Spectacle (Season One) Blu-Ray/DVD release - 11/10/09 Canada

[johnfoyle]

Michael H on listserv has posted Elvis' sleevenote from this -


I first appeared on television, on a local teatime programme on which I had first seen The Beatles perform From Me To You.

I was third on the bill to a game-show host and a flame-headed Irish authoress.

I got three minutes to play my song Alison with just an electric guitar and 15-watt amplifier.

It proved to be perfect preparation for Spectacle, as the host, Tony Wilson, had a genuine curiosity about music and a very idiosyncratic style of presentation.

You have to understand that when I'd first seen a television, there was only one channel in England.

People still wore evening dress to read the news...

On the radio.

There were only about five hours of pop music per week across all of radio and television.

This horrible state of affairs lasted until the night Jimi Hendrix appeared on a Light Entertainment show and just kept playing an unscheduled song, until they pulled him off the air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gv3cKLWQimE

Needless to say, when I tried the same stunt during my own American television debut, it very nearly turned into my last American television appearance.

So, there was some small irony, that Studio 8H of NBC -- the usual home of Saturday Night Live -- also turned out to be the venue for the very first taping of Spectacle.

Our executive producer, Sir Elton John, was also our first guest.

He came armed to illustrate how this show might celebrate others, rather than simply be about taking your own bow.

All our guests have been faultlessly generous with their time, their reflections and their music.

Once the show found a home at the Apollo Theater -- which in itself triggered some remarkable tales -- I even started to forget about the cards and cameras and cues and enjoy the whole experience.

The names that first got my attention on television were: McDonald Hobley,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioEcpJSaWww

Eamonn Andrews

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ook92o2XwcY

and Tony Hancock,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mIrP68QBe4

respectively; a continuity announcer, a boxing commentator and a comic actor playing the character of a pompous actor.

I've tried to combine the skills I've learned from all three.

I also cherish, the one extant videotape of The Oscar Levant Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGNih0TWAQs


-- a creation of invention and abandon to which our programme can only aspire.

Now, Leonard Bernstein did some really great talking on television about music and Noam Chomsky, while Tom Waits was allowed the time and space to really tell a tale on early editions of Late Night with David Letterman.

Only Night Music ever thought to pair Leonard Cohen with Sonny Rollins or Sun Ra with the Reverend Al Green.

You have to tray and fail again.

Then "fail better", as someone wise and funny once wrote.

However, I've spent a little too much time watching Chuck Barris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NgAP7FOqQQ

and Dr. Gene Scott

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3X-GtEn ... re=related

to ever match these achievements.

Truthfully, my early American television heroes were James Garner, Clint Eastwood and Phil Silvers.

At least I can tell myself that I've grown to resemble one of them.

Happy Viewing, Elvis Costello

[And No Coffee Table]

What a bummer!! Blu-Ray or DVD, ANCT? I'm ordering the blu-ray as a Christmas gift (to myself) and hope I don't run into the same issues.

DVD. (I don't have a Blu-ray player.) The Blu-ray packaging must be at least a little different from the DVD, since it has fewer discs.

Deep Discount currently has the DVD for $29.97 and Blu-ray for $41.97. The DVD is listed as out of stock, but at least you can lock in that price.

[FAVEHOUR]

I hate to be the grumpy old man again, but unless there are some surprises I don't know about, I have to be let down by the extras on the Spectacle release. The 4 songs they give us are nice, especially Well-Known Gun, but they left off several other songs that were filmed...why? It's galling to see EC, Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, and James Burton ready to play "You Win Again" during EC's bonus interview segment and then not see them actually play the song. Roseanne Cash tells us how Elvis told her "The World Unseen" is such a great song...well, why not show her playing it, as she did at the taping?

The bonus material is mostly backstage interviews, longer versions of what was on the Spectacle website...and not one minute of additional interview footage from the tapings!! And only the four songs extra. I've only watched episode 1 and the bonus material so maybe I haven't come across some easter egg or something?

Could have been a lot better.

That said, so far I find the picture and the 5.1 sound very enjoyable...

grumpy old dave

[And No Coffee Table]

The absence of "You Win Again" is interesting, since it was mentioned in the initial press release. I wonder if Haden or Metheny didn't want it on there.

[VonOfterdingen]

Any news about a Blu-ray or DVD coded for Europe? As it is now i cant watch it even though im ready to pay...

[FAVEHOUR]

Well, I've watched the first 3 episodes now (after first watching the bonus material) and the crazy thing is, at least the Clinton episode has at least one additional thing in it....when Bill is discussing his favorite songs, he talks about the Beatles' "In My Life"...which he didn't do in the broadcast episode....no telling how many other 15 second snippets may be on these discs....not exactly the bonus material I was hoping for!

[sweetest punch]

The DVD's will be available in Europe on January 11, 2010.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectacle-Elvis ... 052&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectacle-Coste ... 166&sr=1-2

[FAVEHOUR]

More variations, as I watch the Lou Reed episode. Julian Schnable does a longer, unexpurgated version of his recital of "Rock Minuet".

[VonOfterdingen]

The DVD's will be available in Europe on January 11, 2010.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectacle-Elvis ... 052&sr=1-5
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spectacle-Coste ... 166&sr=1-2

Great news! Thanks a lot

[johnfoyle]

Win copies -

http://drakelelane.blogspot.com/2009/12 ... d-and.html

[jmm]

Season One get honorable mention in the top 10 shows on TV in the New York Times, not bad for a rookie!!

List follows with link to the full article at the end

By MIKE HALE
Published: December 17, 2009

PICKING the 10 best television shows of any given year is a fool’s errand, or a liar’s. It’s both physically and psychologically impossible for anyone to check out more than a sliver of what’s on. So consider this a list of 10 things I really enjoyed watching in 2009 (in alphabetical order), with a hefty postscript of honorable mentions to acknowledge that most television exists within a fairly narrow range of quality.

