The British Beat: Best Of The '60s
New PBS "My Music" Concert Special Hosted by Petula Clark
Features Classic Hits From The Zombies, The Animals, and Many Other UK Legends, Plus a Reunion of Peter & Gordon
Premieres in MARCH 2007 PLEDGE ON PBS
Stoke-On-Trent, England - In February of 1964, a young English rock'n'roll quartet called The Beatles arrived on U.S. shores, kicking off a musical explosion that took the country by storm and still reverberates to this day. PBS revisits the time when the nation's airwaves grooved to the swinging sounds of London with a comprehensive new pledge special, My Music: The British Beat: Best Of The '60s.
Britain's first lady of song, Petula Clark, performs her #1 million-seller "Downtown" and hosts this all-star celebration, featuring the biggest and best moments from the musical British Invasion of America. The beloved duo of Peter & Gordon reunite for the first time in nearly four decades to perform their hits "A World Without Love" and "I Go To Pieces." Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent of The Zombies bring back the sixties psychedelic pop sound with "Time Of The Season" and "She's Not There."
"This is an amazing night of amazing music from across the pond," exclaims TJ Lubinsky, creator and executive producer of the PBS "My Music" series and Sirius Satellite Radio program host. "To feel the emotions as Gerry & The Pacemakers' 'Ferry Cross The Mersey' and 'Here Comes My Baby' by The Tremeloes take us back into the coffee houses of the 60's is an awesome, touching tribute to some of the most familiar and timeless songs of the 20th century."
The British Beat: Best Of The '60s spotlights numerous #1 Billboard hits, such as the raunchy "Wild Thing" by The Troggs, the tender "To Sir With Love" by Lulu, and the joyful "Game Of Love" by Wayne Fontana - original lead singer of Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders - who also reprises the perennial favorite "A Groovy Kind Of Love."
Additional highlights include the earthy, feel-good declaration of "Do Wah Diddy" from Paul Jones of Manfred Mann, the pulsating "Needles & Pins" by Mike Pender's Searchers, and the R&B-flavored "Go Now" from Denny Laine, original singer for The Moody Blues. Procol Harum presents their ethereal classic "Whiter Shade of Pale," and Eric Burdon, with The Animals, offers another Brit-rock anthem, "The House Of The Rising Sun."
An archival performance of her 1966 worldwide smash "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" pays tribute to the late Dusty Springfield while other vintage clips from The Ed Sullivan Show provide era-defining moments of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
The British Beat: Best Of The ¢â‚¬Ëœ60s commemorates a vital period of popular music that still remains relevant and cherished today as dozens of ageless rockers revisit a revolution exclusively on PBS. The program is produced by Jim Pierson, who has produced specials about Peggy Lee, Petula Clark, the Mamas & the Papas, and Dark Shadows.
