Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a 1978 American jukebox musicalcomedy film directed by Michael Schultz, written by Henry Edwards and starring an ensemble cast led by Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. Depicting the loosely constructed story of a band as they wrangle with the music industry and battle evil forces bent on stealing their instruments and corrupting their hometown of Heartland, the film is presented in a form similar to that of a rock opera, with the songs providing "dialogue" to carry the story. George Burns has most of the spoken lines that act to clarify the plot and provide further narration but there are a few other lines throughout the movie (such as many robots).
The film's soundtrack, released as an accompanying double album, features new versions of songs originally written and performed by the Beatles. The film draws primarily from two of the band's albums, 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and 1969's Abbey Road. The film covers all of the songs from the Sgt. Pepper album with the exceptions of "Within You, Without You" and "Lovely Rita", and also includes nearly all of Abbey Road.
The Beatles' former producer, George Martin, served as musical director, conductor, arranger and producer of the film's soundtrack album.
Before the film's release, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees announced: "Kids today don't know the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. And when those who do see our film and hear us doing it, that will be the version they relate to and remember. Unfortunately, the Beatles will be secondary. You see, there is no such thing as the Beatles. They don't exist as a band and never performed Sgt. Pepper live, in any case. When ours comes out, it will be, in effect, as if theirs never existed. When you heard the Beatles do 'Long Tall Sally' or 'Roll Over Beethoven,' did you care about Little Richard's or Chuck Berry's version?"[6]
Mr. Kite (George Burns), elderly mayor of the small, wholesome town of Heartland, recounts the history of Heartland's celebrated marching band. Sgt. Pepper and his Lonely Hearts Club Band brought happiness through its music, even causing troops in World Wars I and II to stop fighting. In August 1958, Sgt. Pepper died of a heart attack at the unveiling of a new weather vane in his likeness. Sgt. Pepper left the band's magical musical instruments to the town; so long as they remain in Heartland, its people will live happily ever after. He also left his musical legacy to his handsome and good-hearted grandson, Billy Shears (Peter Frampton). Billy forms a new Lonely Hearts Club Band with his three best friends: brothers Mark, Dave, and Bob Henderson (the Bee Gees). Billy's charming but avaricious half-brother, Dougie (Paul Nicholas), serves as the band's manager ("Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band").
Meanwhile, villainous Mr. Mustard (Frankie Howerd) and his henchman the Brute drive to Heartland in their computer- and robot-equipped van. Mustard receives orders from the mysterious FVB to steal the magical instruments from City Hall and distribute them among FVB and its affiliates ("Mean Mr. Mustard"). Without the instruments, Heartland quickly degenerates into a hotbed of vice and urban decay. Strawberry takes an early morning bus to Hollywood ("She's Leaving Home") to warn the band ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"/"Oh! Darling"). Mustard, who has a crush on Strawberry, follows. In Hollywood, the band and Strawberry steal Mustard's van and use its computer to locate the stolen instruments, recovering the cornet from the deranged, money-driven anti-aging specialist Dr. Maxwell Edison (Steve Martin) ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer"), and the tuba from mind-controlling cult leader Father Sun (Alice Cooper) ("Because"). Billy is knocked out in each battle, with nothing except Strawberry's love keeping him going ("Strawberry Fields Forever"). The group easily find the bass drum, which Mr. Mustard kept for himself in the van. However, the computer and robots malfunction and self-destruct before they can locate the final missing instrument (the saxophone).
As Heartland continues to deteriorate, Billy and the Hendersons, with a bit of help from Dougie, manage to convince B.D. to organize a benefit concert to save the town ("Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"). Dougie and Lucy, who have bonded over their shared love of money, plot to run off with the show's proceeds ("You Never Give Me Your Money") while Billy, Strawberry, and the Hendersons are watching Earth, Wind & Fire perform at the benefit ("Got to Get You into My Life"). Mustard and the Brute suddenly arrive and take back the van, containing the recovered instruments and the benefit money, and also kidnap Strawberry ("When I'm Sixty-Four"). Billy and the Hendersons see the van leave and pursue in the town's hot air balloon.
Mustard drives to FVB's headquarters, where the Future Villain Band (Aerosmith) plans to take over the world. To turn Strawberry into a "mindless groupie", FVB chains her up onstage while the band plays, ("Come Together") and the lead singer (Steven Tyler) fondles her. Billy and the Hendersons arrive and engage FVB in hand-to-hand combat. The singer is thrown off the stage to his death, but so is Strawberry.
The town of Heartland, now cleaned up and the instruments returned, holds an elaborate funeral for Strawberry ("Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"). The depressed Billy attempts to get Strawberry off his mind ("The Long and Winding Road"); when he cannot, the Hendersons worry for him ("A Day in the Life"). Billy finally attempts suicide by jumping from a rooftop. Before he can hit the ground, in a form of Deus ex machina, the Sgt. Pepper weather vane atop City Hall comes to life (Billy Preston). Wielding magical lightning bolts, the Sgt. Pepper Weather vane catches Billy and reverses his suicide attempt, then dances through the town square ("Get Back"), transforming Mustard and the Brute into a bishop and a monk, Mustard's van into a Volkswagen Beetle, and Dougie and Lucy into a priest and nun. The weather vane restores Strawberry to life and transforms the Hendersons' mourning suits into shiny new uniforms.
