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Marquee Club time capsule...
In 1983, Granada TV's "Night Beat" show ran a documentary on London's legendary Marquee club. Introduced by '60s popster Dave Dee (of Beaky, Dozy, Mick etc fame), it featured performances by the likes of The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Spencer Davis Group, Ten Years After, Wishbone Ash, and other rock luminaries. Some of these have turned up on this Angel Air release, which to all intents and purposes appears to be the same film but without quite so many of the legends.
That said, we do get TYA, Wishbone Ash, Marillion, Nazareth, Dr John, the wonderful Alexis Korner, and erm - Dave Dee. In fact, Dave's all over this: he introduces the film, he's our guide to the gig, and he provides the linking narrative to the performances in the company of a faintly-embarrassed teenage girl who escorts round the club, chatting to bemused artists, meeting club manager Jack Barrie, and generally attempting to convert the lass to what real music is all about.
Of course, this is not convincing her (nor us for that matter) yet this enjoyably dated film makes for good entertainment, being Informative of period, revealing of participating artists and (albeit unintentionally) amusing.
An absence of bonus material, extras, or booklet is frustrating but also demands the viewer concentrate which is no bad thing. Dave winds the whole show up, dancing with and serenading his teen charge on the Marquee stage with an a cappella performance of one of his hits ('Bend It'). A time capsule.
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Review by Peter Muir
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