The Backbeat Band "Backbeat-Songs From The O.S.T." 1994****

Now that we're locked down because of the COVID-19 situation it's a good opportunity to watch some of our favorite movies again. Until recently I used to host movie nights at my house, now I'm sort of curating an online rock movies festival, picking music films for the usual crowd to watch - each from their own home. "Backbeat" was among my first choices. I like the way it combines music biopic, romance and buddy movie and, as the film stops just before the band becomes famous, it manages to eschew some of the worst movie biopic cliches.

  

For those who haven't seen the movie, and who don't recognize any famous bands on the cover, this is a movie about the 5 Beatles: John, Paul, George, Pete and Stu. You've probably heard of the Beatles referred to as the fab FOUR, and of someone called Ringo. But there really were 5 of them to start with, and the movie is focused on the 5th Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe, his friendship with Lennon, and the love story between him and German photographer Astrid Kirchherr. I don't want to give away too many details, but I guess I'm not spoiling anything if I tell you that Stu leaves the band to be a painter in Hamburg, Pete is replaced by Ringo Starr, and The Beatles embark on a journey to fame and success. 

When it came to the soundtrack, one has to remember that these are the young Beatles as straight-ahead rock'n'rollers, before they encounter their manager Brian Epstein who re-invented them as a pop band. The music had to convey the excitement of the time as well as to appeal to 90's youths, because this is basically a youth film about love, friendship, and opening up to the whole wide world, not a nostalgia trip for those who had lived through the 60's. So producer Don Was managed to gather an impressive cast of musicians from the 90's alternative music scene: Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs) and Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum) on vocals, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and Don Fleming (Gumball) on guitar, Mike Mills (R.E.M.) on bass, and Nirvana's Dave Grohl on drums. They play the same rock'n'roll covers the The Beatles did in Liverpool and Hamburg clubs when they started out. The performances are wild, energetic, and authentic if probably a bit louder than The Beatles were at the time. It's fair to say that the musicians involved are much better than The Beatles were at that stage of their career, but they bring more than their professionalism to the project; they bring their sense of fun and excitement, which is what makes this album work as a standalone garage rock'n'roll record regardless of its connection to the film. Highlights include "Money", "Bad Boy", "Twist and Shout", "Please Mr. Postman", "Good Golly Miss Molly" (all lead vocal by Dulli) and "Roadrunner" (by Mike Mills, even if he sounds too American for a Beatle). David Pirner takes the lead vocal on "Long Tall Sally", "C'mon Everybody" and "Twenty Flight Rock". There are no bad or dull moments in this 11-song, 27-minute LP, but of course it's a covers album so there's nothing revolutionary either. Just a short, fun, rock'n'roll record. Isn't that enough?

**** for Money (That's What I Want), Bad Boy, Twist and Shout, Please Mr. Postman, Roadrunner, Good Golly Miss Molly

*** for Long Tall Sally, C'mon Everybody, Rock & Roll Music, Slow Down, Carol, Twenty Flight Rock