Peter Frampton....You Bedaffle Me

Peter Frampton had one of the best selling albums of all time with "Frampton Comes Alive!" in 1976. I really love his song "Show Me the Way." It sounds innovative and fresh even today. So what happened to this dude who used to be a superstar in the 1970s? How did he go from being the It Boy on the cover of People Magazine to doing Geico commercials?

I'll tell you what happened. The debacle of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1978 happened. I watched this catastrophe several weeks ago on Free Per View on Comcast on demand. I think I may have watched this movie as a kid in the 70s, but I'm not sure if I ever saw the whole movie until this last viewing. I am bedaffled by this movie. Bedaffled is a made up word by my friend from college, Virgil. He said it is a combination of the words baffle and bedazzled. It pretty much describes the feeling you get when you see something so spellbindingly grotesque, confounding, confusing, that you can't turn away from it.

I believe that Sgt. Pepper's was the end of Peter Frampton's career. As I watched this monstrosity of a movie, I was reminded of all of the things I abhorred about the 70s, down to the super tight girly man jeans on Frampton. They even had those disgusting satin disco jackets that everyone seemed to wear back then. I hated that style then, and I hate it now. Frampton comes prancing out in the beginning of the movie in some skin tight white overalls with the name Billy embroidered in red across the chest. This sets the tone for the rest of this truly astonishingly bad movie.

The entire movie is excruciatingly pantomimed with the exception of George Burns, the narrator. As a matter of fact, George Burns butchers the Beatles song "I'm Fixing a Hole" in the first 10 minutes of the movie. It all goes down here from there. I believe my breaking point was when Frampton and the Bee Gees made the "big time" and sang a cloying version of "She Came in Through the Bedroom Window." I have never seen such a hideous facial expression on a pop singer in my life. I believe that song alone ended Frampton's career as a rock star.

When I think back to the 70s, I have this vague memory of disliking Peter Frampton. I don't know if it was the frizzy blond hair that turned me off, or some lingering memory of the awful Sgt. Pepper's movie. It's sad that this is my memory of Frampton. As an adult, I have come to appreciate his amazing talent on his guitar. When I watch YouTube videos of his performances at mega concert venues when he was the man, I am amazed that this is the same prancing sop in the Sgt. Pepper's movie. The real Peter Frampton must be someone in between these two extremes.

Peter Frampton, I am bedaffled by you. If you can get a boost from the Geico commercials, go for it. There was something very appealing about your pre-Sgt. Pepper's stardom. My advice to you would be to avoid Barry Gibb at all costs, and if by the strange coincidence that you read this, drop me a line and explain the atrocity that is Sgt. Pepper's to me.