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Let them be
The Beatles industry is corrupting their memory, writes Soumya Bhattacharya.

Now don't get me wrong. I possess all their recorded tracks. I've walked miles to listen, sitting on a pavement, to the echoes of Paul McCartney in concert in Munich.

I play John Lennon's Nowhere Man to my two-year-old daughter (who understands no English) to try and explain to her how meaningless it is to kick up a fuss about that other set of crayons/stuffed toy/cereal bowl that she always wants and we'll never give her. And I don't mind if you call me a kitsch-ridden, schmaltz-swamped git, but I do believe that if you want to understand the '60s, you're best off listening to the Beatles.

So I say this because I'm a Beatles fan: the cottage industry surrounding the Fab Four simply needs to stop growing. Thirty-three years after they packed up, bits and pieces of the Beatles keep turning up here, there and everywhere, like (forgive the unsavoury analogy over breakfast) decomposed fingers exhumed from a body buried decades ago.

Over just the past few months, we've had the Cavern, the nightclub where the Beatles began their career, planning to open replicas across the world; we had the claim of an internet auction house that the band reunited in secret in the mid-1970s and that (surprise, surprise) it ended in bitter rows; we had Ringo Starr turning 53 of the postcards he received from his fellow Beatles into a book, Postcards from the Boys (deluxe edition, with "extra-large format postcards", costs $US840; and, of course, we had Let It Be . . . Naked, the de-Phil Spectorised version of the 1969, squabble-filled, couldn't-care-less album during the recording of which Mother Mary evidently did not come to the musicians in their hour of darkness. What next? A never-before heard tape of Ringo playing a Coke can with an egg flip? Paul McCartney naked?

Compared with this sort of pillaging, even Oasis - a band which made a career out of plundering the Beatles' back catalogue - seems not as culpable of desecration as one thought.

The Beatles were one of the most influential elements in the history of popular culture. There is certainly a case for buying enough copies of Ian MacDonald's illuminating book about them Revolution in the Head to make it a fixture in the non-fiction charts.

There is an argument for listening to their music over and over (the wry irony of Taxman seems very different once you've begun to pay tax yourself).

But there really is no point in being a musical magpie, making off with what bits we can find of the band wherever we can find them and trying to raise the stakes by making each find look like the most staggering discovery that will change the way in which we look at pop music - and the Beatles.

Because it isn't. And it won't. It's been a long and winding road. It is really time to just let it be . . . clothed and dignified.

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John Lennon Tried Wearing Contact Lenses

John Lennon was famous for wearing his little round granny glasses, but did you know he once tried contact lenses? He lost one almost immediately, and that was the end of the experiment.

That revelation and many other Beatles tidbits can be found in Ringo Starr's wonderfully inventive new book, "Postcards From the Beatles." If you know a Beatles fan, this is the ultimate gift, and all royalties are going to the Lotus Foundation in the United Kingdom.

The extravagant package, bound in a red faux-metal postal box, comprises the many postcards Ringo received over the years from Lennon and Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney, and George and Olivia Harrison. The postcards' messages and artwork actually give a rare, intimate look into the Beatles' personal lives.

For one thing, I was surprised that even after the break-up in 1970, they still communicated with each other quite often. Ringo's descriptions of little trips and adventures are fascinating.

Seeing correspondence from all of them, especially Lennon, is exciting. I liked that Ono, not considered a warm person by any means, sent along a little special message to Ringo's wife, Maureen at the bottom of one card.

You can read more about Ringo's Postcards, and order a copy from Genesis Books, at www.genesis-publications.com. There's also a toll-free number (800-775-1111) to call, since the book cannot be bought in stores.

Paul Nathanson, the publisher, tells me there's a limited run of 2500 copies, and they sell for $500 apiece; a lot for a run of the mill book (which this is not), but chicken feed to the average Beatles fan.

ILVtheFAB4

That's awfully mean of them... to put out a book that I want ever so badly, and then make it utterly unaffordable. Grrr [img]smilies/mad.gif[/img]

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35th Anniversary of The Beatles Final Concert To Be Marked

New York City band The Badge to recreate the band's final performance from January 30, 1969

New York, NY - The New York City-based band The Badge will recreate the final live performance of The Beatles on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the event. The concert, at 1 PM on January 30, 2004, is set to take place at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan.

"Just as The Beatles treated the London business district to a lunchtime concert, so will we," said Jeff Slate, songwriter, vocalist and bassist of The Badge. "We're going to break up a cold, gray January day with a little entertainment and at the same time pay tribute to an historic event in the life of the world's greatest rock n' roll band."

The Badge will not, however, be performing a note-for-note recreation of the concert, or dressing up in lookalike costumes. "We're not going to recreate the concert the way your average tribute band might," said Slate. "We're a real band, with our own legacy to create. We'll be playing the five songs The Beatles played that day, but we'll be doing it our own way. To me, that's the real way to pay tribute. In fact, there's really no other way in my mind."

