You are in the Special Features section - Sally Carr and Ken Andrew of Middle Of The Road, Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep, Soley Soley, Top of the Pops, 1970s

Digger spoke to Sally Carr and Ken Andrew of Middle Of The Road. 

 

Ken Andrew and Sally Carr (both centre) of Middle Of The Road

 

 

 

   

 

Some images courtesy of and © copyright www.rexfeatures.com
Some images courtesy of the Middle Of The Road website

 

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Digger:  Your songs are incredibly catchy. Where did you get your writers from and who did the arrangements?

Ken: Our gamble in 'emigrating' to Italy, albeit on the way to Argentina, definitely paid off.  RCA Studios in Rome were the major European recording studios for the recording of movie soundtracks and they  were of Hollywood proportions, attracting musicians and writers from all over Europe. From the word go, the RCA executives were keen to exploit our musical and vocal talents to the full. Our designated producer, Giacomo Tosti,  quickly assembled a team of writers and arrangers in the form of Lally Stott  and Mario and Giosy Capuano, chosen from this pool of talent, to work with us. They were the primary source of our material providing most of our hits. We, for our part, assisted in the instrumental and vocal arrangements to augment Sally's quite unique voice with complementary vocal harmonies, honed in Scotland in the years before performing as 'Los Caracas'. The fact that the first collaboration resulted in a major worldwide hit, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", spawned the team which was to produce a series of hits with the band.

Sally: Our writers were supplied by our record company RCA Italy. The arrangements were done by the writers, at least that’s what I think. When it came to the actual singing of the songs we then applied our arrangements.

Digger: Does the term MOTR have nothing but positive connotations for you? Some music snobs seem to use it
as a derogatory term, but to my mind pop music is just that - popular music.

Ken: Middle-of-the-road is a positive term for us. Terms in the music business are like fads. They fall in and out of favour. In the 70s, middle-of-the-road music was the answer to the pop genre of the day, which was becoming a self indulgent art form. Popular music was taking itself too seriously. Middle of the road music made light of that. The band could never be accused of taking itself seriously at all. Often we were criticised in the press for being "too commercial". When it comes down to it, we earned a living out of trying to entertain people. If that is being "too commercial", then we must admit to being guilty. The term middle-of-the-road had a particular meaning for us which ran alongside the musical meaning. We were always travelling, even in Scotland, and we always seemed to be on the road.

 

Sally: MOTR for me has very positive connotations. To be 63-64 years of age in March, and still working at something which I love and earns me a living is proof. As for the so-called music snobs, my answer to that is WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT. I have no time for snobs, music or otherwise. We all come into the world the same way and we all go out the same way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first ever publicity shot for Los Caracas

 

 

Digger: How did fame affect you and when did you know you had truly 'arrived?'

Ken: I think there was a feeling of disbelief. We were aware that something special was happening but we were working and travelling so much that it had little or no effect on us at all. It was only when we were invited to appear on Top of the Pops in the UK with 'Chirpy', charting in the No. 4 position, that the penny dropped. I have to admit feeling a little smug because I had been derided for having taken the decision, a year earlier, to go off on this adventure to Argentina, giving up a good job in the film industry in Scotland. But, to be honest, we have always regarded our success as a stroke of luck while doing something we enjoyed doing. We were given no advance from the record company when we signed the contract in Italy and so there were no financial benefits until at least a year later. I think that this helped keep our feet on the ground and certainly maintained our need to work to survive. The fame itself seems to have continued over the years and that has meant we are still invited to perform live  to audiences all over Europe today. This is a wonderful legacy we never dreamed of having.

Sally: Fame gave me the opportunity to do things sooner than later. I bought my parents a house,  I lived my father's dream for him and got to travel. My father was a miner and my mother an invalid who was bedridden till she died at 62 years of age. They devoted their lives to their children. I don’t think I have truly arrived, I’m still learning and there is still a lot I want to do with my life.

Digger: Sally, you have a very distinctive voice. Did you get any vocal training? Who inspired you to sing?

Sally: My distinctive voice has been called many things over the years, some things not very flattering. My parents inspired me to sing. When we were young we gathered round the piano in the evenings and sang. I have four brothers all of which have better singing voices than me. I have never had any vocal training.

Digger: Ken, do you ever get a chance to show off with your drumming or play unusual licks or solos?

