A bunch of mates are in a folk band and buy a Routemaster bus as the ultimate ‘band van’. They load up with their instruments and drive it to India, then around Australia and then across the USA.
This spectacular film comes from the pre-Shoreditch era when the fuzzy beard had but two legitimate homes: on either a lumberjack or a folk musician. Our story concerns the latter. Realising that Cliff Richard’s ‘Summer Holiday’ was essentially, beyond lame, this group of Hampshire daredevils pushed the envelope on what was possible in a vehicle that on the day they left, had over 700,000 miles on the clock. Their DIY adventure credentials simply jump off the screen as they wend their way across Europe and Turkey, improvising bookings and even, whilst transiting Tehran, knocking out an impromptu gig for the Shah. This film is staggering at so many levels but one breathes endless sighs of relief at the fact that they had the good sense to film the whole trip on gorgeous 16mm Kodachrome stock.