The Bee Gees (Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb) whose music had been integral to Saturday Night Fever (released by this film's international distributor, Paramount Pictures), play Mark, David and Bob Henderson, members of the re-formed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. They also provide the computerized voices for Mean Mr. Mustard's robots.
Peter Frampton, whose album Frampton Comes Alive! was the biggest-selling live album ever at the time, plays Billy Shears, leader of the re-formed band and grandson of the original Sgt. Pepper character.
Steve Martin, whose comedy album A Wild and Crazy Guy was released the same year as the film, reaching number two on the music-dominated Billboard 200 album charts, plays Dr. Maxwell Edison.[7]
Donald Pleasence as B.D., referred to as B.D. Hoffler in Burns' narrative voice-over and on a magazine cover in the film, but officially known in the film's credits, publicity materials, and in-film posters as B.D. Brockhurst
The actor playing The Evil Gladiola was neither seen nor credited.
Special guests
Additionally, the film becomes a time capsule of late 1970s pop culture with the last scene in which the cast is joined by "Our Guests at Heartland" to sing the reprise of the title track while standing in a formation imitating the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album cover. The scene was filmed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios on December 16, 1977; indeed, according to co-star Carel Struycken (Mustard's henchman Brute), Sgt. Pepper was the last film to be made at MGM under that studio's then existing management.
The film began as a 1974 live Broadway show[9] called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road, which was produced by The Robert Stigwood Organization.[10] Stigwood had purchased the rights to use 29 Beatles songs for the play and was determined to do something with them, so he brought the songs to Henry Edwards to write a script.[11] Edwards had never written a script for a film, but had impressed Stigwood with musical analysis he'd written for The New York Times.[11] "I spread the songs out on my apartment floor and went to work", said Edwards.[11] "Mr Stigwood wanted a concept. I told him I'd like to do a big MGM-like musical. We'd synthesize forms and end up with an MGM musical but with the music of today."
With a script in place, the cast was assembled. In the spring of 1977, Frampton, The Bee Gees, and Martin met to begin work on the soundtrack.[12] Filming started in October 1977 on the backlot of MGM Studios in Culver City, where the set of Heartland, USA was built. Interiors were filmed at Universal City Studios.
Nobody realized what a stinker it was and as soon as they were in the middle of it, everybody says, "You know what, this is absolutely blasphemous to the Beatles."[13]
Although Universal had high hopes for the movie – anticipating "this generation's Gone with the Wind " – it worked out differently. According to film historian Leonard Maltin's TV, Movie & Video Guide, the picture "just doesn't work" and "ranges from tolerable to embarrassing. As for the Bee Gees' acting, well, if you can't say something nice..." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 11% score based on 27 reviews with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads "I thought you might like to know that the Beatles (aka the act you've known for all these years) are ill-served by this kitschy, aggressively whimsical fantasy film that's most certainly not a thrill".[14]
In Rolling Stone, Paul Nelson ridiculed virtually every aspect of the production. He said that Frampton had "absolutely no future in Hollywood" while Schultz "would seem to need direction merely to find the set, let alone the camera". Nelson commented on the musical soundtrack: "The album proves conclusively that you can't go home again in 1978. Or, if you do, you'd better be aware of who's taken over the neighborhood."[15]The New York Times's Janet Maslin wrote that the "musical numbers are strung together so mindlessly that the movie has the feel of an interminable variety show", also adding that "conceived in a spirit of merriment...watching it feels like playing shuffleboard at the absolute insistence of a bossy shipboard social director. When whimsy gets to be this overbearing, it simply isn't whimsy any more."[16] Similarly, David Ansen of Newsweek dismissed Sgt. Pepper as "a film with a dangerous resemblance to wallpaper".[17]
A more positive review came from The Valley Independent, whose Ron Paglia called the film "Good, campy fun", citing Steve Martin's performance as "a high point" and the celebrity-filled finale as "something special" before concluding "there's much to enjoy."[17]The Intelligencer's Lou Gaul described the production as "A sort of modern Fantasia for today's teens".[18]
The film was ranked No. 76 on VH1's 100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock and Roll.[13][19]
Band response
Only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr went to see the movie when it first premiered. When asked about the film in a 1979 interview, George Harrison expressed his sympathy for Stigwood, Frampton and the Bee Gees, acknowledging that they had all worked hard to achieve success before making Sgt. Pepper. He said of Frampton and the Bee Gees: "I think it's damaged their images, their careers, and they didn't need to do that. It's just like the Beatles trying to do the Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones can do it better."[20] While John Lennon had never publicly acknowledged the film he did attend rehearsals for the play.