Ken: In the 70s it was obligatory to include a drum solo in your set and I was often abandoned on the stage to face the audience for what seemed like an eternity. In those days, the only instruments that weren't 'miked up' were the drums and this meant the drummer had to  really batter hell out of the kit to be heard at all. On one occasion, in South America, the power on stage gave out silencing all the amplification, including the PA system. We were performing to an audience of up to 10,000 people and suddenly, I was the only instrumentalist  to be heard. While everyone else left the stage to the safety of the wings, I battled on with a solo that lasted some 15 minutes and it was only terminated by me drumming my way down the cymbal stands and across the stage floor until I was out of sight of the audience, leaving an empty stage. The audience assumed that this was all part of the act and we got tumultuous applause. The power was restored as we returned to the stage to take a bow and we were able to complete the set.
Today, we don't include a drum solo in our programme due to lack of time. When we perform, we are expected to include all of our hits and a number of album tracks in a one hour show. With 12 European hits, and a selection of ballads from our albums, we find it difficult to include a drum solo without it standing out like a sore thumb. On the other hand, I would love to get my teeth into a solo and I don't rule that out for the coming season. We are a vocal group, however, and I would need to pace it in such a way that I was still able to sing without the use of oxygen, even though I am now fully "miked" through the PA System.

Digger: MOTR are hugely popular in Europe to this day. What is it about British music of that time that seems to appeal to the Europeans?

Ken: In six words, melody, rhythm and repetitive easy-sounding lyrics. Although only one of our hits was written entirely by a British writer, Lally Stott writing 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep', it is clear to me that continental taste, barring the Eurovision Song Contest, demands a good melody; a steady and infectious rhythm getting the feet (or hands) going and lyrics which ride in tandem, irrespective of meaning, with the melody. That is not just European taste. It is most likely completely global. 'Chirpy', and yes, it is British, reflects that perfectly, with it being popular right across the world in cultures east, west, north and south. It doesn't carry a message in the lyrics but it says a lot about the universality of the language of music. I think we should remember that lyrics can be the 'weakest link' in the process of international songwriting (folk music excepted) but that does not reduce their importance to those that speak the language that bore them. At the risk of being further boring, I'll leave it at that.

 

Sally: I don’t know why our music is so appealing to the Europeans. All I know is they like us they like to join in with us and sing the songs and in general have fun. Maybe that’s the reason our music is fun, happy, unpretentious music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Some early publicity shots 

 

 

 

Digger: There have been complex wrangles over the naming and line-up of the group in true rock and roll fashion. Are these now sorted?

Ken: I have maintained since 1994, when Ian McCredie left to form a band with his son and his son's girlfriend, that the original Middle of the Road is deceased. This has been further confirmed by the fact that Eric McCredie, Ian's brother, sadly died just over a year ago. Middle of the Road's sound and image was greater than the individuals in the band. There was a unique formula which no longer exists. But, the strongest element in the band was, and is, Sally's voice, and our band is lucky to have this. We do not approve of two bands representing the legacy of any group but it is a common problem with retro groups.
Rather than line the pockets of solicitors and the like we have left things to sort themselves out. There is little point in arguing out the rights and wrongs of groups claiming ownership of names or otherwise. When one looks at the myriad of videos, illegal and legal, being posted on websites on the internet, the public have the opportunity of deciding whom they wish to uphold as the best representatives of the original group. The only point to press on this issue is that each musical group claiming to represent the original band is billed in such a way that punters are aware of which one they are going to see. Our answer to this is that we insist on being billed as 'Middle of the Road featuring Sally Carr'.

 

Sally: All the complex problems of the past are dried and dusted and all parties are getting on with their lives.

Digger: What have been your biggest achievements and what would you still like to accomplish?

Ken: For me, our biggest achievement has been to survive the ups and downs of the music business and still maintain lifestyles which allow us to be normal people. Success in the music world has been the downfall of many an individual; too many to list. I feel that I have been privileged to enjoy the benefits of success, not always monetary, and keep my private life relatively stable. Today I live modestly in the Scottish Borders enjoying the benefits of family, friends and neighbours . They are all aware of my monthly jaunts to Europe, where I have a professional status above the 'norm'. But, here, they allow me the freedom of being absolutely normal; in fact to follow a middle-of-the-road lifestyle. Musically, our elevation to being an international success has been quite overwhelming for four people whose very beginnings were in the vibrant but diminutive pub and supper dance circuit in Glasgow in the mid- sixties.
What would I like to accomplish? Although I have written and produced a documentary on the band, I would love to write a screenplay based on our exploits and produce a movie which would reflect the outcome of success in the music business during our career.