On January 30, 1969, The Beatles performed material from their then as-yet unreleased "Let It Be" album, including "Get Back", "Don't Let Me Down", "Dig A Pony", "I've Got A Feeling" and "One After 909". The band were looking for a way to create a climax for the documentary cameras that had been tracking their rehearsals during January 1969, and did so by performing on the rooftop of their Saville Row, London, Apple offices. It was the band's final live, public performance together, and was stopped by police after noise complaints from area businesses.

"I hope we can create a little mayhem," said Marc Teamaker, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of The Badge. "It'll be nice to bring music to the tidy White Shoe firms in the area. I hope for the 20 or so minutes we're performing that the people of the Wall Street area can stop what there doing and take some time to relax and reflect on the thirty-five years that have passed since these songs were last played this way."

The Badge is a four-piece band. Jeff Slate (vocals, bass & organ) is The Badge's heart and soul and is responsible for the band's signature sound. The band's principal songwriter, Jeff has a long list of credits as a professional musician, producer and engineer. As a solo artist Jeff has opened for Sheryl Crow, toured Europe and America extensively, and has recorded and performed with Pete Townshend of The Who, who acted as executive producer on a series of demos by Jeff in the mid-1990's. Jeff shares the songwriting and vocal chores with singer/songwriter Marc Teamaker (guitar, vocals & piano), evoking the songwriting teamwork and vocal pairings of Lennon/McCartney and Marriott/Lane. The lineup is completed by Nelson Pla (drums, percussion & vocals), and Matt Kalin (keyboards & vocals).

The Badge released their latest CD, titled "Calling Generation Mojo", in late September on the Detour Records label in the UK. The band will be touring the US and UK extensively in 2004. The band's website is http://www.thebadge.com .

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Postcards from The Beatles
By Lizette Alvarez in London
December 31, 2003


On one side of the postcard is a picture of a solemn Windsor Castle guard playing a drum in his woolly fur hat and bright red tunic. On the flip side is a scrawled message: "You are the greatest drummer in the world. Really."

It is addressed to Ringo from Paul McCartney, and it is one of a trove of postcards that Ringo Starr received from his fellow Beatles, tossed in a drawer, forgotten, and rediscovered last year inside an unlabelled box.

Starr has selected 53 of the postcards with their intimate, sometimes cryptic messages, and turned them into a book, Postcards From the Boys.

With his trademark wit and droll humour, he interprets the snippets on the back of the cards. He rattled his brain for specifics about place and state of mind, speaking spontaneously into a tape recorder, and those musings, some of them non sequiturs, make up the book's text.

"Memories - what little is left of them," said Starr, 63, during a visit to the offices of Apple, the Beatles' company. "Half of the cards, I still don't know what they're about.

"It may have something to do with the '60s," he said, grinning and flashing a peace sign.


The postcards in the book are often amusing, sometimes touching and occasionally trite. But in their whimsy they offer a fresh, unfiltered look at the Beatles at the peak of their popularity and beyond.

The handwritten messages and Starr's asides chart the band members' evolution.

The Windsor Castle drummer, Starr explains in the book, was sent after the White Album. The band had hit yet another bad patch and Starr had abruptly quit, in part after learning that McCartney had recorded drum parts of his own.

"After I walked out," he writes in the book, "I kept getting these postcards, telegrams, actually, from John and George: 'Come on home! You're the best!' And when I did come back, George had the whole studio decorated in flowers. It was just a beautiful moment."

McCartney's card was a year late. "He was just making up for lost time," Starr writes.

The thing was, Starr explained, his bandmates loved the drums. Drove him mad. "Every time I went for a cup of tea, Paul was on the drums. I had three - three - frustrated drummers."

In one postcard, dated 1979, John Lennon offers advice to Starr on his solo career: "Blondie's Heart of Glass is the type of stuff y'all should do. Great and simple."

Another Lennon postcard, dated January 1971, an illustration of Sunset Strip in Hollywood, laments: "Who'd have thought it would come to this? Love John." One month before, McCartney had filed a lawsuit against the other three Beatles, which cemented the official break-up of the band.

If there is one thing about being a Beatle that can drive a Beatle mad, it's reminiscing incessantly about the Beatles. The Fab Four moved on; the fans did not.

"The postcards are from the Beatles, and most of the recollections are of the Beatles because no matter what we all want to think, that's what we are," Starr said.

"In everybody's psyche, we are the Beatles.

"The relationship with the other three, it was always very complicated. It was always up and down.

"At the beginning, we were like these four guys in a van, and it was very, very close. And in the end, we ended up like this family and we had, to quote the old show, family feuds.

"It didn't stop us playing, you see. That was the deal."

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Lennon best in music-


JOHN Lennon has been voted the most inspirational musician ever.
The ex-Beatle beat guitarist Jimi Hendrix and reggae hero Bob Marley.

Chris Martin was fourth in the music fans’ poll, ahead of David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Madonna and Prince.

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No Time for Sergeants
All-time best album lists are officially in business. But will we ever be free of Sgt. Pepper?
by Ben Fulton
Loads of people talk about how their cooler older sister or brother turned them onto David Bowie, the Sex Pistols or the Velvet Underground. Not to brag or anything—scratch that, this clearly is bragging—but some of us had all those records without an older sibling to show us the way.

