I don't listen to a lot of popular music so I was late discovering the Feelgoods... by the time I found out about them their best days were over. This film sets out what I missed.

It would have been much easier to have produced a talking heads bio-pic using interviews with the musicians and their connections, but instead Julien Temple gives us a clever narration tracing the history of Canvey Island (with newsreel clips from the devastating flood of 1953), the way the guys met each other and (this is the clever bit) inter-cutting it with entertaining and illustrative clips from black and white gangster films from the golden age of British film-making. I spotted Payroll (1961), The Criminal (1960), Brighton Rock (1947), but I am sure there are others in there too.

The main narrative is given by Wilko Johnson, a seminal figure in British music of the 1970s, who tells us about his personal history before and during his time with Dr Feelgood, the band which he joined and helped to make great in the early 1970s. It covers the early success with their first three albums, and relates how personal differences led to him leaving after their fourth album, "Sneaking Suspicion". The surviving members of the original line-up, Wilko Johnson, Big Figure, and Sparko are all featured and it's nice to see that they are all remain great friends.

There is archive footage of the band performing as well as interviews with Lee Brilleaux who died of lymphoma at the tragic age of 41.

If I make any criticism of this film at all, it is that we are not shown more of Gypie Mayo, who replaced Wilko Johnson as lead guitarist in 1975. He was another top-drawer guitar player whose sound drove the Feelgoods in a slightly different direction, leading to great popular success. But the film is basically Wilko's story, and let's take it as that. Big thumbs up, top stuff.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

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The music genre features stories showcasing musical performances, music-related documentaries and recordings of live concerts and music festivals.

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Dr Feelgood, a rock'n'roll band from Canvey Island in the '70s, revolutionized the genre with their No 1 chart success and impact on Europe and America.

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