Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Lennon in the 80s

By Michael Gerber|2015-10-05T12:21:47-07:00October 4, 2015|1980|

"Someday, son, this will all be yours. If you have Garage Band." I am always trying to figure out a non-obnoxious way to spotlight some of our great old posts. (There are over 600.) Today, commenter Damon F. solved that problem for me by finding this impassioned burbling on "Harry Nilsson: The Shadow Beatle", which spurred him to burble the following in response: "I think it’s a bit unfair to say Lennon squandered his gifts considering he was shot dead at age 40. He worked five years post Beatles yet is compared to the others who worked much longer. All [...]

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The General Erection

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-27T23:13:41-07:00September 27, 2015|1965|

Here's that interview with John Lennon on the occasion of "A Spaniard In the Works" I alluded to in the Beatles and the Aristocracy comment thread. From the June 18th, 1965 edition of the BBC programme "Tonight" hosted by Kenneth Allsop, it's a real reminder of why Britain needed the Beatles. And how the world will always need them. "Do you think you'd be published, uh, were you not a Beatle?" "The pop business is a young man's world...Do you think that perhaps, uh, writing a book like this, and writing at all, might be an unconscious attempt to win recognition in [...]

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Best Beatles Magazine Covers

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-26T15:38:17-07:00September 27, 2015|Photos|

In the course of researching my post on the Beatles and the aristocracy, I came across the SatEvePost cover from 1964 which is the featured image. The Beatles as City gents is one of the few really iconic Beatles magazine covers -- given how many photos were taken of the Fabs, you'd think the shelves would be groaning with truly memorable shots, but that's not the case. If Rolling Stone had only started five years later, right? These are my personal nominations; put yours in the comments, and I'll move our most popular Beatle magazine covers up to the post. Saturday [...]

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The Beatles and the Aristocracy

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-27T23:15:20-07:00September 26, 2015|British culture/politics|

City gents, 1964. After watching a tantalizing but toothless BBC documentary on the English aristocracy, my musing mind wondered: what was the relationship between the Beatles and the aristocracy? I'm not talking about professional contact -- not "rattle your jewelry" or the MBE -- but what John, Paul, George and Ringo felt personally. The more I think about it, the more I'm surprised at how little public contact there seems to have been between the Beatles and the aristocracy, especially given the high/low mixing that Swinging London was known for. I know that Seltaeb was run by Horse Guards' own [...]

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The Beatles and National Lampoon: “Magical Misery Tour” (1971)

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-22T22:57:43-07:00September 22, 2015|comedy|

Yeah, the covers kicked ass, too Last week, as I was cleaning up my office, I came upon this wonderful piece from the American humor magazine National Lampoon. In print and on vinyl, the Lampoon talked about the Beatles a lot, quite irreverently -- and it was (so I've heard) the magazine's irreverence towards Yoko that soured their relationship with John Lennon. (He hung out at Lampoon's offices for a while right after making the move from Tittenhurst Park to the Big Apple.) I don't know specifically what caused the rift, but I think we can all agree that it [...]

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Braverman’s Condensed Cream of Beatles

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-20T22:57:41-07:00September 20, 2015|Beatle-inspired|

Since it's so damn hot in my apartment -- much too hot to work out the plot of my historical spy thriller -- I cast around a bit in the Beatles-strewn attic of my mind for a suitable post. I suddenly got a hankering to find and watch a Beatles-related film I once saw as a hot child on a hot night such as this. Once a year -- invariably during a pledge drive -- St. Louis' PBS station KCET would host a night of Beatles. One year in the late 70s, sandwiched between "A Hard Day's Night" and a scratchy copy [...]

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The Savage Young Beatles

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-18T19:50:20-07:00September 18, 2015|Photos|

Paul McCartney in glasses, now that's something you don't see every day I must admit to a strange but persistent lack of interest in the prehistory of The Beatles. I can offer no defense; do others feel the same way? Sure, the Hamburg stories are fun -- hookers! strippers! possible murder of a drunken sailor! -- but even then I feel a certain...impatience. I welcome any attempts to turn me around on this subject. But even for a hard case like me, this exhaustive and lovingly curated collection of photos from the years before The Beatles were THE BEATLES is [...]

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The Beatles in Manila, 1966

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-17T14:39:19-07:00September 14, 2015|1966|

"Maybe your last chance to see the Beatles! Don't ask how we know this!" And what does the ol' "to-post" file have for us this morning? Why, it's a webpage dedicated to the Beatles in Manila, the feel-baddiest moment in all of Beatlemania. We all know the story of their ill-fated trip to the Philippines -- "snubbing" Imelda Marcos, their security mysteriously disappearing, Fabs and entourage making wills and quietly peeing themselves as they waited on the tarmac -- but this site has some nice added bits. (By the way, I've always assumed that it's even odds the Beatles knew [...]

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Hitler on Sgt. Pepper

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-12T14:24:27-07:00September 12, 2015|Sgt. Pepper|

We've discussed peak Brian Wilson versus peak Beatles before, but you gotta admire the guy's passion. https://youtu.be/sGVRQ-DC9PE Now, clearly this is unfair. As I've said many times before, the scale of an LP can only be measured by examining its every dimension -- packaging, conception and historical/industry impact do count -- not just in terms of songwriting and performance. If you want to know the difference between Sgt. Pepper and Pet Sounds, see how SMiLE is different; Brian Wilson saw the improvements that "mere McCartney" and his own Wrecking Crew had wrought. * * * I've been noticing a lot of site [...]

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Corgi Loves the Beatles

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-10T11:35:44-07:00September 10, 2015|Fan Foolishness|

This dog refuses to acknowledge her master's voice unless he speaks in a cheesy Beatle-scouse. It's not a very good Beatles impression, but still we admire the dog's general attitude. The scientist in me wants to see if the corgi will react to an actual Beatle's voice. Paul? Ringo? For science? https://youtu.be/MUdUmHKVdyU

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About Michael Gerber