But without an obscure British music critics’ list of the all-time top 100 LPs, the more obscure pleasures of Joy Division, Love, Robert Johnson, Kraftwerk and Eno might never have made their way to my turntable. The year was 1985 and this list, compiled by the writers of London’s New Musical Express, glared back at me in dare and wonder from the wall of a Houston record shop. How could anyone not buy the complete set to be the first on the block with bragging rights? Such feats of consumerism separate the music freak from full-raving music lunatics. The answer had to be yes.

It was only a matter of time before tired old music publications like Rolling Stone copied the same ceremony, which is more or less a time-honored tradition in the British music press. What made the lists of the British music press so intriguing was the way it shifted like the very face of nature itself. With them, taste in popular music was an evolving, always debated creature. Not so with the American music press, and Rolling Stone’s ludicrously mammoth 500-album listing of the “Greatest Albums of All Time” is depressing proof positive.

First things first: There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking the Beatles. May God bless them forever; John, Paul, George and Ringo changed not only the shape of popular music for the better, but society as well. Without them, your parents might never have lived together. Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, The Beatles (White Album) and even Abbey Road (“Octopus’s Garden” excepted) are all wonderful albums. It’s just too bad they induce so much content in people who insist on this one band being the end all of popular music and all things worthy of the term “art.” Of course the latest Rolling Stone poll of 273 musicians, producers, record company execs and “radio personalities” rated Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band the best album of all time. And, as if to give it all the air of an official decree, the editorial staff hired Ernst & Young to sign off on the results. C’mon. Would you honestly expect America’s grayest music magazine to include a voter who might tilt the poll with an album as equally daring as, say, Blur’s Parklife or Tricky’s Maxinquaye? Of course not. Jann Wenner would freak, and Eric Clapton might stage a boycott never to appear on the cover.

This isn’t the first time, of course. The endlessly ballyhooed granddaddy of “concept albums” also rose to the top 16 years ago when Rolling Stone published its 20th anniversary shindig Aug. 27, 1987. Like the endless drumroll announcing Citizen Kane “the greatest film of all time,” like your tired English professor proclaiming James Joyce’s Ulysses “the greatest novel of the 20th century,” and just like your parents cooking you mac ‘n’ cheese for the eighth day straight, it’s about time someone cut it out. Just as we’re certain the earth revolves around the sun, perhaps Sgt. Pepper really is the best music purchase of a lifetime. Just don’t say it so damned often. After all these years since it was released onto the world in 1967, that’s like telling your roommate it’s his turn to take out the garbage. It kills the imagination, atrophies the brain, and makes us far too safe and sound in our assumptions. Isn’t that all the Beatles stood firmly against?

More germane to the point is the fact that, increasingly, the general public believes Revolver the better Beatles album. In two separate polls—Virgin’s 200 ranking and even Rolling Stone’s 2002 “Readers’ 100” —the predecessor to Sgt. Pepper placed No. 1 while the granddaddy itself placed No. 3 in both polls. Radiohead’s The Bends and Nirvana’s Nevermind occupied the No. 2 spots respectively. Just who’s taking the orders here?

At least the British music press clears its editorial ranks often enough to make its critics’ lists interesting. Perhaps it was the NME that got this tired ball rolling when its staff voted Sgt. Pepper the best album of all time in 1974, but they rectified the situation in 1985, voting Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On No. 1, while not one single Beatles LP nudged the top-10 watermark. Rather, it was John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band that pulled toward the top at No. 9. How’s that for an intriguing option to Beatlemania?

For trend spotters, the most refreshing aspect of these lists is the astonishing rise of The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Scan Rolling Stone’s 1987 ranking, and it doesn’t even make a showing. Count on the British music press to back such an exotic dark horse long before anyone else. In 1993, NME music writers voted it the No. 1 album of all time, while What’s Going On slipped to No. 4 and Sgt. Pepper clocked in at No. 33. Flash forward to 2003 and the same paper’s newer editorial staff brazenly voted The Stone Roses’ eponymous debut at the No. 1 spot, a choice that no doubt induces head-scratching in the general public, although not for the lucky few who know and love that album. Pet Sounds, meanwhile, dropped to No. 3. Perhaps the paper’s current editorial staff is just as tired of hearing about Sgt. Pepper as the rest of us: That album didn’t even peak into the low 90s of a 100 ranking.

Let the rebellion live on.
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Remedial Reading
Lennon Does Mop-Top Pop-Up
Lennon Legend: An Illustrated Life of John Lennon
By Verne Mcdonald

By James Henke. Chronicle Books, 64 pp., $42, hardcover.
"The world is a nasty, horrible place, 'cause it didn't give us everything we cried for. Right? Crying for it wasn't enough. The thing the '60s did was show us the possibility--and the responsibility--that we all had. It wasn't an answer, it just gave us a glimpse of the possibility..."

