Beatles record producer George Martin has died at the age of 90. (And I didn't even know he was sick!) Below is a link to the obituary in The Guardian; we'll add other notable ones as they appear--please suggest additions in the comments. The Guardian. SPIN. Vulture. The New York Times. And yet another link to the Beatles story is lost -- remorselessly, inevitably experience is becoming history.
Anybody know why John is giving that symbol? Look, the Beatles et al. can't blame us for being obsessed. Not when so much of the stuff generated by them was so wonderfully, almost obstinately eccentric. Especially after Sgt. Pepper, with its cover of eminences, to dig into the Beatles was to encounter a glorious ragbag of art and history, comedy and poetry. Per esempio, dig these crazy liner-notes by Capitol's Dan Davis, plastered on back of the Fabs' 1968 LP Yellow Submarine. And then imagine being a precocious six-year-old reading them and thinking, "Beowulf? Magna Carta? If the Beatles like [...]
Guest Dullblogger Chris Dingman has just written a very interesting and well-expressed post on Paul McCartney's essential contribution to the Lennon/McCartney partnership, and you should probably read that before reading this. This post began as a comment to that post, but as I wrote I felt it ranged too widely, and touched on something too essential, not to be surfaced on its own. It's true that Paul was the more natural musician, and the Beatles were, after all, a band -- but they were so much more than their music, just as Valentino was more than movies, and JFK was more than politics. Music [...]
Maybe all of you knew this already (and if so, I appreciate you allowing me to live in blissful ignorance). This morning commenter Linda S. hepped me to an interesting development in Beatledom: Apple has engaged comic book artist Alex Ross to create photorealistic illustrations based on the Beatles' 1968 film, Yellow Submarine. The thing about Blue Meanies is, they never look like Blue Meanies. In the real world, they wear suits -- which was the Beatles' first lesson post-Yellow Submarine. Hey, kids! See if you can find the sugarcube hidden in this photorealistic art! I love comics, and I [...]
Lennon, post-shearing, 1966 is worth more than your car. (Probably.) A lock of Lennon's hair clipped in 1966 for his role in "How I Won The War" has been sold at auction for a whopping $35,000. (That is one smart "German hairdresser.") No word as to whether the "U.K.-based collector" is planning on cloning Mr. John, like a Canadian dentist is attempting. Dr. Michael Zuk bought a tooth, and thinks that entitles him to the whole thing. He says he wants to raise John II as his own son, keeping him away from booze and cigarettes. (And, perhaps, conceptual artists? [...]
I write all my comments on my screen, in pen Dullblogisti, in my mania to build an ever-better online clubhouse for Beatle-obsessives, I have installed a new commenting system. If you get a moment, could you help me test drive it? Leave a comment — See if it shows up, and is formatted correctly. Give a comment the thumbs up. Share a comment via Facebook or Twitter. Thanks in advance. With the old system, I couldn't follow who was replying to what and when. These days on Dullblog, that's important. You are a voluble bunch.
Kneel before Zod The Beatles are responsible for one out of every 100 jobs in their home city of Liverpool, according to a new report by the City Council. The Beatles impact on the economy of the city is simply immense; the report estimates that John, Paul, George and Ringo bring in about £82 million worth of trade annually. Gulp, but this figure is likely low: "[A]ccording to Professor Richard Evans from Liverpool John Moores University, the figures do not take into account the marketing value of the brand or the number of people staying at non Beatles-themed hotels...The report [...]
Where's John? Didn't really matter, did it? I'm delighted whenever Nancy gives us some Starostin news -- he's a brilliant critic, and a fluid writer as well. He is a guy I'd like to sit around listening to albums with, and that's not something I could say about a lot of music critics (Lester Bangs, for example). But I do, predictably, have a quibble -- and it's not just with Starostin, but with a lot of the appreciations of Abbey Road that I've read over the years. Here's how Starostin starts: While speculating on all the possible and probable causes [...]
Donald Trump's use of "Revolution," though egregious, is far from the only time the spirit of John Lennon's been pressed into service to sell something. The Lennon commercial pasted below is objectionable on so many levels, not least dubbing and vocal impression (have they ever heard John talk?): https://youtu.be/4Ph4rZU0Ns4 And here's a 1992 Nike ad featuring "Instant Karma" (ironic, that): https://youtu.be/AmmpbSlr8UQ And here's an ad that works hard to get around the Estate: https://youtu.be/RweXg3YMOHg People often ask why rock music doesn't pack the same political punch -- Beyoncé's halftime show aside -- as it did in the Sixties and Seventies. One reason [...]
Nope, nothing sexual going on here. Commenter @King Kevin asked me yesterday whether I'd read the book Sex At Dawn, a fascinating and controversial attempt to explain contemporary human sexual behavior via “anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality.” One of the book's primary contentions is that human females are as randy as males, if not more so -- and it takes maximum effort and much selective vision on our society's part to make it seem otherwise. From the book: "And yet, despite repeated assurances that women aren't particularly sexual creatures, in cultures around the world men have gone to extraordinary [...]