The T.A.M.I. Show

The T.A.M.I Show (1964)

Runtime: 113 minutes

Directed by: Steve Binder

Starring: An incredible array of musical talent

From: AIP

Several people independent of each other discussing the film this week made me realize I should track this down; after all, I have known of its existence for many years and it has quite the lineup of musical talent. The Teenage Awards Music International was two concerts in Santa Monica, California-edited into one in this movie-where high schoolers were given free tickets and well, they were white-hot for these acts. It was shot in the 1964 version of HD where videotape was used that could record 800 lines of resolution, thus when blown up for the big screen it did not look atrocious. This process was the ornately-named Electronovision.

The event was hosted by Jan & Dean and the other musicians included Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Lesley Gore, Marvin Gaye, The Beach Boys, The Supremes, James Brown, and The Rolling Stones. Brown's performance was so legendary and vertiginous, the Stones-the final act you see in the movie-couldn't top it, although that is not a slight and it was a great early job on their part. It's just that when Brown's act included out of this world dancing and a theatrical presentation during the song Please, Please, Please... no one could follow something so spectacular. His backing band The Famous Flames also deserve credit, of course, as they also danced. Even the “house band” for some of the acts included Jack Nitzsche, Leon Russell, and Glen Campbell. Heck, there are dancers in the background which are jazzy/Go-Go and two of them were Teri Garr and Toni Basil.

As I mentioned, the crowd was absolutely electric for both nights they filmed. Thankfully all those youths (a majority of which were women) were colorblind in terms of loving the music, even though it was almost entirely a white crowd. They definitely loved the Stones and Beach Boys but also went wild for the likes of Berry and Gaye, and they were bowled over by The Godfather of Soul. I mention that as the Civil Rights of 1964 was only passed a few months beforehand... only then was segregation outlawed; times were different back then, that is what I am saying. Even acts that are hardly known in 2019 (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Gerry & The Pacemakers) were beloved by many of the screaming girls.

This is quite the artifact of how the popular pop music scene was back then, when both of my parents were teenagers. It was more than just The Beatles and Elvis back then... many quality songs and artists were out there and many teens loved them, as this concert film proved.