--John Lennon



In 1964 I could not hear enough of the Beatles. About four decades later, with two Beatles dead and myself in not-so-great shape, the problem is avoiding them.

In the past few months the world has been treated to no less than four CDs on which you can hear Beatles, both dead and alive, give their various yaks. Two arrived subversively concealed inside printed books (Ticket to Ride by Larry Kane, Running Press, and now Lennon Legend: An Illustrated Life of John Lennon by James Henke), and another couple accompanied re-issues of past records (Let It Be...Naked and Ringo Starr's Ringorama in deluxe edition, with additional DVD).

For those not having the kind of Beatle-minds that would require acquiring all of the above, I can tell you first that no two of the chat discs are alike. The Fly On the Wall addition that accompanies Let It Be...Naked is a mumble session mostly highlighting Sir Paul McCartney's pathetic attempts to raise a rah-rah-for-the-show feeling among disaffected and often mystified bandmates; Kane's recordings of the Fab Four on their first two North American tours is marred by his retro-boss-jock intros to interviews already transcribed in the book; and Ringo is as affable and likeable as ever while he shamelessly shills for his album.

Making the whole return to the past worthwhile is the CD of Lennon interviews on New York radio that you get with Lennon Legend. Never as articulate and witty as his legend had it (George Harrison was the one who answered the question of "How do you find America?" with "Turn left at Greenland."), Lennon stumbles over stories he says he has told many times before but is capable of intense communication when an idea strikes him.

It is the only case among the aforementioned packages in which the chatter CD actually complements the accompanying material. Those who like Lennon will find themselves wishing even harder that he were still alive, and those who think he was a somewhat shallow, self-styled "artist" can hear him sing "Imagine" at the end and contemplate the fact that those lyrics will live longer than listeners will.

The book containing the CD is as enjoyable and ultimately insubstantial as cotton candy. It has tickets to the February, 1964, Ed Sullivan Show that helped launch the Beatles in North America, mid-1960s bubble-gum cards, and 37 other bits of pop-up memorabilia that could be used to assemble a shrine to Saint John. What it does not have is any significant information that has not been published before.

It shares with the CD the problem that Yoko Ono, a much-misunderstood person and an artist in her own right, doesn't get a lot to say despite her importance to Lennon and his esteem for her. But then again, she didn't sell a couple-hundred-million records. What Henke does do is include facsimiles of her and Lennon's collaborative artworks; the short description of them would be that there is little chance they would appeal to the same kind of folks who would buy a picture of dogs playing poker.

The create-your-own-diorama style might be attributable to Henke's being a curator for Cleveland's Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame as well as a long-time contributor to Rolling Stone. His hagiographic text is a relief from Albert Goldman's know-nothing, tell-all bilious biography of Lennon, but even fans will have trouble with the likes of: "The album [Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With Lions]...marked John and Yoko's flight away from rock and roll toward a more ambitious, adventurous form of music, the music of the future." If John and Yoko's early collaborations were supposed to be the music of the future, then the future still has not arrived 35 years later and just might never get here.

Cattiness aside, Lennon Legend is lovely to look at and groundbreaking in its use of children's-book technology to give rock 'n' roll readers tons o' fun pulling out the various postcards, newspaper pages, facsimile lyric sheets, and other goodies inserted in its pages. The presentation is slick, the photos marvellous, and the boxed format makes its 64 pages a substantial lump on the bookshelf. Your Beatle-loving aunt can tell you just how special it is, and it could be that you'll agree with her that Saint John actually had something to say.

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Beatles Manager's House Turned into B&B

By Emma Gunby, PA News.


The former family home of legendary Beatles manager Brian Epstein has been turned into a bed and breakfast.

The detached house in Anfield, Liverpool, is now taking bookings from fans of the Fab Four from across the world.

Epstein’s grandparents Isaac and Dinah lived in the property from 1927 until 1946, according to electoral records. His father Harry also lived there until 1933.

Current owners Darren McLennan and Ian Quigg planned to turn the property, which they bought for £36,000, into a nursery until they discovered its history.

Mr McLennan said: “We are both builders and we were doing a bit of work on the property when a neighbour came over and told us who used to live in it.

“I couldn’t believe it so I went to Liverpool Museum and looked it all up on the archives.”

The bed and breakfast, called Epstein’s, opened for business at the beginning of December.

In their first two weeks they received more than 20 bookings.

Mr McLennan added: “There are thousands of visitors from all over the world to Beatles attractions in Liverpool every year. We are hoping to tap in to that market.”

The childhood homes of both John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney are open to the public.

This year more than 7,000 people visited the properties, which are owned by the National Trust.

Epstein guided the Fab Four to success after meeting them in the NEMS record store in Liverpool city centre.

He died from an overdose of sleeping tablets in August 1967, aged 32.

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What Beatle Are You?

The Beatle Personality Test
by Mary E. Ladd

My father always tells the following joke: there are two types of people, the type of people who categorize everybody else into types and the type of people who don’t.