 

Sally: My biggest achievement in life was having my son.  I would like to compose a song from beginning to end, not just the lyrics; learn to play the guitar and do more painting.

Digger: Sally, what have been your funniest experiences on tour?

 

Sally: The funniest experience I remember was before we became MOTR. We were called Los Caracas and decided to make a record ourselves in a small studio and sell it at gigs. After a particularly good afternoon on a small paddle steamer we were returning home. Ken had one of the empty record boxes containing the proceeds from the sales sitting on his knee in the back of a convertible car. It was crammed full of one and five pound notes. Full of excitement he opened the box and all the money flew out of the car. We were hours trying to retrieve it all. Thinking of that still makes me laugh.

Digger: Ken, who were your drumming heroes and inspirations?

Ken: When I started drumming it was jazz and big band music which excited me and my first interest in drumming was in the late fifties. I was, and still am, a fan of the Ted Heath Band. Ronnie Verrill was the drummer whom I tried to emulate and I could be found in front of the record player copying Ronnie's stylish and aggressive rhythms. It wasn't until the early sixties when I joined a university beat group that my interest turned to rock and roll. Tony Meehan, of Shadows fame, was the drummer of the day and I learned a lot from listening to his recordings. The emergence of Mersey Beat and the Liverpool Sound focused my attention on drummers like Ringo Starr. Ringo was often written off as a drummer but he had a sure fire basic rhythmic style which reminded me of the need to be simple and solid. The drummer is the anchor of any band. (I would say that, wouldn't I?) Ringo was a good example to follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: What was the Top Of The Pops audience and experience REALLY like?

Ken: Top of the pops was an icon of the TV Music scene and if you achieved recognition enough to be included on the show, you knew you had made it (in the UK, at least.) We were rushed in to London to record our first appearance because 'Chirpy' had jumped in to the number 4 position in the UK charts. We were in Denmark at the time and we had already made a number of appearances on European TV shows but to appear, at home, on TOTP was really exciting. The show itself was dominated by the audience. Many of the youngsters were regulars and in some ways seemed to consider themselves as the 'stars'. We did feel a little out of place appearing with pop idols of the time, but the audience was reassuring in that they took us under their wings and advised us what was happening during the periods of waiting that go along with the recording of TV shows. After our first show we began to feel more at home, with very regular appearances on TOTP for almost a year.

 

Sally: Top of the Pops audience was a small group of the public.  The experience was interesting. In the eyes of the British public, if you appeared on Top of the Pops then you had made it.

Digger: Sally, we interviewed fellow Scot vocalist Eve Graham of The New Seekers. Did your paths cross much? Is your Scottishness manifested in your vocals, choice of songs or the way you sing them?

 

Sally: I don’t remember ever meeting Eve Graham. My memory isn’t too good these days. In some of our songs my Scottish accent does come through, but that’s who I am and would never try to change it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: Ken, the band hit the big time in the UK in 1971 after success in Europe. How long did it take to get established until then and what musical styles and formats did you try/perform?

Ken: The band performed in the UK from 1967 to 1970 as Los Caracas. We were a vocal/dance band and our initial style of music covered every aspect of dance music. With there being only two 'musical instruments', Guitar and Bass Guitar, we had to make use of our voices extensively. We adopted the 'oohs and aahs' of backing vocals to create string and brass arrangements, while Sally launched into the lead vocals. We did this for Quicksteps, Fox Trots, Waltzes and Latin American dances. The latter was to be a genre which we pushed as our image in Los Caracas. Amongst all of this was our ability to cover pop sounds of the day, like the Tremeloes, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, the Mamas and the Papas. We were in great demand as a speciality band for dances and special events. In effect, this gave us a very good grounding in performing most types of popular music. Several appearances on 'Opportunity Knocks' in 1968 established us on a circuit which covered the length and breadth of the UK, in particular in the club circuit. We were working very hard and holding on to day jobs in and around Glasgow. We were still developing a vocal sound which was to be the appealing element in our discovery by RCA in Italy.

