Remembering 'Upbeat': When the British Invasion came to Cleveland (Yardbirds 1968)

[sam_webmaster]

Mentions The Yardbirds' appearance in April 1968...

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Remembering 'Upbeat': When the British Invasion came to Cleveland

http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2016/05/remembering_upbeat_when_the_br.html

"Upbeat" went on the air on WEWS-TV 5 about the same time of the British Invasion thus having a big impact on the sound of the iconic music show.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The timing could not have been better for the iconic music TV show "Upbeat." It went on the air in 1964 as "The Big 5 Show" on WEWS TV-5 about the same time as The Beatles began the British Invasion of the United States.

The Who, The Kinks, The Animals all performed on the show. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones recorded interview segments that were featured on the series.

Most of the top rock and pop stars of the '60s performed on "Upbeat," which was the brainchild of visionary TV producer Herman Spero. The series premiered in 1964 as "The Big 5 Show," then became "Upbeat" in 1965 when Don Webster, who would later become a local fixture as a TV weatherman, was hired as host.

At its peak, the was syndicated in more than 100 markets nationally, and a rival to "American Bandstand."

The show went off the air in 1971 after advertisers began to be disenchanted with the rock scene. Artists began to make harder-edged music, dabbled in drugs and veered wildly from the clean-cut Fab Four look of the early Beatles. The advent of large stadium and arena shows also took its toll on shows like "Upbeat."

David Spero, 13 years old at the time of the shows conception, worked on the show with his father. He went on to become a noted DJ on Cleveland radio stations, including WMMS-FM 100.7. He's had a long career as an artist manager, too. Over the years, his clients have included everyone from Joe Walsh and Ian Hunter to Cat Stevens and Eric Carmen.

David sat down and talked with cleveland.com about "Upbeat" and the British Invasion artists who appeared on the show.

Watch highlights from the show in the video above that is part three in a five-day series.

by Dave Andersen, cleveland.com

http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2016/05/remembering_upbeat_when_the_br.html

[kingzoso]

I have seen this clip before but without the commentary.  It is fun to see an early Jimmy Page "guitar synch" of a Yardbirds song with Jeff Beck as the sole guitarist.