Beat Beat Beat: The Best of Beat Beat Beat, Vol. 1

"This collection of material from the archives of the German television series Beat -- Beat -- Beat is eclectic to the point of feeling a bit bizarre (teen faves Herman's Hermits, prog rock pioneer Brian Auger and expatriate beat-era also-rans Casey Jones and the Governors all on one disc?), but unlike most of the DVDs ABC Entertainment have released from the show's vaults, this at least features a decent amount of music (running forty-one minutes) and includes a number of genuine rarities. (However, some fans might be disappointed with the fact several acts -- Barry Ryan, Cat Stevens and Chris Farlowe -- are clearly lip-synching their performances, since the appeal of other releases in this series is that they include little-seen live performances.) All the material on The Best of Beat Beat Beat Volume One has been transferred to disc in the original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the quality is very good, with rich blacks and sharp contrasts; the archival videotapes have clearly been treated with care, and the material looks remarkably good for its age. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, retaining the original monophonic sound mixes, and is also in fine quality, sounding quite good for the period. The songs are performed in English, with no subtitles or multiple language options included. No bonus features appear on this release, but there's enough interesting stuff that fans of British Invasion-era rock will find this well worth a look."