Melody Makers: Should've Been There

Well, maybe not forever, as the magazine ceased publication in 2000, a victim of changing times in popular music culture. But from it's first issue in 1926, Melody Maker magazine became a staple read for dance band musicians until it found a much wider audience with the success of rock music in the Sixties. Told primarily via the recollections of MM staffers and a handful of musicians, this documentary offers a huge array of photos taken by staff photographer Barrie Wentzel, with commentary by Wentzel, features writer Christopher Welch, and news editor Christopher Charlesworth. From the music industry side, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull and Eric Burdon of The Animals offer their perspective on the era that brought the magazine to prominence, and how it became the bible for performers of the era. In many cases, the magazine brought together individuals who might not have been aware of each other via the back page advertisements. If you were looking for a job, or wanting to book a gig, Melody Maker was the place to advertise your services, and it's fair to say a considerable number of bands might not have existed without the help of those ads. The DVD cover for the picture here on the IMDb title page has the sub-title 'Should've Been There', however if you're looking for it today, the copy I picked up at my local library looked the same, but had as it's sub - 'The Bible of Rock n' Roll'. You couldn't really go wrong in either case, as the film does a credible job of highlighting the history of one of music fandom's venerable trade papers.