Paul Lukas, the Editor of the zine Beer Frame, The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption, might possibly agree. He says, in BF, vol. no. 5, that "everyone knows there are really only two kinds of people in this world. The problem is coming up with a definitive way of sorting them out." He then goes on to differentiate very brilliantly between the Oreo type of person and the Hydrox type of person.

In my book, it is really your Beatle type that matters. Either you are a John Lennon type or a Paul McCartney type. Don’t you ever notice how almost every baby-boomer has an opinion as to who was the more pivotal Beatle? In fact, I have never met a Beatle fan who didn’t either love Lennon and despise McCartney or adore McCartney and dismiss Lennon. Great theses exist as to who was the better musician, the more talented songwriter, the most together dresser, theories that have burst out of mouths and then evaporated into the thin, hot air. It really, essentially, inevitably, comes down to your basic personality type. You are born predisposed to like one Beatle over the other. Simultaneous Beatle love has never been factually documented because it simply doesn’t exist. It’s in your genes, your DNA. And it has integrated itself into every aspect of your social life. Lennons like other Lennons. McCartneys like other McCartneys. It’s classic Beatle prejudice. And it goes beyond the scope of mere product identification or artistic judgement. And it has nothing to do with which Beatle you’d rather sleep with.

This Beatle Personality Test (TBPT) is based on the basic principles of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), only pathetically simplified. The TBPT will enable you to locate people who match your Beatle Type and to identify people who conflict with your Beatle type without those arduous hours of wasteful "getting to know yous." The TBPT will also help you understand the needs and the wants of your fellow Beatle Types, enabling a sort of harmony with your fellow Beatles…. All you need is love, love and the TBPT to fully comprehend which Beatle you really are.

Know Thy Beatle Self

You are born with a specific Beatle predisposition. JLs and PMs are built right into your DNA structure and you are virtually helpless against their powers. This is not to say you can’t fake a Beatle preference. Hell, we can all LIE; but I doubt any real significant cross-Beatle typing is actually possible. Trust me, face your inner-Beatle and you will be much happier. The sooner you can relate to your innate Beatle qualities, the more self-assured you will be.

Disclaimers

TBPT can not be responsible for gross or reckless misuse of Beatle Typing. Please proceed with caution and a healthy sense of reality, if you’ve got one handy. As Typewatchers remind us, your Beatle strengths unchecked become a Beatle liability. Remember: The Beatles broke up!

I am sure there are complexities in each of the Lennon/McCartney personalities and within their relationship. For the purposes of this test, I am going to assume that there are not.

The McCartney Type (PMT)

Social

A vaudevillian extravert ("Say Say Say" the video)

Has extensive Work (more solo lps…death is no excuse for Lennon. Elvis is dead and he is still releasing lps )

High energy expenditure ("Band on the Run")

Deals in the present ("Let It Be")

Realistic, Factual, Practical ("Baby I’m Amazed", "With a Little Luck")

Believes in perspiration ("The Long and Winding Road")

Down to Earth ("Silly Love Songs")

Specifics ("Uncle Albert", "Junior’s Farm")

Laws, policy, clarity ("Live and Let Die")

Detached (no bed-ins)

Decided, fixed (Paul Is Live)

Needs control, plans ("No More Lonely Nights")

Structure, schedule (Liverpool Oratorio)

Marries wife who works in reality based art: photography


The John Lennon Type (TJLT)


Opinionated, self-righteous (can you tell which type I am?)

Introvert (Mind Games)

Energy conservation (peppy is not cool)

Reflective ("Ballad of John & Yoko")

Random inspiration ("Strawberry Fields Forever")

Deals in the future ("War Is Over")

Conceptual, theoretical (The Plastic Ono Band, "Imagine")

Head in the Clouds ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds")

Fantasy world (Double Fantasy)

Involved, social values ("Revolution")

Flexible, adaptable (to Yoko)

Open ended (Somewhere in New York City)

Verbally brave ("We’re bigger than Jesus")

Marries wife who works in abstract based art

Beatle Rebuttal 1:

George Harrison,
the enigma
of the Beatles:
by Michael Cefola


While girls in my 1965 homeroom were pouring their hearts out to Paul and John, and boys were trying to emulate their vocals, I was posed with a problem. I knew George was the coolest and couldn't seem to bring my classmates to their moptop senses. Even Ringo was receiving fallout from the pity factor concerning the most popular member of the Fab Four; but, alas, George just couldn't seem to break on through.

Almost 35 years later, I still feel George isn't receiving the recognition he deserves for his role in the Mersey merchants' ride to superstardom. Allow me to straighten out the record once and for all.

First, let's look at the nature of the tunes themselves. While Paul and John swooned about "holding hands" and "being your man," it was George who already was displaying rock-star cool by penning such angst-ridden tunes as "Don't Bother Me." No happy-happy joy-joy for George. He knew the real road to coolness was displeasure with life. He took up the challenge masterfully.

