The Beatles: They Came to a Land Downunder

Frank and Gaz close out. The odyssey is over. They draw inspiration from Strong Songs to do some DIY deconstruction on She Loves You and This Boy. They finally track down the vital lost chord, pan diatonic monster cluster, and reharmonisation of a simple three-note motif that changed the world. And, of course, it all wouldn't have come together with Ringo and his trusty left-hand. Thanks to co...

Frank and Gaz are back for their last hurrah in two parts. Once again they come off a long historic run, putting the Beatles 1964 music into the broader sweep of musical history. They consider the legitimacy of comparisons between Lennon/McCartney and Mahler, Beethoven, Bach and even Mach (Tufnel/St Hubbins). Drawing on Frank's part-time classical education, they may have uncovered the mystery...

Frank and Gaz go long and deep on the question of who got to meet the Beatles 'for real' in Australasia and beyond. In navigating the sensitive theme of sex and rock 'n' roll, they return to classical roots in the writing of Petronius, Ovid and Apuleius. Informed by these texts and the more recent 'Sex and the Beatles: 400 entries', they ask whether Beatles lyrics from 1963...

In Episode 7 (Meet the Marsupials), Frank and Gaz explore the soft power of the Australian native animal and their interactions with the Beatles downunder and a litany of other stars like Taylor Swift. Our hosts interview the world's leading expert on the endangered Palm Cockatoo (from Far North Queensland) and similarities in its drumming styles with those of Ringo. And they ask - why has eve...

Frank and Gaz explore the people downunder that came within the Beatles' orbit during the 1964 tour. They re-interview the Hon. Bob Katter MP - a longstanding member of Australia's parliament - who, as a student, threw eggs at the Beatles on arrival and met them afterwards. They discuss the fascinating life of the head of security detail on the tour, Devon Minchin. They consider the impres...

In There’s a Place, Frank and Gaz hit the pavements in search of residual traces of the places downunder where the Beatles stayed, played and partied with locals (What does the rush to redevelop these places tell us about Australia in the 1960s?). Inspired by the true crime podcast genre, our hosts uncover the shady circles within which they mixed in Sydney's ‘Sin City’. In Melbourne, Gaz gath...

In episode 4, Frank and Gaz explore what the Beatles might have understood about Australia and where they went during the tour. They also shamelessly seek to boost their followers by drawing long bows between the Taylor Swift 2024 tour of Australia and that of the Beatles sixty years earlier. Our hosts uncover a long-lost interview by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) with John Lennon...

Having grown up largely in the analog era, Frank and Gaz refine their use of the podcast technology (so this episode sounds a lot better!). And having smashed through the digital ceiling, they were able to dive more deeply into the 'lucky land' (Cold Chisel's reference to Donald Horne's 1964 book 'The Lucky Country'. They canvass what the Beatles would have encountered upon...

Before diving more deeply into the Australasian tour, Frank and Gaz take a slight tragical history detour. They review how our understanding of the Beatles has improved with social media, AI and other technology. And they consider what might be called Beatles' history wars. This quasi literature review sets the scene for Episode 3 in which they consider what the Beatles might have known about...

In their first episode, Frank and Gaz introduce themselves, their Beatles interests, and explain the podcast title and its connection to the Beatles, Australia and the Australian psyche. The episode features some historical audio from the tour and excerpts from a rare interview. The podcast will go into detail about the Beatles but, just as much, the nature of the land down under itself. (The audi...

Some excerpts from the forthcoming podcast coming in May.

Australia topped the world in terms of people turning out to meet The Beatles. Where did they go, stay and play? Who did they meet? What was the land down under of 1964 really like - socially, culturally and politically? Stay tuned for more details ahead of the 60th anniversary in June 2024.