Various Artists - Swinging UK

Archive fun from the forebearers of Britpop

Packaged together with its sequel, UK Swings Again, this DVD features two half-hour performance films originally made as supporting titles for 1964 cinema releases, giving pop fans a rare opportunity to see their musical heroes in glorious colour. It’s not all star names (whatever happened to The Cockneys and The Wackers, you may ask), but there’s more than enough high-calibre content to make it worth investigating.

The Hollies rule the roost with a splendid Here I Go Again, the fast-cut editing style later becoming a standard trick for Top Of The Pops, while The Merseybeats bring a pleasing country twang to Don’t Turn Around and Fools Like Me. The studio set-up may seem a little rigid, though, with only The Animals and The Applejacks attempting anything that could be described as “movement”.

Cheesy banter between hosts Alan Freeman, Brian Matthew and Kent Walton looks and sounds quaint today, but was pretty groundbreaking stuff compared to the plumminess of most broadcasters of the era. The music is what we’re here for, however: spruced-up clips usually only seen blurred and muffled on YouTube.

Strike Force | 9971014

Reviewed by Terry
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