Second, their performances on the Sullivan show had Paul and John happy as larks on stage with Ringo looking like he had just inhaled laughing gas. Meanwhile, there's George alone off somewhere looking pained about the fingering of chords on his guitar. Even his guitar in these performances was a big, black, foreboding Gretch Tennesseean while his mates on stage right played their Rickenbackers and Hofners, small peppy guitars that had the same effect on me as those nippy little dogs the rich and famous love.

Finally, here's the clincher for George as the coolest Cavern Clubber of them all: Look at the back cover of their first US-released album, Meet The Beatles. On it is a picture of the Fab Four in all their Beatlesque glory posing in those incredible, ahead of their 1984-Orwellian time, suits with collarless jackets.

Now move your eyes down to the infamous Beatle Boots. Notice the fall of the pants on each of their respective Fab Feet. Focus now on George's boots. The pants don't fall over the boots but seem to caress them perfectly in an arc that would make a mathematician proud: the seamless continuation of pant leg to boot with no noticeable gap.

That did it for me. One look and I knew it was all over for the other bugs. I cannot tell you the efforts I made to simulate that look with my own Beatle boots and various suits, never quite reaching that standard of perfection George demonstrated in that photo.

In conclusion, next time you hear a tune from the British invaders sandwiched between the current airwave phenomena, think about George and feel his pain in a new and more appreciative light. And if you take argument with my case, three words to you -- "Don't Bother Me."

A George Harrison Fan Page



Beatle Rebuttal 2:

I Like Ringo, by Julie Wiskirchen

Growing up, I wasn't educated by flash cards nor those "as seen on TV" wildlife cards, but by bubblegum cards. In the 70s, there were cards for bands, TV shows, and movies, and these cards provided the Cliff Notes for my pop culture education. My parents wouldn't let me see Saturday Night Fever because it was rated R nor let me listen to KISS because they were supposedly Satanic, but for some reason they'd buy me the trading cards. I would stare at the scenes and memorize the quotes on the back and let my imagination fill in the rest.

Sometime in my primary school years, I bought some Beatles cards at a garage sale. I pored over them with my usual obsessiveness. Ringo stood out. I thought he was cute, particularly in one black and white photo that showed him shirtless on the beach, wet mop top tousled, dazed expression, towel covering his chest. His responses to the interview questions on the back of the cards showed he had the best sense of humor. On one card, the sainted Paul even asserted that Ringo was the most talented of them all.

Plus, as a frustrated would-be drummer (forbidden because we lived in a condo and Dad said the walls were too thin), I was naturally inclined to pick the drummer as my favorite in any band.

Moving into adolescence and gaining exposure to the White Album and Sgt. Pepper, I still favored Ringo. The 80s Ringo had a marbleized grey and brown beard, a dangling earring, and the foxiest of all Beatle wives, the silent and smoldering Barbara Bach. When it comes to B-Movie goddesses, Barbara ranks right up there with Sybil Danning and Adrienne Barbeau. Everyone hated Yoko and people loved to mock pre-cancer Linda's lack of musicality and vegetarian TV dinners. Somehow, Barbara maintained dignity, even when playing Cavegirl to Ringo's Caveman.

Ringo got a lot of crap for making Caveman, and it is, without question, a terrible movie. I remember it clearly because it was one of the first movies to air on HBO in heavy rotation. I have a tendency to watch junk over and over--I am still tuning into 90210 every week--and the most dreadful schlock becomes endearing to me. Even if his mostly silent comedy didn't establish him as the Chaplin of the 80s, Ringo was still lovable, funny, and self-effacing. I'll take Caveman over Give My Regards to Broad Street any day.

I guess what I treasure most about Ringo is his lack of pretension. Ringo has never preached at us, not for free love, not for vegetarianism, not for the Dhali Lama. Ringo always has a smile and a sense of wonder. He acts like he's on a fantastic ride, like he just found the golden ticket in a Wonka bar. He knows he's lucky--lucky that Pete Best chose his girlfriend over the band and dropped out, lucky to have been 1/4 of the world's greatest band, lucky that he's remained a star without exhibiting heaps of talent. Today, he's still having fun, playing a train conductor on kiddie TV, touring with his all-star band. The Rodney Dangerfield of rock n' roll, Ringo gets no respect, but he doesn't seem to mind. Neither do I.

steffieweffie

Back in time with Elvis, Beatles

Oldies but goodies, for sure.

For two hours on Sundays, you can drift back to a time when pop music on the radio was more than bubble gum nursery rhymes sung by scantily clad teens and 20-somethings.

Oldies station WOMG, 103.1 FM, keeps it real Sunday mornings with its Elvis and Beatles programming.

From 10-11 a.m. there’s “Elvis Only,” and from 11 a.m.-noon, it’s “Beatles Brunch.”

If you’re not a fan of either, listening to their music and learning about the history of the artists could change your mind.

Elvis expert Jay Gordon is the host of “Elvis Only,” which includes interviews, rare recordings and trivia.

Joe Johnson hosts “Beatles Brunch.” There are classic interview clips from the Beatles and from those who knew them best, including manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin.

