Home Entertainment : The Who at ‘30’--Polished <i> and </i> Rough Rock

Leave it to the Who.

During its heyday, the British rock group relished outdoing the competition. With a tape of live performances that came out Tuesday, they do it again--resoundingly.

In music-video circles, a 90-minute tape is considered long. But that’s short compared to the Who’s “30 Years of Maximum R&B; Live” (MCA, $20), which is a whopping two hours and 35 minutes. Also, when other artists assemble a collection of live performances, they invariably include nothing but the best.

Not the Who.

This definitive collection of Who live performances, including 28 songs culled from 17 concerts between 1965 and 1989, includes clunkers too. Some of its ‘60s performances were a bit ragged, with lead singer Roger Daltrey often drifting off key. Those early performances, though, function as a gauge of comparison, enabling us to see how the band progressed.

Explaining the selections, Steve Galloway, vice president of music video programming for MCA Music Video, said: “We were looking for dynamic, compelling performances and that’s what we include.” The band members, who were involved in the selection of performances, contribute incisive commentary that’s sprinkled throughout. As you’d expect, group leader Pete Townshend has the best lines.

What’s most significant about this comprehensive video, though, is that it isn’t just a collection of performances culled from other tapes: It’s first-rate, ranking with the best live-performance tapes.

“Ninety-seven percent of the material in this home video has never been commercially released before,” Galloway said. “It mainly came from band members, other bands and documentary filmmakers. As word spread that this program was being produced, material came from all sorts of sources--some we never expected. There was probably over 75 hours of material.”

The tape is part of Tuesday’s multimedia release, including a four-CD set and a laser disc, both also titled “The Who: Thirty Years of Maximum R&B; Live.”

More Music Videos

Though often dismissed as routine, country singer Kathy Mattea can be an effective balladeer, as she demonstrates on parts of her half-hour video, “Kathy Mattea: The Videos” (PolyGram, $10). . . . “The Original Leads of the Temptations” is a rather ragged, low-budget video but there’s some vintage footage of David Ruffin and Eddie Kendrick, the best of the group’s lead singers. These are R&B; crooners who belong in the doo-wop Hall of Fame. From Street Gold, (800) NOW-1862, $20. . . . Aretha Franklin’s post-1980 material isn’t nearly as good as her ‘60s classics, but about half of the hourlong clip compilation “Aretha Franklin: Greatest Hits (1980-1994)” is worthwhile. Included are “You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman),” performed on a TV show with Bonnie Raitt and Gloria Estefan. . . . The best-selling music tape on the Billboard music video chart is Yanni’s “Live at the Acropolis.”

Videobits

Fox’s instant TV movie about the Menendez brothers, “Honor Thy Father: The Menendez Killings,” comes to video July 27, as a rental on Libra Video. Some of the footage edited out of the TV show is included.

Some stores that carry Playboy soft-core porn videos are reporting a surge of interest in the centerfold tape of Dian Parkinson, the former “Price Is Right” model suing host Bob Barker for sexual harassment. Only recently did the tape slip out of the Top 10.

Special Interest Videos

If the “Wyatt Earp” movie and the new “Tombstone” video inspire you to find out more about the Western hero, check out “Wyatt Earp: Justice at the O.K. Corral,” a fact-filled, 110-minute documentary narrated by Kenny Rogers, including some great old photos. For $20 from A&E; (800) 423-1212. . . . An hour Disney tape on vintage Broadway musicals is due Aug. 26. Narrated by John Raitt, it includes numbers from classic shows plus backstage footage. . . . A fascinating documentary about dancer-choreographer Bill T. Jones, offering valuable insight into his work, focuses on “Last Supper at Uncle Tom’s Cabin / The Promised Land.” “Bill T. Jones: Dancing to the Promised Land” sells for $30 on VIEW, (800) 843-9843.

What’s New on Video

“Grumpy Old Men” (Warner): Two grouchy retirees (Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) who’ve been barking at each other for more than a half century clash over a widow (Ann-Margret). This movie was a hit largely because, as the bickering neighbors, Lemmon and Matthau echo their spirited sparring in Neil Simon’s funnier 1968 “The Odd Couple.”

“Sugar Hill” (FoxVideo): A drama about two brothers who are kingpins in the Harlem drug underworld. Haunted by their drug-ravaged parents, a sensitive Wesley Snipes tries to get out of the dope business--against the wishes of older brother Michael Wright. Basically a dark, moody character study that’s occasionally absorbing. Beware, though, of the contrived ending. Clarence Williams III is superb as their addict father.

“Romeo Is Bleeding” (PolyGram): It takes more than a startlingly original character--a vicious, sexy gangster played by Lena Olin--to make a decent movie. This ambitious attempt at a ‘40s-style, film noir about a crooked cop (Gary Oldman) is erratically offbeat and ultimately unsatisfying. But it’s worth enduring the so-so sequences to savor Olin’s remarkable character. Annabella Sciorra and Juliette Lewis co-star.

FILMS ON VIDEO

Recent films coming out on video: HBO’s “Serial Mom,” starring Kathleen Turner and Ricki Lake, on Aug. 31. Also: “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit,” “Shadowlands,” “Reality Bites,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” “Blink,” “Heaven and Earth” and “Body Snatchers” (Wednesday); “On Deadly Ground,” “Car 54, Where Are You?” and “My Father the Hero” (July 20); “Thumbelina” (July 26); “Wrestling Ernest Hemingway,” “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?,” “Cabin Boy” and “Blank Check” (July 27); “Major League II,” “Angie” and “The Chase” (Aug. 3); “Beethoven’s 2nd” (Aug. 9); “Intersection,” “My Girl 2,” “The Ref” and “Chasers” (Aug. 10); “Schindler’s List” and “I’ll Do Anything” (Aug. 17); “Blue Chips” and “Like Water for Chocolate” (Aug. 24); “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (Aug. 25); “D2: The Mighty Ducks” (Aug. 26); “Greedy” and “8 Seconds” (Aug. 31); “Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas” (Sept. 30); “Jurassic Park” (Oct. 4); “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (Oct. 28).