It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
Pop Gear (1965) – Musical #493

Studio:
Associated British-Pathé, Ltd.

Director:
Frederic Goode

Starring:
Host: Jimmy Savile
Performers: The Animals, The Beatles (archive footage), Matt Munro, Susan Maughan, The Honeycombs, Herman’s Hermits, The Nashville Teens, The Four Pennies, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, The Fourmost, Sounds Incorporated, Peter and Gordon, Tommy Quickly & The Remo Four, Billie Davis, The Spencer Davis Group

Plot:
With narration by Jimmy Savile (himself), British Invasion bands perform the hits of 1964 and 1965.

Trivia:
• The original title was “Pop Gear,” but it was released in the United States as “Go Go Mania.”
• While the other performances were filmed for the movie, The Beatles performances were archived footage from “The Beatles Come to Town” (1963).

Highlights:
• Performances from The Beatles, Peter and Gordon, and Herman’s Hermits
• The girls dancing in gold pants

Notable Songs:
• “She Loves You” performed by The Beatles
• “House of the Rising Sun” performed by The Animals
• “A World Without Love” performed by Peter and Gordon
• “I’m Into Something Good” performed by the Herman’s Hermits
• “Have I the Right?” performed by The Honeycombs
• “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” performed by The Animals

The Animals

Herman’s Hermits

My review:
Before diving into the review, let’s review a few aspects of POP GEAR (or GO GO MANIA), this week’s Musical Monday:
Is there a plot? No

Does this fit your traditional definition of a movie musical where song and dance help move the plot along? Nope.

Is this filled with excellent music of the 1960s? Oh yes.

If you are a fan of 1960s music, particularly that of the British Invasion, this concert film featuring 25 songs performed by 15 artists (which you could loosely call a documentary) is an enjoyable 70 minutes.

The film is bookended with archival footage of the Beatles performing a concert with “She Loves You” and “Twist and Shout.” In between, other British performers sing their hits of 1964 and 1965 with introductions from DJ Jimmy Savile. Savile’s portion is thankfully very brief and also ends as the movie transitions into the hits of 1965. I say “thankfully,” because Savile later had allegations of pedophilia and sexual assault.

Outside of the archival footage of the Beatles, other well-known performers are peppered throughout the film, including The Animals, Peter and Gordon, Matt Munro and Herman’s Hermits. I was also introduced to singing groups I wasn’t familiar with including The Fourmost, Sounds Incorporated, The Four Pennies, Billies Davis, Susan Maughan and Tommy Quickly & The Remo Four.

While I enjoyed myself, I will say that there we some songs that I wasn’t the biggest fan of. Billy J. Cramer’s “Little Children” was odd to me, and “Humpty Dumpty” by Tommy Quickly & The Remo Four was essentially just singing nursery rhymes. I also could have done without Sounds Incorporated, but I’ll admit that their Go Go version of the “William Tell Overture” made me laugh.

The two dance numbers in the 1965 second half portion of the film felt very random, but we also kind of fun. There was also maybe a bit too much of Matt Munro.

I will say, the one thing that would have made this movie would be better for me is if it also featured my favorites, Chad & Jeremy.

I revisited this after recording it off TV some time ago, but thankfully it’s pretty accessible and is on Blu-Ray.

This is a good time and an interesting curio of British Invasion hits of the mid-1960s. Sure, there isn’t a plot, but it’s like watching a concert.

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