Ed Sullivan's Rock'n Roll Classics, Volume 1, from Rhino (love that meaningless RhinoPhonic logo!) is a slight but fun treat that presents uncut 18 performances from his Sunday Night television show from 1965 to 1967. Taken from old 2" color videotape, the quality is pretty good, and there are even some cheap bluescreen CBS video effects to remind us when these thing aired.

Sullivan must have been a good columnist, because he sure was a lousy host, looking at all times uncomfortable and stiff. If he has any genuine attitude toward his acts beyond the ratings they can deliver, it's hidden behind his very klunky onstage smiles. From this vantage point, I can't separate him from the endless impersonators - he acts like a bad impersonation of himself.

Interspersed between the acts are little montages of newsreels that try to tell a story of pop music at the time. They're not all that arresting, so Savant quickly found himself skipping ahead to the next performance. The acts are arranged in three menus, by year:

1965:
The Four Tops (Same Old Song, Sugar Pie, Something About You)
Sonny & Cher (I Got You Babe)
Herman's Hermits (I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am)
The 4 Seasons (Let's Hang On)
The Lovin Spoonful (Do You Believe in Magic?)
Tom Jones (It's Not Unusual)
Dino, Desi & Billy (I'm a Fool)

1966:
The Association (Along Came Mary)
The Supremes (My World is Empty Without You)
Lou Rawls (Love is a Hurtin' Thing)
The Animals (Don't Bring Me Down)
The Mamas & the Papas (Monday, Monday)
The Rolling Stones (Paint it, Black)

1967:
Johnny Rivers (Baby, I Need Your Lovin')
The Supremes (The Happening)
The Association (Never My Love)
The Mamas & the Papas (Creeque Alley)
The Rolling Stones (Ruby Tuesday)

As with all old TV shows like this, the songs that are really performed are a lot more interesting than the ones that are lip-synched ... I'm assuming this is so because many of the hits sound exactly as they do on the radio, and the ones that sound live really sound live, such as when the mixer finds the correct audio level about halfway through the first bar of a Rolling Stones song.

A promising extra is a trivia track, which I found rather uninformative. In most cases, the track doesn't even identify the unnamed members of the groups. Most of them look like high school kids, and you get the feeling that they've been left out at their own party.

The Sullivan show was a square-nut, intimidating showcase for some and a cool publicity opportunity for others. With their songs edited - you'll be surprised how some of them cut out after two or so minutes - performers like the Stones can't have been happy.

All in all, a slight but diverting music disc, with a nice variety of 'pop stars' deemed ready for prime time. The variety of styles and performances here helps one conclude that by comparison, radio-generated pop music today is all but dead.

Review Date 10.26.02