The Mike Douglas Show with John Lennon & Yoko Ono (Rhino Records)

This has to be the ultimate evening-in for Lennon and Beatles heads. In fact, with over six hours of footage in this delicious new box set, it's more of a barricade yourself in the living room for a weekend scenario. In '70s heyday, the Mike Douglas Show was the talk show to be seen on. And for one week only he was joined every night by two special co-hosts: Mr & Mrs Lennon. Needless to say, they bought with them not only some classic (and little-heard) tracks to air, but also a weird assortment of guests, comedians, activists and fruitcakes from the seventies New York underground.

Did it really change the course of television history? Well John & Yoko put together a bill that even today would make pretty breakthrough viewing on prime time TV. Like student activist Ralph Nader, yippie Jerry Rubin, comedian George Carlin, a macrobiotic cook, a biofeedback therapist and various others. You'll also the art work of Yoko getting a platform - interactive and multimedia pieces which predated anything we have now by a good thirty years.

Oh and there's some pretty good music too. There's not enough room to list each and every rare performance you get to see. But on-stage antics with Chuck Berry (John's all-time hero), a film cameo from Andy Warhol and the Plastic Ono Band in full effect should be enough to get most bedroom rock historians' hearts beating.


This review also published in: The Times