Jettisoundz Promo Years, The

[Roderick]

ReleIased By: Screen Edge/MVD Visual
Released On: 03/20/2012
Director: John Bentham
Cast: Hawkwind, Macc Lads, Meteors, Guana Batz, Toy Dolls
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The Film:

Say what you will about John Bentham, but the man has one hell of a video collection. Back in the early 80's, John and his wife Karen got their start in the fantabulous video industry shooting a one-camera tape of a GBH gig at Blackpool, which garnered enough demand for the two to realize there might be money to be made. One camera gave way to two, and John and Karen loaded up their van and filmed gigs across the UK, capturing legendary performances by Nico, The Meteors, Black Flag, DOA, and Alien Sex Fiend.

Eventually, two cameras gave way to four, and a connection through the management of the UK Subs put the Benthams in touch with the legendary (post-Lemmy) Hawkwind, resulting in their first real creative attempt at making a music video. Subsequent connections led to the filming of Roy Harper and his buddy Jimmy Page, rarely seen since his success with Led Zeppelin. Their reputations now established as videographers of note, the pair went on to film a huge number of new wave, punk, psychobilly and metal bands.

The Jettisoundz Promo Years is a collection of 50 of some of the most interesting acts committed to tape; as well as some very un-noteworthy ones. Featuring approximately three whopping hours of videos, this DVD includes such acts as the wickedly fun Toy Dolls (“Nellie The Elephant”), the filthy Macc Lads doing their Monkees send-off (“Eh Up!”), and The Meteors playing with cows (“Rawhide”), as well as some strangely progressive bands like Psychic TV singing to brick walls, Hawkwind dancing around in skeleton suits, and the young daughter of strange guy Genesis P-Orridge covering Jimi Hendrix in a way that makes her dad look even weirder.

With 3 hours of material (and apparently another whack o' videos still to be released), there's something for just about everyone on this disc, from crappy hair metal to creepy goth rock. To try and describe The Jettisoundz Promo Years further would do it a disservice; check out this historical video archive for yourself.

Video/Audio/Extras:

MVD/Screen Edge bring The Jettisoundz Promo Years to DVD in a transfer that will not blow you away, but what did you expect? Shot on video, the majority of this disc is made up of 1.33:1 transfers of varying quality that ranges from somewhat sharp to fairly washed out. Does it matter? Only if you've somehow convinced yourself that videotapes from the 80's should look awesome. The picture and the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is just fine for what you get here. The audio is a little prickly in some spots, but once again…videotapes from the 80's, and footage that would probably have never seen the light of day otherwise.

There are no supplements on the disc. Do you need any? 50 commentaries for 50 videos? There's 3 hours of footage here. Watch it, and then watch it again.

The Final Word:

ROCK. The Jettisoundz Promo Years is the most entertaining collection of videos you've ever seen. Goes great with movie trailer compilations and alcohol.

[Roderick]

I need to check this out. I had one of their tapes back in the day and remember the bumper voiceover at the beginning saying Jettisoundz about a million times.

[Mark Tolch]

Awesome. And yeah, this is a pretty rad collection, right up there with the Flipside and New Wave Theatre discs.