Having gone as far as we were willing to go at home, we made the decision to go abroad and we were on our way to Argentina, via Italy, when we were invited to audition in the RCA Studios in Rome.
The period between arriving in Italy and our Rome audition was only a matter of 3 months. We had been continuing the same musical format in Italian clubs and on one appearance at La Cappanina de Francesci in Forte de Marmi, an RCA talent scout made an approach and we accepted.

From then on, our style was dictated by our writers and producers and we simply complied. Our vocal sound was soon firmly established.

Digger: iPods, Sat navs and the Internet. What would Ken and Sally have made of these in 1971? What do you listen to most on your iPods?

Ken: I would have loved an iPod in the 70s. It would have saved me carrying around a 'portable' cassette player which often chewed up my tapes. The Internet, however, would have probably closed the door on our recording success at that time. We did rely on the facilities, both in distribution and recording, offered to us by the record companies, all of whom, rightly or wrongly, are struggling with the challenges of the latest technology. There is no doubt, however, that these changes are welcome, now that new entertainment and the methods of distribution are evolving. What would we have thought of these new technologies then? It was inconceivable that we could listen to any quality of music on a memory stick in those days. In spite of being at the front of technology in the video business today, I am still flabbergasted at what technology is doing for us today. We are living more and more in a virtual world. Whether this is good or bad is debatable but it is accelerating at such a rate that any answer is most likely redundant.

 

I listen to all the music I have enjoyed on tape over the years transferred to my iPod. Currently I enjoy Michael Buble but I have a very varied taste in music and I just listen to what my mood dictates and that could be anything from classical to R&B.

Sally: I have a computer which I love and am always doing evening classes to learn more. I don’t own an iPod or a sat nav, I prefer to use my own senses to navigate. And since the death of my son, very rarely listen to music. Music is a very powerful medium.

Digger: A lot of your performances are on Youtube. What is the best feedback that you get from people about your songs and performances?

Ken: On the whole, they seem to like them, bringing back memories of their past etc. It is a great shame that most of these performances are TV appearances which were mimed to the original recordings. In spite of what everyone may think, bands hate miming. It is only done to save the TV companies having to rehearse the proper sound mixes and set up live backlines to accommodate the electronic instruments. I have to perform on drums with thick plastic sheets which not only muffle the sound but give no bounce at all to the drumstick. Today, however, we insist on having live 'mics' for vocals. This does help to create the illusion of a live performance. Having said that, there are a few shows where live performances are recorded even without rehearsal. I have not heard the results and hope that they got it right!  Some comments on Youtube also relate to the other group with the replacement for Sally. These comments speak for themselves.

There have been one or two age-related criticisms but these are few and far between. We are, after all, all maturing and, rest assured, as soon as we are not in demand for concerts, we will retire, gracefully. This year, however, looks busier than ever.

 

Sally: I never look at our performances on Youtube.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: Who would be at your ideal dinner party of guests, living or dead, fictional or real people?

Ken: I would love to have dinner with Peter Ustinov, whom we met in Geneva in the 70s. I could listen to his anecdotes on life endlessly. Alex Salmond and Annabelle Goldie from the Scottish Parliament would be really entertaining as a double act covering politics in Scotland and Boris Johnson for a taste of the south. To keep every one in order I think I would have Alexander Armstrong who regularly chairs 'Have I got News for You' . They would all have to eat vegetarian though and for that reason they would probably dodge the invitation, except for Peter Ustinov who, naturally, would not reply.

 

Sally: My ideal dinner party guests would be a group of my own friends, none of whom are famous. 

Digger: Sally, with your omnipresent boots and hot pants, you have been likened to an early Agnetha from Abba. How do you react to that?

 

Sally: We were before ABBA. In fact Agnetha recorded one of our hits in Swedish. I love this group - they had so many fabulous songs. The vocal harmonies from ABBA and ourselves are very similar, and Agnetha and myself had long blonde hair, so I guess people will compare us.

Digger: Ken, who decided on the band's image and choice of material and how much control did the members have?

