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David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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  • IslandFunKen

    This movie, and its soundtrack, influenced my music taste like nothing else before or since.  The recently released DVD is definitely worth owning – proper aspect ratio, great sound, and much much cleaner than the old (or nth generation) VHS release.

    • yupgiboy

       The DVD isn’t remastered, has random chapter stops and is missing one performance (Splodgenessabounds performing “Two Little Boys”). It’s still essential and the second greatest concert film ever made. TAMI is still the greatest. URGH is like TAMI, The Next Generation.

  • http://www.facebook.com/frank.lafone Frank LaFone

    I’m pretty sure I listened to the soundtrack to this around 7,000 times in two years.  I think I eventually bought an album from every act in this movie.

  • niktemadur

    No matter how many interesting bands flew under my radar in the 80′s for future discovery, every single time I go back to The Police and am astonished, over and over again.  Man oh man, were these guys good.
    However, even then I cannot say that The Police are my favorite 80′s band, that dubious honor belongs to Talk Talk.

  • Tribune

    silly people don’t want my money – US only for the DVD-R. Looks like there are a few resellers who will charge a premium to Canada. Or have some fried with a US postal box…. They really don’t like this concept of me give money you give product directly.

  • Abelard Lindsay

    When I was in college, Student Activities would drape a huge sheet down the side of the union building and project 3rd and 4th run movies on Friday nights. One week they showed URGH! Right in the middle of the Cramps’ number, a group of people came out of the Union dressed like a bible study group or something – real Stepford outfits. They look up and see a 20-foot Lux Interior, rubber pants rolled down so the top of his bush was showing, rolling his eyes and fellating a microphone. Aghast, the menfolk steered the womenfolk away as fast as they could without running.

    To this day, I treasure that shit.

  • sdmikev

    oh, man, this made my day, thank you!

  • BDiamond

    Saw this back in grad school. Cool then, cool now.

  • blixa

    Yes! I saw this in the ’80s and loved loved loved it. I’d check the internet from time to time to see if it was available, and finally picked up a terrible copy a few years ago. Just bought it again!

  • http://twitter.com/mwiik Michael Wiik

    The live version of Klaus Nomi’s ‘Total Eclipse’ in this movie is imho much much better than the studio cut.

  • http://www.chairthrower.org/ mrfantasy

    XTC performing live. I think they stopped performing live a few years later.

  • http://twitter.com/glenefriedman glen E. friedman Ⓥ

    it was actually filmed at several locations including the Whisky in Hollywood and the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – i was there ;-)

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/6IOUGPFXUL4SCJX4UQFBZA75RA CliffordS

      With your trusty camera I imagine.

    • timquinn

      glen, are you sure? I don’t remember seeing you there. Pere Ubu and Gang of Four the same night. The Clash were just the dessert.

  • harrisonicus

    Yay!

  • http://www.facebook.com/ron.davidson.79 Ron Davidson

    I loved this album in college (and since). This is the first time I’ve seen the video — makes it even better. Back when music was good and fashion wasn’t (although I liked Klaus Nomi’s outfit).

  • Henry Merckx

    Fun. Odd how the American bands never got their sartorial styles right. The UK bands always look cool, or look the part, while the American bands (and fans) always look kinda dumb or confused, as exemplified by the crowd-surfing chicks with poodle hair in 1982.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/6IOUGPFXUL4SCJX4UQFBZA75RA CliffordS

      The actual concerts were filmed a couple of years earlier, 1980 I believe.  You can see Darby Crash in the audience during the Oingo Boingo set so it couldn’t have been any later.

  • http://twitter.com/tcdurbin tcdurbin

    Other favorites from the era include “Breaking Glass” starring Hazel O’Connor, and “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains” with Diane Lane (among others)

  • beaker

    Love the Wall of Voodoo tune “Back in Flesh” from this compilation.   Metronomic beat, surf guitar, and a frantic, disturbed Stan Ridgeway, 

  • Dv Revolutionary

    Thanks for posting this. I hadn’t seen it and it was wonderful. 

  • Carlos Bastidas

    You just made my day. I didn’t know this movie but It was wonderful to see all of  this act live. Love The Police and Klaus Nomi. 

  • nuschu

    Taken down due to copyright violation.. yay… Found the second half on a French site, I guess they can’t share the first half because of more copyright claims… http://www.wideo.fr/video/iLyROoafZIe7.html