SWINGIN' TIME DVDs
TESTIMONIALS
FROM: Frank Uhle, Ann Arbor MI
Thank you for making this incredible material available!
I am still getting over the fact that I can actually watch episodes of Swingin’ Time from 1966, which I never thought would be possible some 43 years after the fact!
I know both Question Mark and Scott Morgan of the Rationals. Scott lives in Ann Arbor and Question Mark lives up near Flint. I actually saw both of them perform in the last couple of months, and they are well worth seeing. In fact, Question Mark plays out with the original Mysterians still, and they are absolutely GREAT live. "Q", as he is known, is a master showman and wears flamboyant stage costumes and (of course) his trademark sunglasses. I do a radio show in Ann Arbor (U.M. student/community station WCBN-FM) and interviewed them both to promote the shows. In fact, Question Mark and the Mysterians are played recently in Taylor, MI at the All Around Bar, and "Scott Morgan and the Rationals" (which unfortunately will not include all of the original members) played in Detroit at the Magic Bag.
Additionally (and this is VERY exciting news), The Rationals are getting a first-ever legitimate reissue of their early recordings, which will be released at the end of this month. "Think Rational" is a 2-CD set that will include hits like "Respect," "Hold On Baby," and "I Need You," as well as a host of B-sides and unreleased tracks from the vaults. There are also detailed liner notes full of amazing photos and memorabilia drawn from the archives of their late manager Jeep Holland. It will be on the Ace Records imprint Big Beat.
The U.K.-based Ace now owns the entire A-Square records catalog (it was Jeep's label) and last year put out a compilation of the other acts who recorded for it including rare singles by the MC5, SRC, Thyme, and Apostles, plus unreleased songs by some of those acts as well as the Bossmen. A highlight was a never-heard live performance of "I'm a Man" by the Prime Movers, which featured Iggy Pop on drums and vocals!
As for your DVDs, I collect music video clips from the 60s, and while the quality does vary somewhat due to tape deterioration, it is mostly quite acceptable given the rarity of the material. The technical quality of the original show was also somewhat primitive, and video from the era doesn't look as crisp and it is often difficult to even find a machine that will play it nowadays. Given these limitations (which are simply beyond your control), the performances are absolutely amazing to watch, as they are the only extant footage of most of the local acts included. These DVDs are truly a "holy grail" to fans of the Rationals - they appeared on shows like Swingin' Time and Upbeat literally dozens of times, but there was no known surviving footage until now! Even the band members didn't have any footage like this. You are to be commended for making it available, and I will pass the word on to my collector friends to obtain copies from you.
Best,
Frank Uhle
P.S. Here's a link to the "A-Square (Of Course)" compilation from Ace's site:
FROM: Sharon Muscinski
I ordered three copies of the #2 Swingin' Time DVD that features two songs by the Shades of Blue, one of which is "Oh How Happy You Have Made Me."
This past weekend, we invited our friend and original Shades of Blue member, Ernie Dernai, to a barbeque. We set up our TV so he had no idea we were planning to show the DVD to everyone. I told him it was a recent video of our son who also performs. Well, when we skipped right to his band's performance
on Swingin' Time, the reaction of Ernie and his wife were absolutely priceless.
I wish we had videoed it. Afterward, he couldn't thank me enough. His wife had tears in her eyes. She told us that Ernie's two daughters had only heard the songs, but had never before seen their Dad perform.
Thank you so much for making these happy memories available. You never know how much they will mean to someone such as Ernie and his family. Ernie couldn't believe that that performance was 43 years ago!
I kept one copy, gave one to my brother, who's Ernie's friend and, of course, the third one went to Ernie.
Sincerely,
Sharon Muscinski
VIEW A CLIP and read the testimonial on the Richard & The Young Lions website.