Ken: We all had a say in the image which was originally casual and almost American in its style, but as fashions changed we gradually drifted into 70s 'Glamrock' with outrageous 'Loons' and 'Flares'. Personally, I hated it. The wide bottoms often caught on my bass drum pedal and caused me to miss an important rhythmic accent. I don't know how many times I tripped and destroyed a dignified exit from the stage or press conference. These fashions were a disgrace to humanity and I'm grateful that we are not generally associated with them. May they rest in peace.

Digger: Please describe YOUR sixties and seventies.

Ken: The sixties, for me, was the decade when I grew up. I was still at school in 1960 and the pop era was only just on the horizon. TV was still naive, entertaining and informative and the cinema was churning out wonderful giant widescreen (Cinerama, Todd-AO, Technirama etc.) Epics. The thrill of sharing those real blockbusters with audiences in auditoria capable of seating thousands at one sitting was an experience that today's cinema audience would do well to support. That's if the cinema chains ditch the multiplex system and return to presenting films, instead of simply  sticking moving pictures on a white patch on the wall. Presentation was all important in those days. Stereo sound for the home was the technology to die for.

You can gather from this that Hi-Fi, Television and Cinema were the media for me. No iPods, mobile phones or computer games. Although they were all passive forms of entertainment, they stimulated what creative juices I had then to record audio and shoot film. The introduction of domestic stereo sound  and the easier access to Super 8mm film opened up the audio visual experience that still excites me today.

That is not to say that live music did not play a part in my 60s life. Far from it. I regularly visited jazz clubs in the early 60s before 'beat music' took over. My first experience of performing was in an interval group playing rock and roll for 30 minutes, while the jazz band took a break. The audience used to throw coins at us as a gesture of disapproval that such basic music should be played in the same premises as the more sophisticated, syncopated rhythms and melodies of the likes of Kenny Ball, Terry Lightfoot or Acker Bilk. Within three years, there was a complete role reversal and Jazz took second place to rock and pop. What a transformation in such a short time. But that was the sixties. Change was the flavour of the times. It was exciting and full of promise. By the end of the decade, all the enthusiasm for change and the optimism for the future was beginning to fade and reality was kicking in. Sad to say, but I think that it was the sixties which laid the foundation for the circumstances we find ourselves in today. Nevertheless, the 60s were happy, if somewhat irresponsible, times.

 

Sally: My sixties were full of fun and happiness. During the day I was a hairdresser and in the evenings I sang in pubs and clubs, both with bands and solo. I also worked as a waiter in the pubs. The seventies were hectic. We could be in a different country every day for weeks on end, tiring but fulfilling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: Can you tell us more about your trip to Japan. I went there in the eighties and it was a big culture shock. What was it like for you in the seventies?

Ken: Our trip to Japan was hosted by our record company, JVC, and was almost entirely a promotional visit. We appeared on breakfast TV, performed short sets at press conferences and were sent to the Yamaha Music Camp at Nemu No Satu near Osaka. This was a beautifully laid out residential complex with chalets and facilities for musicians to learn their art and enjoy the leisure facilities offered them in this area of Japan. It was so like Scotland, geographically, that we felt completely at home. We were making a film for Japanese TV, spending most of our time within the camp. Our impression of Japan was very much coloured by our hosts, who were keen to show us some of the country's traditional culture as well as the night-life and shopping centres. It seemed to me that, in line with many other countries in the world at that time, Japan was being seriously 'Westernised'. In fact, Tokyo, apart from the utter congestion, was just like any American or European metropolis. The transport system with the 'bullet trains' was most impressive though. Unfortunately, we haven't been back since and so I couldn't comment on the current trends.

 

Sally: The trip to Japan was crazy. After a gig one night we were told we had to get out fast because of the crowds gathering outside. We started to leave, me with our manager at the time and a couple of people from the gig.  We had to leave by the front for some reason or another, I don’t remember. We were making for the car when we were spotted, my hair was the giveaway.  John threw me into the back seat of the car and the crowd started pulling me out of the other side. I was terrified. There I was the makeshift rope for a game of tug-o-war. We managed to secure the doors and drive away. In the confusion we left Ken and Ian standing on the pavement.

A fascinating country.  I was given a chaperone to take me around.

Digger: What were/are the best and worst aspects of being in MOTR?

