Video Reviews

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Video Reviews
"Beside Bowie-The Mick Ronson Story" Is a Flawed But Essential Documentary For Every Bowie and Mick Ronson Fan
Michael Fremer  |  Aug 31, 2018  |  7 comments
Filmmaker Jon Brewer's Mick Ronson documentary tells the truly sad story of the wholly under-apprecriated guitarist/arranger Mick Ronson, who is of course best known (if he's known at all) for his work with David Bowie. That being the case, Brewer spends a great deal of time (too much time) at the beginning of the 101 minute film on the rise of David Bowie before getting to the fall of Mick Ronson, better known to his friends as "Ronno".

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NewsVideo Reviews
"Bang!, The Bert Berns Story" Documentary Starts Streaming Today on Apple Music
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 24, 2017  |  1 comments
Cross "Goodfellas" with the hippest Ken Burns PBS mid-sixties New York music business documentary you've never seen and then anchor it with a songwriter, producer, record label executive biography that were it not true would have been difficult for any fiction writer to invent. That's the heart of "Bang! The Bert Berns Story".

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Video Reviews
Roy Orbison "Black&WhiteNight 30" Blu-ray Has it All (And More)
Michael Fremer  |  Mar 12, 2017  |  12 comments
Thirty years after the stars came out in an unprecedented outpouring of love and respect to back Roy Orbison at L.A.'s Cocoanut Grove Ballroom, fans can finally see it all and hear it as never before in the original running order in which it was performed.

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BeatlesVideo Reviews
The Beatles "1+" Packs Visual, Sonic and Emotional Punch
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 29, 2015  |  53 comments
It's easy to forget in today's image and video drenched world how little we got to see during the 1960s of The Beatles and other rock groups.

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BeatlesNewsVideo Reviews
The Beatles "1+" Video Collection Coming Early November
Michael Fremer  |  Oct 07, 2015  |  21 comments
Had enough Beatles? Then don't read this and whine about it. But if you never have enough Beatles, this new 27 song singles collection on DVD, Blu-ray, CD and eventual double LP (the latter two audio only obviously) is for you. You will fall in love all over again.

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Video Reviews
Unauthorized Eno Documentary Has Many Interesting Moments
Michael Fremer  |  Sep 03, 2012  |  1 comments
Unauthorized bio-docs are among the most difficult to pull off. You don't have the cooperation of the subject and that usually keeps those close away as well. Yet, despite some glaring defects, this two and a half hour look at Mr. Eno's incredibly productive period between 1971 and 1977 inexplicably titled "The Man Who Fell To Earth" offers many worthwhile moments.

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Video Reviews
"Last Shop Standing" DVD Celebrates Independent Record Stores
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 26, 2013  |  7 comments
The documentary "Last Shop Standing", subtitled "The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Independent Record Shop" consists of a series of interviews with record store owners and fans, some of them famous like guitarist Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Paul Weller and Billy Bragg.

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Video Reviews
"Brick and Mortar Love" Traces the Indie Record Store Story In America Through the Travails of One
Michael Fremer  |  Apr 26, 2013  |  4 comments
Arguably a more thorough, probing and compelling indie record store documentary than "Last Shop Standing"—and not because it's about America and I'm an American—"Brick and Mortar Love" views the state of the indie record store in America mainly through the eyes, heart and bank account of John Timmons, owner of Louisville Kentucky's once thriving record store ear X-tacy.
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Video Reviews
"The Byrd Who Flew Alone: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Gene Clark"
Matthew Greenwald  |  Dec 05, 2013  |  5 comments
The hindsight gained in the twenty years that have passed since Gene Clark’s premature death make obvious both his musical brilliance and his secure place amongst the second half of the 20th century’s most important musicians.

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Video Reviews
Roy Orbison: "In Dreams"
Michael Fremer  |  Dec 23, 2013  |  1 comments
At times he didn't look much like a rock star—and at other times he looked like nothing but one. On stage he didn't act like one either. He hardly moved. Dressed in black and wearing black-rimmed "coke bottle" sun glasses the self-effacing Roy Orbison just stood before the microphone singing and strumming his guitar.

His lips barely parted but what came out seemingly so effortless and free, was a voice that defied and continues to defy explanation. While singing about heartache and loneliness Orbison exuded a spooky detachment that made him sound more like a channeler than an entertainer.

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