THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 28, 1995 TAG: 9502280038
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: CRAIG SHAPIRO
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Editor's note: Today, Videomatic moves to Tuesday's Daily Break.
IT'S BILLED as ``A '60s Music Flashback,'' but mostly, ``Hullabaloo'' is a hoot.
How else to describe Gary and Jerry Lewis mugging their way through ``Help'' or Michael Landon, God bless him, gamely summoning up the chutzpah to belt out ``I Like It Like That''?
That's not to say that takes away from the four tapes being released today by MPI Home Video ($19.98 each/$79.98); in fact, it's what makes them such a gas. For every Nancy Sinatra and Noel Harrison, you get the Hollies and the Yardbirds, who turn in a killer version of ``I'm a Man.''
``Hullabaloo,'' NBC's response to ABC's ``Shindig,'' premiered Jan. 12, 1965. Both were Americanized spins on the far superior U.K. series ``Ready, Steady, Go!'' and barely registered a blip during their short runs.
Which is one reason why MPI combed the archives (eight more tapes will be out before year's end).
``One of the things that has become a tradition here is looking back and documenting history,'' said Sam Citro, sales VP for Illinois-based MPI. ``It's become our nitch over the years, our bread and butter. People like to reminisce. As a company, so do we.''
``Hullabaloo'' has been in the vaults two years, but it took that long to clear the rights to the music. It was worth it, Citro said.
``The music, in general, is so wonderful,'' he said. ``When you can look at Sonny & Cher, the Supremes, Chuck Berry and these guys, it's just awesome. We wanted to be part of having some legends.''
The show definitely throws it all at you. Hosts include Paul Anka, Trini Lopez and a swinging Sammy Davis Jr. Dancers jerk, swim and pony through each song, regardless of the tempo. This first set has Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Sir Douglas Quintet and Herman's Hermits, plus London segments with Brian Espstein introducing Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Moody Blues and the Searchers.
And there are bonus songs by the likes of Marvin Gaye, the Marvelettes and Gene Pitney.
But the highlight is the Top Pop Medley, where the week's guests run through the day's hits: ``Nowhere Man' by the Mamas and the Papas and the Byrds' cover of ``Do You Believe in Magic,'' with Roger McGuinn doing his best Jackie De Shannon moves.
There is little indication of the turmoil that would soon rock the country - the Byrds singing ``The Times They Are A-Changing'' - but in a way, that's what makes this collection such innocent fun. ``Hullabaloo'' is the kind of time capsule that goes down easy.
SUCH A DEAL: Ol' Blue Light is back.
MGM/UA: ``Mutiny on the Bounty'' (1935), ``The Philadelphia Story,'' ``Yankee Doodle Dandy,'' ``Clean Slate,'' ``Benny & Joon,'' ``Moonstruck,'' ``The Cutting Edge'' ($14.95), ``West Side Story,'' ``Rain Man,'' ``Thelma & Louise,'' ``Six Degrees of Separation'' ($19.98)
Orion: ``Love Field,'' ``The Dark Half,'' ``Married to It,'' ``Article 99,'' ``Me and the Kid'' and ``Dead On'' ($14.98), plus a half-dozen animated flicks from Japan - ``Dirty Pair: Project Eden'' and ``Flight 005 Conspiracy,'' ``Lupin III's Greatest Capers,'' ``3X3 Eyes: Perfect Collection,'' ``Great Conquest: The Romance of Three Kingdoms,'' ``Lily C.A.T.'' ($19.98)
Republic: ``Bad Boys,'' ``Ruby in Paradise,'' ``The Wrong Man,'' ``Un Coeur en Hiver'' ($14.98), ``Holocaust'' ($39.98)
Columbia TriStar: ``Philadelphia,'' ``The Remains of the Day,'' ``Short Cuts,'' ``Look Who's Talking Now,'' ``Josh and S.A.M.'' ($19.95), ``Radio Flyer,'' ``A League of Their Own,'' ``Bingo'' ($14.95), ``Oscar's Greatest Moments'' ($9.95)
Paramount: ``Pretty Baby,'' ``Partners,'' ``The Gambler,'' ``Islands in the Stream,'' ``My Side of the Mountain,'' ``The Flamingo Kid,'' ``Spacecamp,'' ``Prizzi's Honor'' ($14.95), ``Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice'' ($19.95)
TOP TAPES (in Billboard):
Sales: ``The Mask,'' ``Little Giants,'' ``Speed,'' ``Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,'' ``Playboy Celebrity Centerfold: Patti Davis''
Rentals: ``Clear and Present Danger,'' ``The Mask,'' ``True Lies,'' ``Wolf,'' ``The Client''
The Couch Report
``Princess Caraboo'' (Columiba Tristar, 1994). A real charmer that is equal parts fairy tale and on-target satire of the British class system. Phoebe Cates is wonderfully restrained as a beautiful stranger who may, or may not, be a Javanese princess; real-life husband Kevin Kline is a riot as the Greek butler who thinks she's a fraud; Stephen Rea is the infatuated journalist pursuing the story. There's not an off performance, and the costumes and color of 1817 England add appeal.
(CAST: Phoebe Cates, Jim Broadbent, Wendy Hughes, John Lithgow, Kevin Kline, Stephen Rea. UNRATED, mild language but nothing offensive)
Also: ``Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould,'' the acclaimed film about the pianist structured, appropriately, around Bach's ``Goldberg Variations'' (unrated)
Next Tuesday: ``Jason's Lyric,'' ``Milk Money,'' ``Parallel Lives,'' ``Radio Inside,'' ``Tim Allen: Men Are Pigs,'' ``When the Bough Breaks'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
NBC's ``Hullabaloo,'' taped in 1965, featured energetic dancers.
by CNB