And of course, you’ll hear lots of hits on both nationally syndicated shows. It’s a nice way to spend a Sunday morning while dusting the living room.

steffieweffie

Only dead celebrities adorn these T's
London shop pays tribute to famous who have met with untimely death, including Jesus A smiling Princess Diana `dead' glitter shi


CHRISTINE ASHTON
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

LONDON—Are the Beatles still "bigger than Jesus?" If John Lennon's once-controversial statement can be measured in T-shirt sales, then a London clothing shop called Dead is in the perfect position to answer this question.

As its name implies, Dead carries clothing featuring celebrities who have met with untimely and/or violent ends. In addition to Jesus and the late Beatle, the iconic faces of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, James Dean, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, John F. Kennedy, Kurt Cobain and Princess Diana also gaze out from the racks.

The clothing — mainly T-shirts and underwear — comes in a range of sizes. There's even a line of baby wear for those who wish to avoid the usual cute'n'cuddly shower gifts.

Dead is the creation of artist Morris (like Marilyn and Elvis, he is known by a single name), who designs everything in the store. He has even trademarked the word "Dead."

Morris believes that an unusual demise is enough to transform a mere celebrity into an object of enduring fascination. As he points out on Dead's Web site (http://www.deadshop.co.uk), "... would Jesus be as big as he is today if not for the way of his death?"

The actual depiction of celebrity deaths is a recurring theme on many items in the store; for example, one of the James Dean shirts carries photos of the car crash in which the actor met his maker. Some fans might object to this ghoulish use of their idols, but Morris says that he has actually received very little criticism.

"People are saturated with images of death," he says, claiming that the sometimes-violent photos on his merchandise pale in comparison to watching media coverage of events like the war in Iraq.

Morris does admit to having at least one controversial item in his store: a T-shirt featuring a smiling Princess Diana in silver glitter, with the word "dead" in capital letters beneath her face.

"It's the only one we do that anyone ever complains about," he says, adding that vandals smashed his shop window when the Diana T-shirt was on display there. But he defends his choice of subject matter by saying, "We don't do them as a negative thing."

And, in fact, the clothing is more tongue-in-cheek than morbid.

A Jim Morrison shirt reads simply "God." The John Lennon shirt is available with his "More popular than Jesus" quote. Grunge idol Kurt Cobain is pictured with either the word "Angel" or the word "Devil" beneath his face, which should appeal to fans and critics alike.

Keith Richards is the only non-dead person featured on the store's merchandise. Although the creaky Rolling Stones guitarist is technically still breathing, many people would agree when Morris says, "He's been sort of dead for years."

Celebrities aren't just pictured on the clothing — they shop at Dead, too. Singers Iggy Pop, Avril Lavigne, Alice Cooper and designer Jean Paul Gaultier have all dropped by to check out the edgy styles.

"People like the idea of us using the word `dead,'" says Morris. "By wearing the word `dead' you're tempting fate."

The store, located in North London's Camden Market, has been in business for a year and a half. Morris is now planning on moving to a larger space that will incorporate a wax museum to house his growing collection of life-sized dead celebrities. The 20 displays will include Jim Morrison's death in a bathtub, JFK waving during his last limo ride, and Kurt Cobain's suicide by shotgun. In the meantime, an eerily life-like wax sculpture of John Lennon is already startling visitors at the shop's entrance, while other figures are being stored in Morris's home (even under his bed).

Lennon's dramatic presence in the shop might partially explain the best-selling status of his T-shirts.

Here, at least, he is definitely bigger than Jesus.

steffieweffie

The Beatles refuse to let it be

SOUNDS FAMILIAR By Baby A. Gil
The Philippine Star 01/05/2004


Released late in 2003, Let It Be…Naked is the latest album to cash in on the unfading popularity of the Beatles. We got the singles collection 1 in 2002 and it has already sold millions of copies. This new album is supposed to be the real version of the Let It Be album released in 1969, the last one that John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr recorded together. The first one was reworked and completed by the famous American producer Phil Spector.

So the Beatles legend has it that the Let It Be we got more than three decades ago was not at all what the Beatles intended it should be. Spector, who invented the legendary Wall of Sound with lots of booming horns and strings, added his trademark lush overdubs to the recording. Originally titled Get Back, it was meant to signal the group’s return to basic rock and roll and a departure from the complexities that layering process that characterized like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The White Album.

I grant that despite goodies like Get Back, Two of Us, The Long and Winding Road and Don’t Let Me Down, Let It Be was not one of the Beatles great albums. You have to go back to their early recordings for their best. Besides, it was produced during the Beatles’ worst period when John, George and Ringo were all threatening to quit the group and it was only Paul who was holding it together. Still, it was a Beatles album and who cared if it was finished by Spector, there was no way those guys could go wrong in 1969. The fans wanted Beatles music and they got and loved that Let It Be, which also came with a movie. And that was the Let It Be many of us grew up with.

So getting this new or I should say "old" version is like being told you were fed a lie as a kid and there is now an effort to right that wrong. Commendable, in a way but you cannot just erase what has been imbedded for thirty years! Besides, Let It Be…Naked is not really as naked as it should be. It has been digitalized, when an analog version would have been more true to the concept and there are also overdubs and editings. Worst of all is the fact that they have gotten rid of those candid remarks in between cuts that Spector left untouched in the first version.

