"Urgh!"

While growing up, one of my most consistent memories of my dad is of him coming home from work and then falling asleep in his living room chair - a newspaper lying flat against his chest. If you asked Dad how his day was during dinner he'd softly snort and say "Busy." If you asked him what he did that day he'd reply, "Kept busy."

Later, in the TV room, we'd eat air-popped popcorn and watch TV - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dhpSp3sG20 -  until it was time to go to bed (always 10:00 PM). Dad didn't talk in his sleep, didn't talk with food in his mouth, and he didn't talk when the TV was on. So, when I was a kid talking to dad wasn't ever an option.  

You can then imagine what a jolt it was when one Saturday morning, before he left for work, Dad leaned into my bedroom and said, "I taped a show off of cable for you late last night. It's all about music, and looked like something you'd like." I was shocked into silence, and dad quickly turned away.

My first thought was, "How'd he know I liked music?" - as if he hadn't heard music blaring out of my upstairs room since I was five - and my first action was to hop out of bed and run down to the TV room to fire up the VCR. Sometimes our cable provider would give our town a free weekend of HBO, and my dad would borrow a VCR from work so we could record as many programs as possible.

The movie he recorded for me was a 1981 British release called "Urgh! A Music War", and it featured live performances by 38 different bands from around the world. Talk about an eyeopener, I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing.

I was only 12, and I had no idea there were so many strange bands in the world.

When I got to the 23rd performance, The Cramps performing their song "Tear it Up", I quickly closed the TV room's door in fear that my mom would see what I was watching and destroy the tape. I kept thinking "Are you supposed to put a microphone in there?" and "What is that guy wearing? Are those actually pants? How does he keep them up?"

Then I thought, "Thanks, Dad!"

Well, my "Urgh" VHS tape eventually wore out, but thanks to the kind folks at Warner Archive I recently got a chance to time travel back to 1981. The movies available from the archive haven't been available on DVD before, and are burned onto DVD-R "on demand". In other words, you can't find these in any stores.

http://www.wbshop.com/category/wbshop_brands/warner+archive.do

Although the movies are described as not remastered or restored, you can watch a quick clip to check out the video's quality. I ordered "Urgh" on a Wednesday, and it was in my DVD player in three days. The widescreen presentation looks and sounds great, and I still wonder "How does that guy keep those 'pants' up?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC4LqiRoIE8