Beatles/Compleat Beatles Japan Broadcast Ver.

On New Year’s Eve in 1984, a wonderful video history program about the Beatles was suddenly broadcast in Japan. It was called “The Beatles in a Nutshell.” It was long before “BEATLES ANTHOLOGY” was released. At that time, it was unthinkable that their video history would be broadcast or released as software. In fact, the Beatles had already planned a film project called “THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD” that traced their trajectory in the 1970s, and it is still fresh in our memory that HMC recently unearthed the rough cut footage. At the time, we had no idea that such work was being carried out, or that the project had run aground due to a business lawsuit that Apple was facing. In the midst of all this, “The Beatles in a Nutshell” was literally a groundbreaking video history of the Beatles that all fans had been waiting for. However, the program itself was not produced by a broadcasting station, but was based on the video software “THE COMPLEAT BEATLES” that the film company MGM released in the United States in 1982. This video software has a stylish title, “COMPLEAT” which is a play on the group’s name, instead of “COMPLETE”. Later, a subtitled version was produced in Japan and released on various VHS and Beta videos and laser discs. However, at that time, home video decks were just starting to become popular. Many people probably learned of the existence of this video on New Year’s Eve rather than as a software. Since it was a very groundbreaking software, the first Beatles video history, it was a masterpiece that was promoted to a must-have item before the famous “ANTHOLOGY”. In fact, in a 1986 interview, Paul McCartney himself mentioned this software and said, “If there is a demand for this kind of software, we would like to make the definitive history.” That is the later “ANTHOLOGY”. That being said, it is not the original “THE COMPLEAT BEATLES” that has become an unforgettable video for us Japanese, but overwhelmingly “Everything About The Beatles”. This is because the Japanese narration and dubbing of each character added there were exquisite. First of all, the voice of that veteran played an important role in the entire program, imprinting the essence of history on us, who were far less fluent in English than we are today. His persuasive voice is burned into our ears, and many memorable lines remain. For example, many people will never forget the line, “Unfortunately, nothing happened,” when referring to the contents of the movie “MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR.” That’s how powerful the narration by the veteran was. In fact, this footage was released by a film company with no connection to the Beatles, and not a single member of the Beatles was interviewed. Instead, the testimony of people who had contact with them highlights the Beatles’ human image. These have become typical methods in the production of video history to this day, and in that respect it was groundbreaking. It is also impressive that the dubbing of each character in the “All About the Beatles” version is done so exquisitely. Of all the characters, the one who impressed me the most was George Martin. “THE COMPLEAT BEATLES” was an overwhelmingly persuasive history because it was not possible to interview the Beatles members, but an interview with Martin was realized. The voice of Martin, who is the core of this video, was provided by a familiar figure in the “All About the Beatles” version, the nostalgic Hunter Chance. Yes, his Hunter Chance voice blended so well with Martin’s appearance that George Martin reminds us of Hunter Chance voice… the dubbing here was such a success that there must be countless Japanese people who have been imprinted with that voice. As mentioned earlier, “THE COMPLEAT BEATLES” was made in the early 1980s, when the rights of the Beatles were not as strict as they are now, and there are some scenes that are full of things to point out when viewed with today’s eyes. The best example of this is the scene at the Royal Variety Performance in 1963. Although the video actually contained live footage from Manchester, which is famous for its color footage, the beginning was covered with John’s “jewel jingle” sound from a variety performance (from a bootleg!) to make it look like a variety performance. Or the sound of the Get Back session was played in the background of the recording episode with Tony Sheridan (also from a bootleg), which is a pretty outlaw editing content. It would never be possible now. This nostalgic, too nostalgic video history, the video itself was copied to DVD-R, and both “THE COMPLEAT BEATLES” and “All About the Beatles” can be viewed on YouTube, but because the original was a long program, the split upload was abandoned halfway through (lol), and the recorded video tape was also deteriorated. In that respect, this time, thanks to the provision of a video tape in excellent condition, a surprisingly clear and stable image quality DVD with no deterioration distortion will finally be realized. We previously released the version that was rebroadcast in 1993, but since then, we have received many requests for the full-length version that was broadcast on New Year’s Eve in 1984 (which was rebroadcast early in the new year), and now it is finally available in the highest quality. For Japanese people, the nostalgic “All About The Beatles” version is more popular than “THE COMPLEAT BEATLES,” and above all, George Martin’s Hunter Chance voice! Broadcast Date: 31st December 1984 (115:29) 1. Introduction 2. Opening 3. I Should Have Known Better 4. School Days 5. Birth Of The Beatles 6. Hamburg Days 7. Cavern Club 8. Brian Epstein and George Martin 9. Change Drummer, Debut and No.1 Hit 10. She Loves You 11. Royal Variety Performance 12. First U.S. Visit 13. A Hard Day’s Night Movie 14. Beatles For Sale 15. Help! Movie and End of Tour 16. Studio Years 17. All You Need Is Love 18. Magical Mystery Tour 19. Hey Jude 20. White Album 21. Let It Be and Abbey Road 22. In The End 23. Ending 24. Outroduction PRO-SHOT COLOUR/B&W NTSC Approx. 115min. BROADCAST 1988: UNEDITED VERSION (with all the commercials)