Before we get to the list: There are a lot of perfectly well-made, intelligent, but essentially lifeless shows on television that get great reviews and end up on Top 10 lists. People like these shows because they feel that they flatter their intelligence, and because they confuse surface realism with some kind of deeper truth. I don’t (like them, that is), so don’t look for “Breaking Bad,” “Damages,” “Dexter,” “Mad Men” or their like here.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN: NO RESERVATIONS (Travel)
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS (DirecTV/NBC)
FRONTLINE (PBS)
HOUSE (Fox)
LITTLE DORRIT (PBS)
LOCKED UP ABROAD (National Geographic)
MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! (PBS) “Wallander,”
SUPERNATURAL (CW)
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (ABC Family)
30 ROCK (NBC)


HONORABLE MENTION “Battlestar Galactica” (Syfy); “Big Love” (HBO); “Bill Moyers Journal” (PBS); “Bored to Death” (HBO); “The Cleaner” (A&E); “The Closer” (TNT); “The Colbert Report” (Comedy Central); “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO); “Doctor Who” (BBC America); “Durham County” (Ion); “Eureka” (Syfy); “Flight of the Conchords” (HBO); “Fringe” (Fox); “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS); “Law & Order” (NBC); “Life on Mars” (ABC); “Lost” (ABC); “Medium” (NBC/CBS); “Modern Family” (ABC); “NCIS” (CBS); “Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew” (MTV); “The Simpsons” (Fox); “Southland” (NBC/TNT); “South Park” (Comedy Central); “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ...” (Sundance); “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (Fox); “30 for 30” (ESPN); “Torchwood: Children of Earth” (BBC America); “True Blood” (HBO); “The Universe” (History); “Vampire Diaries” (CW); “Weeds” (Showtime); “Wild Russia” (Animal Planet).




http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/arts/ ... ntemail0=y

[migdd]

Got this on blu-ray for Christmas and am enjoying it immensely. Wish there were more extras though. One thing about High Definition television . . . those damned beads of sweat. And the segment where EC and Sting sing Alison, you can see the spit flying from EC's mouth to Sting's eye. Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!!

The music is good, too.

[sweetest punch]

Outtake: Beginning To See The Light: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLdqmci36A4

[johnfoyle]

More competitions for Spectacle DVDS +

http://twangville.com/2751/win-big-elvi ... spectacle/

http://30daysout.wordpress.com/2010/01/ ... rize-pack/

[johnfoyle]

...and another -

http://addictedtovinyl.com/blog/2010/01 ... rize-pack/

[johnfoyle]

....and....another one !

http://www.brokenheadphones.com/?p=2471

[buzz]

Have just got this from Amazon UK. However it's NTSC not PAL. Can still play it when I change the setings but annoying nonetheless. Has anyone else had this happen from Amazon UK.

[johnfoyle]

Another competition -

http://mog.com/MOG_Features/blog/1708660

[johnfoyle]

This ad. is in the latest Record Collector -


I wonder what Elvis might have to say about the 'clown' who spelled Renée Fleming ' Renée Flemming'....


This review appears later in the issue -

Record Collector, March 2010

Terry Staunton

Last year saw Costello touring heavily, taking to the road at different times with his long-serving Imposters, the genteel strings of The Brodsky Quartet and an ad hoc bluegrass band, as well as releasing a new album and overseeing the ongoing repackaging of his back pages. The activity that garnered the most press attention was, however, his new role as a TV chat show host.

Spectacle was the brainchild of Elton John and his partner David Furnish, a programme that would focus on musicians and their craft, rather than probe the nature of celebrity. Elton even offered himself up as the main guest on the opening show, relishing the chance to rave about idols such as David Ackles and Leon Russell, and not having to field questions about his past drug abuse or daffodil budget.

Its fair to say Costello initially made for a nervous host, barking his introductions in a similar fashion to Jools Holland's circus ringmaster on the BBC's Later...; but, like that show, the meat and potatoes of the affair was always the music. Viewers got to see giants the calibre of Smokey Robinson. Tony Bennett and Kris Kristofferson in an intimate setting. dissecting their classic works bar-by-bar or performing impromptu covers of favourite songs. with Costello often sitting in.

The 13 programmes in this first season box set hold many highlights: James Taylor and Costello strumming the Everlys Crying In The Rain; Lou Reed showing the audience how easy it is to play Sweet Jane: Jakob Dylan's sombre take on The Clash's Straight To Hell: Allen Toussaint trading verses with Costello on Elton John's Border Song. Having said that, The Police and Costello attempting a mash-up of Walking On The Moon and Watching The Detectives doesn't quite come off, but you have to admire their pluck.

Costello's own intelligence. knowledge and enthusiasm is often the key to the interview segments, his subjects clearly aware they're not talking to a standard TV host with a ream of researcher's cue cards. Smokey Robinson opens up like never before when reminiscing about his Motown contemporaries, and even grumpy old Lou Reed lightens up with memories of his time as a jobbing songwriter and enlightening tales abort the origins of old Drifters hits.

The episode with Bill Clinton as its star guest is a real eye-opener, the 42nd President of the United States speaking with authority about jazz and the importance of musical education in schools. As a dyed-in-the-wool Presley fan. his apperance gives Costello the opportunity to let rip with choice Sun tracks by the other Elvis.

Season Two is currently being aired in the US, with guests including Bono. Bruce Springsteen. Levon Helm, Richard Thompson and Nick Lowe, hopefully to be scheduled in the UK in a friendlier slot than the post-midnight broadcasts of the first series. Pick up this most revealing and well-appointed box set to see what you missed last time round by tuning in early.