« New Viking Times! | Main | Numerology: Special 38s »
January 09, 2008
Retrohump - The Shakers
The influence of the Beatles is pretty remarkable. You can fill a library with the words spent on their impact on music. However, today I'm not here to add to the compendium, but rather to introduce you to the Shakers of Uruguay -- a band that for all intents and purposes was an austral American clone of the Fab Four. Brothers Hugo and Osvaldo Fattoruso wrote the music and the Liverpudlian gimmick was lifted unapologetically from the Hard Day's Night movie. I'm too young to even guess but I wonder if the fan frenzy showed on this and other Beatles films is what trained the entire world how to act like super-fans. Screaming hysteria, chasing, etc.
Surprisingly, the Shakers sang in English, imperfect at best but totally adorable in their heavily accented pronunciations. However it's the chops, form and discipline of recreating the looks and feel of their idols that is the most striking. In their own way these homegrown impersonators satisfied the rabid hunger of Beatlemania for southern South America's 60's youth.
The Shakers - "Break It All"
Romper todo! How punk rock.
The Shakers - "Too Late"
I find variety shows comforting. I secretly wish America had a Sabado Gigante.
The Shakers - Unknown & "Yellow Submarine"
Grainy, washed out footage and warped audio - my favorite kind of Retrohump selection. Also, the sheer dumbness of Ringo's nursery rhyme is equal to the acknowledgeable worldwide reach of its existence.
Posted by Merry Swankster at January 9, 2008 11:23 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.merryswankster.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/1383
