Where the US had The Rolling Stone as the “authoritative” voice of pop music, the Uk’s answer was The Melody Maker, founded in 1926 and finally closing shop in 2000. This documentary centers on the halcyon days, wisely through the literal eye (well, actually lens) of Chief Contributing Photographer Barrie Wentzell, who is responsible for many of the iconic photos that we have become familiar with through the years.
A mix of the photos and the classically dry British humor of Wentzell (“ I became a photographer because I didn’t want to work”) is supplemented with interviews by the likes of rock stars Eric Burdon. Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Ian Anderson. Most fun is a collection of background stories relating to early Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Who and Led Zeppelin, allowing back stage access to an important period of rocks rise and decline. The film, like the magazine, is a “must” for music fans, and a reflection of how fertile the musical soil was back in the sixties and seventies. What went wrong?