But it is still a Beatles album. And just as Presley fans keep on buying every new collection that comes along although they have already heard all the songs, nobody who loves Beatles music should be without Let It Be…Naked. I recommend though that those who have only recently discovered the foursome from Liverpool, also make it a point to listen to Let It Be. It may not be what the Beatles wanted at that time but you have to admit that Spector did do a good job on the album, his way.

Before I forget, also sure to delight all Beatles fans and anybody interested in the history of popular music is the bonus disc that provides an insight into the Beatles at work. Titled Fly in the Wall, and shot shortly before the break-up that shook the world, it shows the Fabulous Four, take note, just in case you have forgotten, those guys were the original F4, during rehearsal and in the recording studio.

Isn’t it great that this bit of film has been preserved and is now available free for anybody who gets a copy of the Let It Be …Naked CD? In a way, this package which contains the original Let It Be recording, the Fly in the Wall film and the booklet with the well-written notes by Kevin Howlett, rare photographs and transcripts of the Beatles conversation while at work is additional proof that the prediction made by Derek Taylor in 1964 has indeed come true.

Taylor wrote in his liner notes for the album Beatles for Sales. "The kids of 2000 AD will understand what it was all about and draw from the music much the same sense of well being and warmth as we do today. For the magic of the Beatles is timeless and ageless."

Spector made his contribution to that so I still say, bless him for Let It Be and enjoy Naked for whatever it’s worth.

steffieweffie

Spirit's Morning Call Expected Later Sunday Evening


PASADENA, Calif. -- NASAs newly landed Spirit rover on Mars will receive a wake-up call from Earth later today -- its wake-up call coming courtesy of The Beatle's "Good Morning, Good Morning", from the band's classic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.


And for hundreds of scientists and engineers here at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) it is indeed a new and good morning on Mars.


Since Spirit touched down on the Red Planet late Saturday evening, ground operators on Earth have been able to better access the overall health of the robot, and have begun to appreciate the surrounding terrain within Gusev Crater.


Straight forward driving


Spacecraft engineers are to start snapping detailed images of Spirits deflated airbags today. Those photos are necessary to determine in which direction the rover can eventually drive off its landing platform, said Jennifer Trosper, Spirit Mission Manager for Surface Operations at a morning press conference here today.


Early indications that the lander came to rest nestled near a large rock now appear not to be the case. Rather, the pictures seem to show that feature could be part of the airbag system. The good news is that exiting the rover from the platform onto Mars should be, literally, straight forward, she said.


Spirit is sensing slightly warmer than expected temperatures at the Gusev landing site. Power levels produced by the robots solar panels are not as strong as predicted, but plenty enough to keep pressing forward in readying Spirit for exploration duty.


Spirits communications link to Earth via both the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey -- two Mars orbiting NASA (news - web sites) spacecraft -- has been excellent. A direct Spirit-to-Earth link is to be checked out later today.


Spirits new neighborhood


Throughout last night and into the morning hours here on Earth, Spirits science team has been busy identifying "where we are and where were going to go," said Steve Squyres, Principal Investigator for Spirit from Cornell University.


Images taken by the lander seconds before its airbag-cushioned touchdown are being matched up with overhead imagery of Gusev Crater taken by the Odyssey spacecraft. Landmarks have been identified that show Spirit "hit the sweet spot," Squyres said.


"This is our new neighborhood," Squyres reported. "Were in a marvelous place," Squyres reported.


The landing locale is peppered with impact craters, and is also visited by swirling dust devils. Tornado-like, dust devils on Mars are far less-powerful and destructive in force than their counterparts on Earth. However, their swirling actions help de-dust the population of various rocks that are strewn across Gusev Crater a geologic bonus for up-close inspection by Spirits armada of tools.


Tread carefully


One tantalizing feature is seen nearby, and within easy driving distance of the rover.



It could be a modest depression or a crater, Squyres said, but may be home to layered deposits of material. If so, that would offer Spirits instruments the chance to decipher what has occurred at Gusev over geologic time.

On the other hand, is that feature a "rover trap", one that could be filled with loose material that could prove dangerous to inspect, bogging down the six-wheeled rover, Squyres cautioned. "Well need to tread carefully," he said.

Field of dreams

More images of Gusev are expected today. Engineers have started a slow, methodical, step-by-step process in checking out Spirits ability to steer itself off the lander platform onto the surface of Mars. Those procedures will take several days to complete.

The first color panorama from Spirit is expected late today or early tomorrow. That view is guaranteed to be spectacular, Squyres noted.

But images already transmitted from the landing zone show a scientific field of dreams. "Gusev is a great place to drive," Squyres concluded.

"What a spectacular time to be alive and exploring Mars... with Spirit down safe and sound having returned a slugfest of images already," said James Garvin, NASA Lead Scientist for Mars Exploration. "I am beside myself with excitementscience rules!", he told SPACE.com.