Nominations
At the 1978 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film received a nomination for Worst Picture. When the ballot was revised in 2003, it kept that nomination while also receiving nominations for Worst Supporting Actress (Dianne Steinberg, who played Lucy in the film) and Worst On-Screen Group (Lucy and the Diamonds).[21]
Box office
The film was a minor commercial success, earning $20.4 million against the production budget of $13 million.
See also
All This and World War II, a 1976 musical documentary that also used the concept of using covers of Beatles songs to tell a story.
Across the Universe, a 2007 musical film that also used the concept of using Beatles songs to tell a story.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music. The album had an immediate cross-generational impact and was associated with numerous touchstones of the era's youth culture, such as fashion, drugs, mysticism, and a sense of optimism and empowerment. Critics lauded the album for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written primarily by John Lennon with assistance from Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. Lennon's son Julian inspired the song with a nursery school drawing that he called "Lucy – in the sky with diamonds". Shortly before the album's release, speculation arose that the first letter of each of the nouns in the title intentionally spelled "LSD", the initialism commonly used for the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide. Lennon repeatedly denied that he had intended it as a drug song, and attributed the song's fantastical imagery to his reading of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books.
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Beatles for their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written and composed primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney.
"With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles for their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney with contributions from John Lennon, and is sung by drummer Ringo Starr, his lead vocal for the album. As the second track on the album, it segues from the applause on the title track.
Robert Colin Stigwood was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer, and impresario, best known for managing musicians such as Cream, Andy Gibb, and the Bee Gees; theatrical productions such as Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar; and film productions, including Grease and Saturday Night Fever.
RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stood for the Robert Stigwood Organisation.
Imagine: John Lennon is a soundtrack album of popular music compiled for the 1988 documentary film Imagine: John Lennon from songs written or co-written by John Lennon. Originally released that year as a double album, it now remains available on one CD.
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney, credited to Lennon–McCartney, and released in 1967 on the album of the same name. The song appears twice on the album: as the opening track, and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", the penultimate track. As the title song, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs on the album.
Paul Nicholas is an English actor and singer, best known for his work in the 1983 BBC sitcom Just Good Friends. The show won a BAFTA and Nicholas was nominated for best comedy performance.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a double album produced by George Martin, featuring covers of songs by the Beatles. It was released in July 1978 by RSO Records as the soundtrack to the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which starred the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton and Steve Martin.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a 1967 album by the Beatles.
William Kite was a 19th-century circus performer, best known as being the "Mr. Kite" from the Beatles 1967 song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road was a 1974 off-Broadway production directed by Tom O'Horgan. It opened at the Beacon Theatre in New York on November 17, 1974 and ran for a total of 66 performances.
Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father is a 1988 multi-artist compilation LP/cassette of 1980s artists recording new versions of the songs on the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album was produced by the New Musical Express to raise money for Childline, the charity founded by the BBC1 consumer programme That's Life! It was also intended to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the original release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on 1 June 1967. Apart from separate tracks on some artists' own re-releases/compilations, the only release it ever saw on compact disc was a promotional recording.
This is a list of references to English rock group the Beatles in popular culture.
The 1978 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards were released by the Hastings Bad Cinema Society in 1979 to honour the worst the film industry had to offer in 1978. The ballot was later revisited and the expanded version was released in the summer of 2003. Listed as follows are the original ballot's picks for Worst Picture and its dishonourable mentions, which are films that were considered for Worst Picture but ultimately failed to make the final ballot, and all nominees included in the expanded ballot. All winners are highlighted.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition is an expanded reissue of the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 26 May 2017, the album's 50th anniversary. It includes a new stereo remix of the album by Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin.
Sheila Bromberg (1928–2021) was a British harpist who performed in both classical and popular settings. She is best known for playing on the Beatles’ song "She's Leaving Home" on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Saluting Sgt. Pepper is an album by the composer, multi-instrumentalist and band leader Django Bates with the Frankfurt Radio Big Band, which was released by Edition Records in 2017. The album was commissioned by the Frankfurt Radio Big Band to mark the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’s Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which is the UK’s best-selling studio album as of 2020. The recording also features the Danish group, Eggs Laid By Tigers and the multi-instrumentalist Stuart Hall. It was performed live at Deutsches Jazzfestival Frankfurt and at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in 2016.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Wikipedia articles available about the Beatles from their formation through their break-up; it does not include information about members' solo careers.
↑ Carel Struycken tells the anecdote about his discovery as an actor in an interview on the daily Dutch TV show De Wereld Draait DoorArchived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, October 2, 2006 (at 41:08 min.)
↑ Stigwood, Robert (1978). The Official Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Scrapbook. Pocket Books. p.6. ISBN0-671-79038-2.
↑ "RCA & Col Will Share Show Album". Billboard. November 9, 1974.
1 2 3 "Beatles Tunes Star in New Film". The Capital. January 24, 1978.
↑ Stigwood, Robert (1978). The Official Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Scrapbook. Pocket Books. p.9. ISBN0-671-79038-2.
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