Jul 232008
I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that my main man Freddie from the Dreamers is winning the “who’s INTO IT” poll, once again proving that Townsmen young and old know a fucking ROCK STAR when they see one!
Come on, MC5/AC/DC/Black Oak Arkansas lovers: *this* is what being really into it looks like!
I always wondered if he did that EVERY night when they toured. gotta hand it to the spazz. that’s quite a bit of work. how did the bassist stay so plum in the mid-region with all that thigh-mastering going on?
This is an historic day. I’m glad you’re enjoying it, Hrrundi!
I love the British Invasion stuff more than most on this list but Freddie and The Dreamers SUCK. What a lame schtick. How can you play an instrument moving like that. What’s worse is the song isn’t even good. At least Herman’s Hermits had decent material.
I would love to find a Freddie interview from 1968 or so and see what his thoughts were looking back.
The title above says GO FREDDIE! I think he should go and ask the guy who told him to do that stuff 40 years ago, what the hell are you thinking. Were gonna get laughed at FOREVER! I guess that I have a different view of what “into it” looks like
I am shocked and dismayed by the lack of tolerance for avant-garde performance art in these halls. Can’t you guys see Freddie’s cutting-edge, post-nihilist, meta-ironic take on pop culture here?! This performance is more than “silly;” it’s a desperate cry for help, on behalf of a world in serious danger of killing itself!
Sethro, Andyr, open your eyes!
I never realized how much Freddie looked like Tom Kenney from Mr. Show.
Seeing the Dreamers go all out here reminds me of that trend of mandatory wacky stage antics for bands of that time, and how I really would love to get an RTH grading of all the performances in Pop Gear, particularly Tommy Quickly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtDktb8dyKQ) and Sounds Incorporated (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvlM-MMyF0s).
Those clips are *boss*, Townsman Alex — if for no other reason than the glorious, saturated, Cinerama film they use — and the fact that it’s obvious a real film director was used to stage them. Seriously, these are great. And that Tommy Quickly had stage presence!
Unlike andyr, I kind of like the song I’m Telling You Now, despite the obvious stupidity of the dancing gimmick. It’s funny though that his rhetorical question — “How can you play an instrument moving like that?” — was the exact same thing I was thinking when I was watching the various MC5 youtube clips the other day.
Alex, thanks for those AWESOME performance videos. I would love to know if any of those guys would be willing to watch and comment. I was embarrassed for them. Hi-larious
Here’s a clip of Freddie & the boys doing a Beatles cover. This is a song which is rather inappropriate for Freddie to do, especially w/those mad giggles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tC63LJsv7g
Don’t you think that the Dreamers had the least sex appeal of any British Invasion band? Some of them look pretty thuggish. Watching them is almost like watching Devo. It’s amazing how they were so popular, but Freddie did know how to “make show” in spades.
That clip is something else, diskojoe. It gives me the willies. Thanks for the find and the share!