Ken: The best aspect of being in MOTR is and was the complete satisfaction of being on stage and, in spite of any external differences, acting as a unit making people happy.
The worst aspect of being in MOTR was having to bear the derision extended to the group by the UK Music scene no matter how popular we were. Fortunately, the music and the group has survived. Today the worst aspect of being in MOTR is that we have to fly too much although wherever possible we travel by surface transport. Carbon offsetting is practiced as often as possible also.

 

Sally: The best aspects of working in Middle Of The Road are entertaining people, having them join in with me singing the songs, seeing the happiness we seem to bring to them and then after the gig talking to them while we hand out autograph cards.

The worst aspects are the early morning rises , usually 4 am and the long journeys to get to the gigs.

Digger: If you could have been in any other band, who would it have been and why?

Ken: I would love to have been in The Beatles. They were the band who transcended most popular music genres and had something to say through great melodies and inspiring lyrics (most of the time). Their sense of humour sometimes got the better of them. They epitomised a middle-of-the-road experience incorporating all styles into their compositions. The money would have been nice too but money isn't everything.

Sally: I had many opportunities to go solo and work with other bands. I turned them all down. I love the band I’m with and that’s where I’m staying till the public don’t want us anymore.

Digger: Ken, how would you describe the state of the music scene today?

Ken: In one word, chaos. Musically, there doesn't seem to be any place to go with re-recordings and covers of old songs sung by choreographed puppets turning up everywhere. There are, of course, one or two exceptions particularly with solo artists but most of them seem to need some sort of psychological attention. Sadly, the 'talent show' medium is too controlled by commercial opportunists with a liking to be disliked, probably their only route to fame. Oh what a cynical view I have. The only hope rests with a revitalisation of the live music market where musicians and singers can do what they do best. Make music happen. Actual record companies seem to be being replaced by virtual ones so the exploitation of bands and musicians will go on but the Internet, if used correctly, provides a new opening for talented and innovative music makers.

Digger: Sally, what advice would you give to young female musicians starting out in the business today?

 

Sally: The music business today is so different to what it was so I don’t know if I am the best person to give advice. All I can say is always remember who you are and where you came from, be true to yourself. After all you’re just doing a job, it may look very glamorous but believe me it’s hard work.

Digger: Looking back at the seventies fashions, what would you say about them? (I was 13 when the seventies started so was also wearing that sort of stuff.)

Ken: The 70s fashion scene deserves to be quietly swept under the carpet. Designers in those days seemed to be intent on making men look like complete berks. If there was ever a time for quoting the story of 'The Emperors New Clothes', this was it. Someone should have stood up and laughed out loud at the so called innovators of fashion. Instead, we went out in our droves and helped line the pockets of a bunch of rogues. Women's fashions were a little more acceptable but some of the dance sequences in the film 'Mama Mia' say it all.

 

Sally: I loved the seventies fashion, in fact I still dress very similarly to what I did then, minus the hot pants and thigh length boots. I still love my flare jeans.

Digger: Can you say a few words to the many fans (both those who admit to being fans and the closet fans!!) who are out there?

Ken: We have been very lucky to have had the success we have had and we hope that in some way we have brought a little sunshine into the lives of our fans. We still get Emails from all over the world from people who have come across our appearances on Youtube and the like. Our live appearances today are just like big re-union parties and the fans are just wonderful. To those who have supported us for all those years; a very big thank you and to those who may just put up with us; don't worry! The pain will disappear in time.

 

Sally: I would like to say thank you to all the fans (closet or otherwise) who have made it possible for me to still be doing the job I love at my age.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Digger: What projects have you got lined-up for the future?

Ken: We are about to embark on one of the busiest years we've experienced so far and this on the back of one of the most critical financial downturns for a very long time. We have several TV and radio appearances lined up for Germany and Belgium while live concerts are continuing to ensure at least another year of MOTR activity. We are not intending to record any further albums at present but I have been working on having a definitive DVD on the band released for the past 4 years. It contains a one hour documentary with interviews and material shot over the past 40 years illustrating the bands crazy rise, fall and rise again. There are also live performances from the original band in the 70s and the revived band in the 90s, together with a short film made for the launch of the Fiat 127 in 1971 in which the group features. Most of the material has never been commercially released before and offers over 2 hours of MOTR entertainment. It also puts a halt to all the nonsense floated over websites and books about the band and its route to fame. SonyBMG were informally committed to releasing the DVD but that fell through last year and I am currently looking for deals with individual labels in separate territories to complete this long running project.