Rating: 
Summary: "Off the Charts" is off the charts great!
Review: As with most of the other reviewers, I first caught this on PBS several months ago.
When I found out it was finally on DVD I happily bought it and am not disappointed.
The wonderful stories told during this documentary are quite charming and actually very inspiring. Anyone interested in any aspect of music will adore this DVD...has many nice extras. Song-poems RULE!
Rating:
Summary: Funniest TV program of all time!!!
Review: I have watched a huge amount of television in my life.That said, the PBS airing of Off the Charts was the funniest thing that I have ever seen on TV. I am very excited to watch it again and even MORE excited to see the extras and hear the commentators. I bought three so that I can lend the extras to friends and family. I guarantee that I will be a hero.
Rating:
Summary: Funniest TV program of all time!!!
Review: I have watched a huge amount of television in my life. That said, the PBS airing of Off the Charts was the funniest thing that I have ever seen on TV. I am very excited to watch it again and even MORE excited to see the extras and hear the commentators. I bought three so that I can lend the extras to friends and family. I guarantee that I will be a hero.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutly fabulous
Review: I saw this documentary on PBS awhile ago, and loved it. It is beyond description. I highly recomend picking this one up.
Rating:
Summary: An AMAZING documentary!
Review: I saw this on PBS last year and was blown away. This is the story of the song-poem industry, in which studio musicians on the fringes of the recording industry solicit lyrics from amateurs, charge them a fee, and then send them back a finished (albeit one-take) recording of the resulting "song." The songwriters are amazing--some genuinely bizarre people and some fairly regular folk--all of whom have something to say (in verse) and see this is as their only way to say it. The musicians treat the projects pretty seriously, too. The customer is king, I guess. And the results are weird mash-ups of bizarre lyrics and generic musical backing in a variety of genres. The director takes a pretty balanced view, and treats all of these people like, well, people. We all have dreams, and they're no different. Well, maybe a little different! Anyway, if you're at all interested in the unintentionally weird edges of the music biz, this film is a must-see. And if that floats your boat, seek out the various compilations of actual song-poem records out there.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Film!!!!
Review: I was surprised to see how completely captivating and intriguing this film was. If art imitates life then this film is a perfect example. In this documentary, director Jamie Meltzer explores the bizarre and fascinating world of "Song Poems". In this obscure sub-culture, ordinary people with stars in their eyes are seduced by ads in the back of magazines promising fame and fortune for original songs. For a price anyone can submit his or her personal, heartfelt, and often times very bizarre lyrics/poems to be recorded as songs. Yes, the subject matter is strange but I found myself touched by these people lives and completely fascinated by the inner workings of the business end of the song-poem world. What I loved about it was that it was so completely human. There should be more films made like this one. You don't need huge special effects or some grand subject matter, all you need is a good story.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Film!!!!
Review: I was surprised to see how completely captivating and intriguing this film was. If art imitates life then this film is a perfect example. In this documentary, director Jamie Meltzer explores the bizarre and fascinating world of "Song Poems". In this obscure sub-culture, ordinary people with stars in their eyes are seduced by ads in the back of magazines promising fame and fortune for original songs. For a price anyone can submit his or her personal, heartfelt, and often times very bizarre lyrics/poems to be recorded as songs. Yes, the subject matter is strange but I found myself touched by these people lives and completely fascinated by the inner workings of the business end of the song-poem world. What I loved about it was that it was so completely human. There should be more films made like this one. You don't need huge special effects or some grand subject matter, all you need is a good story.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad music makes a good show...
Review: I, too, saw this doc last year and absolutely loved it.
I've always had a love for bad, cheesy music. I can't explain why but things like The Shaggs and Portsmouth Sinfonia
and Mrs. Miller have always made the laugh. If you're the type that's bought a bargain basement album because it looks SO BAD, then you'll love this documentary. What's touching is how earnest and endearing a couple of these
song-writers were. Others were just plain strange. Such is the world of song-poems. The companies cranking this stuff out (actually decent musicians) made sure never to change the lyrics, no matter how bad or how poorly they worked.
So of course I loved this doc and it made me want to hear these songs for myself. For anyone that's curious, check out the website aspma.com. (American Song Poem Music Assoc.). It has a treasure-trove of song-poems available for download. There's also a couple of cds you can buy through Amazon that are great. Co-workers and I have laughed ourselves silly over some of this stuff. (sample song-poem lyrics: Disco, disco, disco ... I am going to Mt. Cisco. I am going to buy Crisco to bake a cake so I can disco, disco, disco. Also loved: Norman Casserly, the first male midwife) Highly recommended if you like unintentionally funny things...
Rating:
Summary: Bad music makes a good show...
Review: I, too, saw this doc last year and absolutely loved it.
I've always had a love for bad, cheesy music. I can't explain why but things like The Shaggs and Portsmouth Sinfonia
and Mrs. Miller have always made the laugh. If you're the type that's bought a bargain basement album because it looks SO BAD, then you'll love this documentary. What's touching is how earnest and endearing a couple of these
song-writers were. Others were just plain strange. Such is the world of song-poems. The companies cranking this stuff out (actually decent musicians) made sure never to change the lyrics, no matter how bad or how poorly they worked.
So of course I loved this doc and it made me want to hear these songs for myself. For anyone that's curious, check out the website aspma.com. (American Song Poem Music Assoc.). It has a treasure-trove of song-poems available for download. There's also a couple of cds you can buy through Amazon that are great. Co-workers and I have laughed ourselves silly over some of this stuff. (sample song-poem lyrics: Disco, disco, disco ... I am going to Mt. Cisco. I am going to buy Crisco to bake a cake so I can disco, disco, disco. Also loved: Norman Casserly, the first male midwife) Highly recommended if you like unintentionally funny things...
Rating:
Summary: song poems!
Review: If you like Christopher Guest movies (Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, Spinal Tap), then this DVD is for you! As if not more humorous than the "mockumentary"- characters that parallel Guest's creations.
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