8mm Forum: Pop Music Films........in SILENT ???!!!!!!!!!

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Topic: Pop Music Films........in SILENT ???!!!!!!!!!

Melvin England
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 707
From: Hull, East Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Feb 2016

posted January 10, 2018 05:37 AM

Am I missing something here.... or was this a crazy situation that existed in the 1970's?
Just browsing through Ebay at the moment, there are one or two films - super 8 - 50' black and white - of pop performances by well known artists e.g.Chuck Berry, Paul McCartney that I believe could be ordered through pop magazines of the day........but are also SILENT! Is this correct? People r e a l l y bought silent films in those days of their favourite songer singing their favourite song that they couldn't hear? I appreciate there were far more people still using silent projectors in those days but this still seems to be a bit crazy to me.
Does anyone know if there was a large market for them, and, did they ever release any in sound?

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"My name is for my friends!"

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Robert Crewdson
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1031
From: UK
Registered: Jun 2013

posted January 10, 2018 06:58 AM

I never heard of that one before Melvin, it must have been dedicated magazines, as I never saw any like adverts when I used to buy New Musical Express, Disc, Record Mirror, and Melody Maker.

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Tom Photiou
Film God

Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

posted January 10, 2018 07:01 AM

Be very weeary of these. I bought one from a well known dealer years ago advertised on the list as
Very rare Paul McCartny and wings mull of kintyre. 11.95.
When i got it all it turned out to be was trash filmed at 18fps off the tv. Suffice to say it went back. I think all of these look like the same thing. I may be wrong but i wouldnt touch them.

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 10, 2018 08:14 AM

I wonder if there is supposed to be a record or tape with them too.

We take sound films and equipment for granted, but they were actually pretty unusual. The first Super-8 sound machine I ever saw was my own and I bought that when I was 40 years old!

The silent film folk had to get by the best they could.

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Adrian Winchester
Film God

Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004

posted January 10, 2018 10:49 AM

As someone who collects pop/rock material on 8 and 16, this is the sort of information I seek out and so I can say it's absolutely true that there are plenty of such silent releases; in fact this thread discussed Super 8 silent releases that featured Kiss: http://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007488# 000000

All such silent releases I've heard of originate from the USA and were not from well-known distributors, so it's difficult to find comprehensive information and establish exactly what was released. I expect some such sources didn't release anything else on film.

I think they need to be seen in their historical context; they were probably released at a time when the majority of 8mm users had silent projectors use of sound projectors and sound releases had not yet taken off. I'd guess they were aimed primarily at music fans who might consider it fun to screen them while playing records by the artists in question. I think some compiled footage that wouldn't even 'work' as a sound film, but there may have been a few available in sound versions as well.

There were some sound (only) USA releases from such sources. I have one featuring Alice Cooper that combines about 5 minutes of stage and off-stage footage, but it's extremely difficult to find such items - in my experience they hardly ever seem to turn up. I'm still looking for the 400' sound 'Stones in the Park' which I know exists, but I've NEVER seen one offered except in an early 1980s magazine ad!

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Adrian Winchester

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Burton Sundquist
Master Film Handler

Posts: 318
From: Burnaby, B.C. Canada
Registered: Feb 2017

posted January 11, 2018 12:48 AM

I have to confess I was able to smuggle in a loaded super 8mm silent camera (with 50' of Kodak color low light cartridge) in the late 70's to 2 Live Concerts : YES and Jethro Tull...After developing... just the light show.

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