Two concerts were held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. It was edited into a film released on December 29, 1964. It gathered some great acts of that era, and called it Teenage Awards Music International.It starts off with a solid Chuck Berry. The Beach Boys were edited out originally, but they've since been returned. The Supremes were great. IMO the best has to be the one and only James Brown. His performance is insane. He is by far the best of the concert. Following James Brown, the Rolling Stones close out the concert. Honestly they looked glassy eyed and dazed. I would not be surprised if they were chemically enhanced. Certainly they don't make them like that anymore. The music sounds sharp even with the screaming kids in the background.

You can't get any better than this, for both concert films and for content. If you weren't around then the film will let you in on why so many think the period was so great. If you were then it'll reinforce you memories. Steve Binder, who did the Elvis Comeback Special (1968), produces. There are so many technical devices used in making TAMI that I'll leave it to others to explain, but they do come out in how the concert feels, the experience and the sound. Binder does a great job. You notice no detail missed as the house band is tops, another Binder trademark. Listen to them in Lesley Gore's set, especially in 'You Don't Own Me', an overlooked classic on its own, and you can see what I mean. Gore's performance anchors the wide ranging acts and gives TAMI a lot of its era feel. If you don't buy the DVD (came out in 2011) your just plain nuts. A solid classic, a must have. For all music fans.

I was one of the lucky ones who got to see this movie at an indoor theater in Ft. Worth when it was first released. The only regret is that I just saw it once. When we came out of the theater, we felt as if we had been to a real live concert--a very rare thing for kids my age (11) at that time. The James Brown performance was the greatest, and I absolutely fell in love with the sounds of The Beach Boys, as well as Jan and Dean. I had often wondered what happened to the movie, as I was interested in seeing it again. I just ran across the title when following up on the career of the actor Marvin Gaye in an old movie, who turned out to be the one and only singer. The T.A.M.I. Show was listed among his credits. I, too, wish Dick Clark Productions would release it for all of us to enjoy, instead of having to try buying a black market copy.

I first encountered this gem sometime back in the early 80's,when it was screened as part of a rock & roll film/dance party at one of my local art galleries. I was but a mere babe in arms when this film was first released. Long before Martin Scorsce filmed 'The Last Waltz',with The Band (which for it's time was the penultimate concert film,until Jonathan Demme's 'Stop Making Sense' a few short years later), The T.A.M.I. Show was packing 'em in the local cinemas,with The Rolling Stones,James Brown, Eric Burdon & The Animals,etc. This was originally shot on video for T.V.,but was rejected,due to it's length (rock & roll was kept between thirty to sixty minutes). Fortunately,the producers of this film/video did a re-edit & aimed it for cinemas. Anybody who is interested in the history of rock & roll should seek this one out (I still wonder to this day why there isn't a soundtrack record/CD to it that is available)