The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder: John, Paul, Tom & Ringo

I just got back from picking this set up and put them in to sample about before getting back to work but could not stop watching until they were done. This is just brilliant stuff. Lennon is just ridiculously honest and all of these were made before PR guys had soundbytes programmed into the mouths of the talent and Tom Snyder asked some of the most ludicrous and off the wall questions which all ads to the fun. More than a curiosity (as many of these DVDs of old shows are) all three of the fab four say interesting things and this set will get repeated viewing.
I can't recommend this strongly enough. If you are a Beatles fan (who isn't?) or a fan of pop culture or music in general...just amazing!
enjoy!

THE TOMORROW SHOW WITH TOM SYNDER is a two-disc dvd set showing separate in-depth interviews with three of the Beatles: John, Paul, and Ringo.

DVD #1 - John Lennon - TRT Approx. 65 minutes

Features The Tomorrow Show's John Lennon tribute, which aired the night after he was murdered 12-09-80, containing a previous show that Lennon appeared on in 1975. That interview runs about 45 or so minutes and discusses everything from Beatlemania to Yoko's involvement in the group. Synder also asks Lennon how he feels about the success of his previous bandmates. The second segment talks about Lennon's immigration problem in New York City and Synder and Lennon are joined by John's immigration attorney Leon Wildes (to find out more about this case get The U.S. vs. John Lennon).
Once the show is done playing, the scene cut backs to the--then--current day and Synder is joined by journalist/writer Lisa Robinson and music producer Jack Douglas(produced Double Fantasy)and they talk about John Lennon and Yoko Ono and what he was like at home etc.
I found the interviews fascinating to watch and Synder is an expert at asking difficult questions without turning his guest off.

DVD #2 - Paul and Linda McCartney; Ringo Starr and wife Barbara Bach (Angie Dickinson-Segment 2). These are two shows: the McCartneys interviewed on one and Starr/Dickinson on the other.

On the McCartney show(air date 12-20-79), Synder interviews Paul and Linda about their group "Wings" and asks about the difficulty in starting another group that's not the Beatles and whether or not the Beatles will reunite. He also asks them about touring etc., and how Linda became involved in "Wings" when she didn't come from a musical background. A music video called "Spin It On" by the group is also shown.

The show featuring Ringo aired on 11-25-81 and Ringo had just released an album(Stop and Smell the Roses). They talk about his marriage to Barbara Bach(who joins them half way through), how "Ringo" got his name, and why he always perceived himself as the dumb one in the group(which Synder quotes from an article in Rolling Stone magazine)and how he felt after Lennon's murder. Very informative and Ringo is entertaining and funny as usual, but the segment is way too short, running at 25-minutes.

Although I enjoyed the interview with Angie Dickinson, I would have liked to have a full show with just Starr.

The quality of each show is pretty good, of course it doesn't look as sharp as though it were done today, but it works. All in all I would recommend this to any Beatle fan or fan of either John, Paul, or Ringo or Wings.

A genuine piece of history. The Paul segment is OK, the Ringo segment is he being his usual charming self. You gotta love Ringo.

The real value of this disc set is the full show that aired roughly 24 hours after John died, built around a re-airing of his 1975 interview with Tom.

The interview is fascinating, a nice blend of humor and John's sometimes caustic memories. He's clever but understated. Tom is his usually nebbish self, kind hearted, a bit star struck, a square in a leisure suit but extremely sympathetic to the counterculture. Rest in peace, Tom, you were a good man. You before anyone turned us on to the Jam and the Clash and many others...

But above all this disc transmits what a crushing event had taken place the night before. Columnist Lisa Robinson and producer Jack Douglas are interviewed a day after someone they knew well was taken from all of us, and they're shellshocked. As we all were.

It's hard to explain to someone too young to remember that night, but John's death was to my generation the greatest shock and deepest cultural heartbreak since Robert Kennedy's death. Think of it... more phone calls were made that night in this country than at any time in history, according to phone company stats. It was so strange... the way we all had to reach out to someone we love to help us get through it. Calling friends who hadn't heard the news.... and hearing them break down on the phone. Such a horrible night, as though we'd lost someone in our family. I remember watching this show as people around me openly sobbed, even after we thought we had no tears left. If you were "there" this disc may be difficult to watch, but it pays ample honor to an exceptionally talented man that to this day is in our hearts.