Browse 40 movies from WTTW/Chicago
A look at the screen triumphs and private lives of the screen's number-one singing team.
Jan 1992
Power pop is arguably one of Americas greatest gifts, The All-American Rejects are champions of the genre. Group members Tyson Ritter, Nick Wheeler, Mike Kennerty, and Chris Gaylor made their mark in 2002 with a memorable self-titled debut, which houses the buoyant hit Swing Swing. The All-American Rejects rev high with big, loud guitars and anthemic choruses. Catch the rocking All-American Rejects wave with Dirty Little Secret, Swing Swing, and The Last Song on Soundstage. The All-American Rejects is like a feel-good summer trip on a sunny highway windows down, great pop blaring, and not a care in the world.
Jul 2006
One of the most loved bands in rock history, as well as one of the most commercially successful-with 50 hit songs in the U.S. alone, 18 gold records, a Grammy, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame-Chicago have maintained the unflagging devotion of millions of devoted fans throughout their 37-year career. ...This DVD documents a live show that was broadcast on PBS in June of 2003 where they play many of their hits from throughout their long career, including `25 or Six to Four,` `You`re the Inspiration,` `Saturday in the Park,` and `Beginnings,` among many others.
Oct 2004
Throughout the 1900's, before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier in 1946, black baseball talent blossomed in the Negro Leagues. Baseball buffs still sing the praises of Josh Gibson who could be counted on to hit 70 homeruns in a season, and Satchel Paige who pitched over 100 no-hitters in his career. Only the Ball Was White pays tribute to the many topflight players from the Negro Leagues. Narrated by actor Paul Winfield, the program documents a bygone bittersweet era in baseball and the men who were denied stardom by the color line. Ballplayers throughout the country were interviewed for this program, all of them quick to tell tales of the life, the competition, and the camaraderie. These include: Satchel Paige, Roy Campanella, Buck Leonard, Jimmy Crutchfield, David Malarcher, Effa Manley, and Quincy Trouppe.
Feb 1980
Taped for a two-part PBS Soundstage, Petty employs the Chicago locale as an entry into the blues and R&B that are at the foundation of rock & roll, and to a lesser extent, his music. This results in a fascinating and exciting show, where the extensive covers are just as interesting as -- and arguably more interesting than -- the few hits he gets around to playing.
Jun 2003
Memories and home movies of numerous Chicagoans bring the 1940s and '50s alive, from early Chicago television to the patriotic spirit of the war years when everyone pulled together.
Nov 1995
Grammy Award-winning folk singer John Prine performs his early classics such as "Angel from Montgomery" and "Hello in There" in this 1980 concert filmed for the PBS series "Soundstage," featuring special guest Billy Lee Riley. Interviews with Prine as he tours his Maywood, Ill., hometown and his acoustic versions of "Paradise" and "How Lucky" punctuate live stage performances of songs from his "Bruised Orange" and "Pink Cadillac" albums.
Jan 1980
The history of Chicago's African-American community told like never before -- through the voices of its leading citizens, scholars, artists, politicians, and business leaders.
Jun 2010
Quintessential alternative rockers, Sonic Youth, celebrate free-form experimentalism while reinforcing their performance-art driven tradition in this Soundstage performance, recorded on May 7, 2003 at WTTW Grainger Studio in Chicago. The band, which settles just outside the realm of definition, delivers a part rock, part free-form noise, part avant-garde punk performance which features a new song "Sympathy for the Strawberry."
Sep 2003
House music is a genre that connects, uplifts, and unites people. It resonates globally and is prevalent on the world’s biggest music stages. Born in Chicago, this sound developed during the turbulent 1970s when a group of predominantly gay Black artists, who faced constant harassment, pioneered a new type of dance music at underground venues. House music became the anthem of safe spaces, free from the racism and homophobia of the outside world, ultimately igniting a cultural and musical revolution.
Jan 2025
A documentary about the careers of child stars of the '40s in Hollywood, featuring movie clips with Shirley Temple, Margaret O'Brien, and numerous others along with interviews.
Dec 1989
It all began when the Beatles landed in America, on February 7, 1964. Their arrival heralded the beginning of the "British Invasion," and rock and roll would never be the same. American teenagers listened to their transistor radios or 45 rpm records, and it seemed as though every young, white high-school-age male wanted to start a band. Soon, new rock and roll groups were coming together, playing in garages, basements and living rooms all around Chicago.
Nov 2001
Known fondly as the "Queen of the Blues," Koko Taylor began singing in Chicago blues clubs in the 1950s. Her gritty, powerful voice attracted the attention of Willie Dixon, another famous Chicago blues icon and record producer. Her recording of Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" topped the R&B charts in 1966. This special, recorded in 1991 for WTTW, documents her history, and cements her legacy as a Bonafide Chicago Blues legend.
Feb 1991
"Tarantella" was an early Super 8 short film directed by Christopher Nolan with his childhood friend Roko Belic. It was made in 1989 while Nolan was studying at University College London. The film aired on "Image Union," a PBS programme in Chicago. It is about the suffering of a young man while he has nightmare about spiders and demons.
Sep 1989
Inventive performer and poignant songwriter John Hiatt captures the attention of fans and critics alike. In this Soundstage performance, which features Dar Williams and Robinella and the CCstringband, Hiatt performs "My Baby Blue" from his most recent album Beneath This Gruff Exterior. He also showcases timeless pieces like "The Thing Called Love" and "Memphis in the Meantime."
"There was a time, from the late 1940s through the 1960s, when the now-upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood served as the beating heart of Chicago’s huge Puerto Rican community, and the base of operations for a band of Puerto Rican revolutionaries known as the Young Lords. Led by a young man named José 'Cha Cha' Jiménez, the activist group – which evolved from a social club to a street gang to a political force – banded together with the Black Panthers as the Rainbow Coalition to wage war against what they called Mayor Richard J. Daley’s “urban removal of the poor” and the area’s eventual gentrification" (WTTW).
Nov 2024
In July 1974, a group of Chicago based blues artists who had already achieved legendary status gathered together with some of their younger "blues brethren" from all over the country to pay tribute to the man most responsible for bringing blues from the Mississippi Delta upriver to Chicago, Muddy Waters. Appearing with Muddy that night were his contemporaries Willie Dixon, Koko Taylor, Junior Wells and Pinetop Perkins, and from the next generation of blues lovers and performers, Mike Bloomfield, Buddy Miles, Johnny Winter, Dr. John, and Nick Gravenites -- all artists who were on their way to becoming legends themselves. What resulted from that joyous teaming was a truly historic session that not only presented some of the greatest blues classics ever written, but a never-to-be-forgotten hour that truly demonstrates the love of music by one generation for another.
Nov 1974
Soundstage Original Series 1974-1985 The man who drove his "Taxi" to the top of the music charts entertains.
Dec 1974
Hidden Turkey is a one-hour television special produced, hosted, and narrated by CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg. It showcases the special destinations and unique experiences not found in traditional guidebooks, brochures or on the internet. Most important, this is inspirational and accessible television. It allows the audience to immerse themselves in Turkey's evolving story and enduring culture, and to embark on a number of life-changing journeys. Among the locations visited: Istanbul, Cappadocia, Antakya, Antalya, and Laodicea.
Sep 2021
Shari Lewis, Lamb Chop, and the gang discover the true meaning of Chanukah in this special holiday program. The story of the special holiday and all its traditions are celebrated with music and song along with Lloyd Bochner, Alan Thicke and Pat Morita.
Dec 1995