Suppose they gave a music war
and everyone came?

One of the most punk rock documentary concert films about the punk / new wave / post punk / ska scene is 1981's Urgh! A Music War, a revolutionary film which will be making the rounds later this year in the US.

What's punk about it is there is no narrator, no script, no graphics, no baloney. Just 33 credited acts performing 34 songs with a scrawled white caption near the beginning of the tune telling the audience the name of the band and the city it went down in.

Directed by Derek Burbidge, the crew filmed at several concerts around the world including the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium; the Whisky a Go Go; the California Theatre in San Diego; CBGB and the Ritz in New York City; the Roman arena in Fréjus, France; the Lyceum, Hammersmith Odeon, Rainbow Theatre and ICA in London; and Guildhall in Portsmouth, England.

Jonathan Demme originally accepted the offer to direct but ended up helming the very different Stop Making Sense by the Talking Heads.

Burbidge was experienced in directing music videos and long form concerts and music documentaries. Around the time of Urgh! he directed many videos you've probably seen:

AC/DC’s “Back in Black” (1980), and “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” (1981); Gary Numan’s “Cars” (1979); the Go-Go’s’ “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1981); the Honeydrippers’ “Sea of Love” (1984); the Pretenders’ “I Go to Sleep” (1981); Queen’s “We Are the Champions” (1977); Robert Plant’s “Little by Little” (1985); Squeeze’s “Another Nail in My Heart” (1980); the Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks” (1978).

But the band he is most associated with is the Police with home he directed “Roxanne” (1978), “Can’t Stand Losing You” (1978), “Message in a Bottle” (1979), “Walking on the Moon” (1979), “So Lonely” (1980), “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” (1980), “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” (1980), “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (1981), “Invisible Sun” (1981), “Spirits in the Material World” (1981), “Demolition Man” (1981) and “One World (Not Three)” (1981).

He also filmed 1982's Police Around The World, the concert documentary where the popular trio tour through Australia, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico. Some of that footage was garnered while he was making Urgh!

The reason, though why The Police are the only band with two songs in Urgh! while everyone else only has one, is probably because of the two creative consultants, Miles and Ian Copeland, brothers of Police drummer Stewart.

Miles Copeland owned IRS Records and Ian Copeland owned Frontier Booking International. Of the bands in the film about 1/3 had a relationship with either the label or the booker or both: Chelsea, the Cramps, the Dead Kennedys, the Fleshtones, the Go-Go’s, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Magazine, Oingo Boingo, the Police, Skafish, Wall of Voodoo and XTC.

So when you have the director of all the Police's videos, the brothers of their incredible drummer running the label the soundtrack ended up on and the tour booking, and they just happen to be one of the biggest bands of the lineup, you're probably going to get an extra song in the film.

One of the things that makes this documentary so compelling though, is even though the Police bookend the tunes in the 2 hour and 45 minute film, every band and each performance is solid and a beautiful representation to what the alternative scene was like in the early 1980s, even now decades later.

A viewer could easily come away with understanding how talented Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart were just a few years into their career on their way to becoming the biggest band in the world by '84, but also see the influences in new wave and post punk they were drawing from, and how some of their peers were just as good if not better.

This was a time well before mobile phones, obviously, but it also predates video screens behind the bands. The stage production of the vast majority of these acts is minimal with simply a black drape behind them.

Crazy concept but the songs came first. In the case of these, creativity was high in the order of importance. Some leaned on costuming, but at its heart were strong songs that weren't all that interested in the hit parade.

While some of these groups did make it onto the charts, often it was either by accident, or the audience moved to them - not the other way around.

And then in other cases, both the songs and the presentation was so raw and beautiful, it shot straight to legendary status completely bypassing the stale concepts of popularity or commercialism.

We are all better off that The Cramps never had to endure Total Request Live or Casey Kasem's American Top 40.

For decades Urgh! A Music War has been a hidden gem of fantastic performances that has knocked an impression on whoever saw it. Its simplicity, intensity, and no-nonsense presentation inspired Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett who used it as a north star when he put together his 2005 documentary about the desert festival.

In his May 22, 2005 column discussing the doc about Coachella's first five concerts, LA Times writer Steve Hochman said that Tollett's goal was to "capture the event the way that such classic music festival films as 'Monterey Pop' and 'Woodstock did in the '60s -- as well as one of his favorites, the more obscure 'Urgh! A Music War,' which showcased some of the top punk and new wave acts of the early '80s."

Next month the top 10 Apple podcast Revolutions Per Movie will kick off its west coast tour of the film hosted by Chaki & Chris Slusarenko who have amassed over 50 episodes about the cult classic. Expect special guests.

In October the tour goes to the east coast, wrapping up in New Jersey.

Tickets will go quickly, so grab them as fast as you can, here.

Urgh! A Music War Live Screening Tour

8/12 Salem Cinema, Salem, OR
8/13 Clinton Street Theater, Portland, OR
8/14 Beacon Cinema, Seattle, WA
8/16 Grand Cinema, Tacoma, WA
8/28 Philosophical Research Society, Los Angeles, with Steve Bartek of Oingo Boingo and Bruce Moreland of Wall of Voodoo
8/30 Roxie Theater, San Francisco, with East Bay Ray of Dead Kennedys
10/9 MassArt, Boston, MA, with Hugo Burnham of Gang of Four
10/10 Catskill Community Theater, Catskill, NY
10/12 Nitehawk Cinema, NYC, with Hugo Burnham of Gang of Four
10/13 PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA
10/14 WFMU’s Monty Hall, Jersey City, NJ, with WFMU’s Evan “Funk” Davies