The Secret Policeman's (Other) Ball concert, featuring the old and the then-new guard of British rock (and comedy), was one of a series of cross-generational events staged, starting in the mid-seventies, as benefits for Amnesty International. The break-through show from 1981 (it went around the world on the then new VHS format) climaxed, as such things must, with a near-full cast run-through of a Bob Dylan song, in this case. "I Shall Be Released". The band, labeled The Secret Police, was lead by Sting and included Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Midge Ure and a helluva lot of tambourines.
While a DVD compilation of the entire series's highlights is now available, the music itself has been out-of-print since the early 90's. Now, MRML's prime directive, to not post anything that harms an artist, is doubly in-effect for charity organization like Amnesty. So, if you are willing to help give voice to the voiceless political prisoners of this world, then please make a donation HERE.
The film foreshadows how earnestness, do-gooderism and mullets would dominate the eighties but were those things (mullets aside) really the worst aspects of that gaudy decade?
