss the notes and get some additional information.  This led to corrections to a number of the items in the notes but does mean they are historically accurate and include some information not written down (as far as I can tell) before. 

If you are a fan of the 60's band as well as The Earth Band this comes highly recommended.

Incidentally the title has caused confusion on a number of occasions, if you see it somewhere and it says its Sold Out, its the title and they may well have some left!

The Blues Band DVD

Although I haven't (yet) seen this footage,  two DVD's of The Blues Band are also due out shortly.  Filmed at the same time as the Manfreds DVD above one I believe includes a setlist which sees the The Blues Band returning to their earlier material for the first time in a number of years.  If of similar quality to The Manfreds material (which it should be) this should also be well worth getting hold of.

'Then & Now'

Planned for release in 2009 (no idea when before you ask), 'Then & Now' is intended to show the earliest days of the Earth Band and the 'present day' band together in one package.  While researching 'Unearthed' it became clear that ABC TV in Australia had footage that we were interested in.  Some of this was used on 'Unearthed' but more interestingly they held a 1972 concert - surely the earliest footage of Earth Band that we were likely to find.  However there was a problem, whilst they knew they had it, they were still in the process of cataloguing their collection and couldn't find it, despite the best efforts of Oz based MMEB fan Mick Maloney who was in constant dialogue with them.  Then out of the blue and again demonstrating the power of the Internet, I was contacted by a research doctor at Melbourne University, asking if I had any details regarding an Australian blues singer (Wendy Saddington) who had supported the band during one of their tours.  I didn't, but passed him onto Mick (who lived 4 miles away!) and in return he provided a catalogue which identified where the Earth Band tape was located in ABC's archive! (and probably saved ABC some work).

The footage is a black & white TV show filmed at The University of New South Wales and consisting of four tracks, 'I'm Gonna Have You All', 'Black & Blue', 'Captain Bobby Stout' and 'Mighty Quinn'.  Whilst you will have to wait to see this, I can guarantee you will be blown away by it.  At the time the concert was filmed, just the first album had been released.  Accompanying the footage is a TV interview from the same tour (filmed separately).  There is also an even earlier Oz clip on the DVD but you'll have to wait to see what that is.

The 'Now' element of the DVD is likely to be a 60 minute recording from the Burg Herzberg concert that 'Mighty Quinn' on 'Unearthed' came from.  Nicely shot by the Rockpalast team this is an excellent film which rounds out the DVD package nicely.

One to look forward to for 2009.

Nigel