When They Was Fab: Electric Arguments About the Beatles

Thirty years ago, the Beatles celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sgt. Pepper with a South Bank special on the making of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.   Paul, George, Ringo, George Martin and even Brian Wilson.    This week we dive deeped into Pepper proper, and wonder if the "She's Leaving Home" and "Getting Better" segments remain on the cutting room floor somewhere.    Look for...

Thirty years ago, the Beatles celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sgt. Pepper with a South Bank special on the making of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.   Paul, George, Ringo, George Martin and even Brian Wilson.    We look back at the special, the isolated tracks, what was missing and how things have changed.    Look for part two, also available now!

A look at the covers of John, Paul, George and Ringo.     All without one mention of "Rock Island Line", which all four of them did as solo artists in one form or another.   Which is your favorite?    Least?    Jeff Lynne and his shaggy hair manage to get namechecked TWICE!

In 1979, EMI (via their "budget label" Music For Pleasure/mfp) recycled and expanded an idea launched nine years previously as "The Stars Sing Lennon & McCartney").     This week: the songs, the artwork and what was skipped in favor of "I'm the Greatest."

Jon and I are joined by Erika White (of BC the Beatles) for a look the 2007 Julie Taymor film "Across the Universe".     A feast for the eyes and ears.    A lot of people like it, and a lot of people don't.    Which of these categories do we fall in? (hint: we live up to the subtitle)    Which category do you fall in?   Let us know!

We continue our look at the collected "Beatles at the Beeb" (Lord Reith 2021 edition) with disc three.    Shows two, three and four in the "Pop Go the Beatles" series, and a couple of other appearances from the months around Paul's birthday.    In addition to talking about the shows we chat a bit about the "Spanish Holiday", Paul's 21st and Lee Peters making Ringo older a month before his time.

Nine years ago Sir Paul emerged from "Kisses on the Bottom" with his next studio album "New."   Paul listed his inspiration as events ranging from the early 1960's, through to the present day.    Would this album keep "Hear Music" going, and Sir Paul fans rolling into the aisles of Starbucks?

Martin Quibell (co-host P2 Podcast Blues) joins the show this week for a look at the 1974 "Dark Horse" tour from 1974.    After an exhausting month finishing some records and rehearsing the band, George Harrison's voice was in no condition for two months of regular shows (sometimes twice daily) across the United States.  The frustrations mounted, but it wasn't all bad.     The band was invited to...

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the "Magical Mystery Tour" Blu-Ray.    The WTWF guys look back at the film, and the "Arena" special on the making of MMT produced at the same time.     

Linda McCartney passed away in Arizona on April 17, 1998.    A year later, her friends Chrissie Hynde, Carla Lane and Kevin Godley would organize a concert in her honor at the Royal Albert Hall.    We discuss that show, and a bit about Linda herself in this "very special episode" of When They Was Fab.

Ray Cooper and the solo Beatles.    We look into the "Zelig" or "Forrest Gump" of the solo Beatle world, Ray Cooper!    A drummer, a percussionist, and yes, a tambourine player.      He is also a guy who survived the entirety of Handmade Films, and even tried to revive it after the debacle of Denis O'Brien.      We also talk a bit about Julian (and the announcement of his new album "Jude"), George...

A wheezing grinding sound fades away as we close in on Christopher Eccleston wandering around in a moptop on the set of "A Hard Day's Night".     Perhaps it is the plot for a lost episode of "Doctor Who", but it is also early on in the telefilm "Lennon Naked".     Jon and I review the film, compare the reenacted scenes to their real-life counterparts (surprise!    It's pretty good, for the most pa...

The first of two weeks covering some John Lennon biopics from the 2009-2010 era.     We start with "Nowhere Boy", a deep dive into the psychology of John Lennon as viewed through the lens of his half-sister Julia Dykins.     A surprising amount of time is taken up covering the romantic relationships between older women and much younger men!      

Jon and I get back to the last (almost) thirty years of Paul McCartney's solo career.      Pick at least song from each mainstream release, and one (or more) frp the others (live, classical and Fireman), then build a playlist.    Here are ours.  What are yours?

We continue our look at the collected "Beatles at the Beeb" (Lord Reith 2021 edition) with disc two.     It took the lads 14 months to generate a single disc worth of material, and now the BBC invites them back often enough that they can fill the second before the end of the summer.     The disc closes with the momentous event of "Pop Goes the Beatles" (they had moved all the way to the top of the...

Please ignore if you have seen/heard this episode already. This week - Wings and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.     We move from Paul's induction in 1999 to questions about Wings and how they upheld "the spirit of rock and roll" with diversions wide and far including The Monkees, David Cassidy, the E-Street Band, the Traveling Wilburys and thoughts on the appropriateness of "Lumpy Trousers" as a...

February 11, 1964.      Fresh off their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles take a leisurely trip to Washington DC (via train) and blow the minds of several thousand teenagers including future Vice-President Al Gore.    A CBS crew filmed the show for closed circuit distribution, and we are fortunate enough to have a record of this show to review.

There's a lot of serious business to fooling around!    This week, Jon and I sit down with humorist, author and man about town Jem Roberts.     The audio version of his book "Fab Fools" is newly available on Audible.     We touch on a number of comedy topics, with a lot of chat about Neil Innes and the Rutles.      No Wom Direction though.

The twelve months between Fall of 1965 and fall of 1966 were difficult ones for the Beatles and their American record label Capitol records.     While the Beatles prepared and released a single album, Capitol found a way to release two (creating a deficit for the forthcoming "Revolver" as well).      We look at the material, the covers, the hours, the times and more in this week's episode.

Dr. Kenneth Womack of Monmouth University and author of more (Beatle and other) books than you can shake a stick at joins us this week for a look back at George Martin questions that have emerged since "Get Back", and forward to Mal's diaries, the (unpublished) diaries/archives, and the two forthcoming books covering the life and times of "The Gentle Giant".    A man quite possibly the closest to...

This week we start a periodic (i.e.: not contiguous) series covering the Beatles at the BBC, using the Lord Reith "BBC Archives" series (available at finer Internet sites everywhere) as our basis.      We run through the first volume of this 24-disc set (which roughly corresponds with their first year) watching the drummers change.

September 1968.     Paul McCartney tells the media that the Beatles would be performing live before the end of the year.    We know that project eventually became "Get Back", but what if it had proceeded as planned?

We conclude our seven weeks of Get Back (with more to come soon enough) live on a London rooftop.     It would soon enough become a golden age for lawyers (although none with a legal bent ever went broke at Savile Row), but right here, right now (well, 53 years ago), it was four young men singing for the world without the aid of wine, bowties or black slip-ons [size 8].    Oh, yeah, there was also...

The penultimate episode of our "Get Back" review.      Allen Klein enters the Beatles world, weather delays the proposed show, and Paul gets cold feet.       Rehearsals and recording continue while Glyn Johns and Michael Lindsay-Hogg hold their collective breath (for reasons other than Ringo farting).

Darin Murphy joins us for Days 15-17.     The deadlines for Ringo and Glyn Johns draw ever closer as January comes to end.    The Beatles do not quite manage a breakthrough, but they do start to get some numbers down for the album, while the crew scrambles for a replacement ending for the film now that Primrose Hill is no longer possible.