Hear from historian Landon Palmer as he explores the Teenage Awards Music International Show and how this 1964 movie came to exist.

The American Musicological Society and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF) in Cleveland, Ohio, collaborate on a lecture series that brings scholarly work to a broader audience and showcases the musicological work of the top scholars in the field. The AMS / Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lectures provide a public forum that brings music research to a broader audience.

Whether we’re watching Stop Making Sense for the 100th time, catching The Eras Tour in a packed movie theater, or tuning into Coachella live on YouTube, today we take for granted that we can see live concerts recorded for screens big and small. But in the 1960s, there was no set answer to the question of how to capture a concert on film, or what to even do with such a product once it’s been made.

In 1964, the concert film The T.A.M.I. Show gave young America a stunning answer, showcasing on large movie screens an eclectic medley of performers including the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, the Supremes, and an electrifying set by James Brown. Join Landon Palmer as he uncovers the curious story of The T.A.M.I. Show, and how this movie came to exist and why there’s never been anything quite like it since.

Landon Palmer is an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama. He is a historian who researches how the film and popular music industries have crossed paths since the middle of the twentieth century, such as in his book, Rock Star/Movie Star: Power and Performance in Cinematic Rock Stardom, which chronicles the history of rock stars’ performances in movies.