1960s Archives - Page 8 of 19 - Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

I Saw Her Standing There Refracture Remix

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-21T14:32:06-08:00January 21, 2014|1963|

"Not bad, that." One of the little benefits (and there are many, let me assure you) of living where I live is KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic." I realize that I come off on HD as a curmudgeon whose musical tastes are pitifully narrow—and they are, because every time I listen to a smidgeon of the new music being created all around the world I think, "Wow that's great!!!"...And five seconds later I think, because I'm me, "Jesus, this tech-driven media oversupply screws musicians just like it screws writers. The audience is so fragmented, how can making this stuff ever be [...]

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Attention Original Beatlemaniacs!

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-15T15:20:53-08:00January 15, 2014|1964, Housekeeping|

Yes, convite them, why don't you? The following just came in over the transom: "I'm a journalist in a Portuguese daily newspaper called "i" (www.ionline.pt). I'm writing a feature about the 50 years of The Beatles in America and I'm trying to get in touch with people who might've seen them back then, live or on the TV. Could you help me?" Yes, Tiago, I believe we can! Any interested (and interesting) parties should contact him directly at tjppereira AT gmail DOT com.

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In which Mike’s ears play tricks?

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-12T20:55:58-08:00January 13, 2014|1963|

MIKE GERBER • In thinking about Devin's great post on favorite Beatle micro-moments, last week's "Breakfast with the Beatles" reminded me of one…which may or may not exist? I only doubt it because I can't seem to find corroboration via Google—which is, I suppose, a comment on what we've become (yes, I'm including you whether you like it or not). Anyway, it's an extra "something" in "I Want to Hold Your Hand”—a ghostly buried response that occurs at about 1:23 in this video. http://youtu.be/3MHkgwA8t-g Do you hear it, too? Maybe come over to where I'm standing...or hunch down to my height...Is this [...]

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Will the Real Mr. Sellers Please Stand Up?

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-10T21:20:56-08:00January 10, 2014|1969, comedy|

Sellers, ready for his close-up MIKE GERBER • Devin's post earlier this regarding the "film merde" of Ringo Starr couldn't help but bring to mind Ringo's most accomplished co-star, Peter Sellers. Sellers is one of my favorites, as he seems to be for a lot of Beatlepeople; as with Monty Python, there's a lot of overlap between him and the Fabs, as much or more than any musical group: The Goon Show, his Beatles covers, the Peter Sellers Tape, The Magic Christian. All four Beatles were fans, but weren't close; nobody, it seems, was close with Peter Sellers. I recall [...]

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Billboard 1964: “There! I’ve Said It Again”

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-09T11:24:29-08:00January 9, 2014|1964|

"They have everything over there. Why do they need us?" Two words, George: Bobby Vinton. This morning as I awoke, I had a fun little idea (which must be all over the web): in order to demonstrate the impact The Beatles had on American popular music, HD will post the #1 hit from the Billboard charts for every week in 1964. This week fifty years ago, the top spot was occupied by Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said It Again." It would slumber immovably at #1 for the rest of the month. I think everybody knew how soporific this song was; [...]

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Ticket to Ride Was the First…What?

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-08T16:28:43-08:00January 8, 2014|1965|

Beatles as City Gents. Bowlers—check. Umbrellas—check. Fat arses—not shown. MIKE GERBER • John, as we all know, claimed that "Ticket to Ride" was the first heavy metal song. (Actually he said "one of the first," but we all know what John meant. He meant, "I personally invented heavy metal. As did Yoko.") But this weekend, KLOS's Chris Carter commemorated the anniversary of Mal Evans' death by playing Badfinger's "No Matter What"—a tune Mal produced. As it played, I thought that "Ticket to Ride" seems more like the first "power pop" song than the first heavy metal one. Opinions?* http://youtu.be/wEhUrwGT5-w http://youtu.be/Xoke1wUwEXY [...]

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Starrtime: Defining Moments from Ringo’s non-Beatle movies (1)

By Devin McKinney|2015-10-21T20:19:44-07:00January 7, 2014|1960s, 1968, alternate history, comedy, Film merde, Psychedelia, Ringo, Ringo movies, Ringo Starr|

The two dozen or so films Ringo Starr has made outside of the Beatles may constitute, more than any other legacy, a hefty bequest to the genre known unofficially as film merde. In spite or perhaps because of this, a surprising number of the all-star extravaganzas that make use of our favorite drummer’s amenable presence and recognizable nose have generated cults of some size (at least, if you believe Internet commentators who themselves, rather than stating existing facts, may merely be hoping to originate such cults). If nothing else, some of them offer a window on that passage in cultural history when, [...]

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Cries and Whispers, Crashes and Flutters: 10 Favorite Beatles Musical Micro-Moments

By Devin McKinney|2016-12-03T07:44:13-08:00November 27, 2013|1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, John Lennon, Lennon, McCartney, Paul McCartney, Ringo, Ringo Starr|

Recording "Real Love," 1994:Gut genius at work. DEVIN McKINNEY • We all know you can take the Beatles to the outer limit and upper extremity of significance—Best thing in universal history—and then narrow that unit to its subordinate but still-impressive absolutes: Best miracle of the 20th century; best socio-cultural force of the 1960s; Best group of the “rock era.” Having accepted all of that, you can, and we all have, then go superlative in descending levels of specificity: Best album; best song; best vocal performance—John; best vocal performance—Paul; best bass playing; best guitar solo; best everything else. But have we [...]

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Beatles at the BBC, Volume 2: clearly enjoyable

By Nancy Carr|2013-11-17T05:47:17-08:00November 16, 2013|1964, BBC, Uncategorized|

Just before Paul warned George not to stick that Rickenbacker into John's ear NANCY CARR * I've been listening to "On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2" pretty continuously the past few days, and it's great fun (unsurprisingly, for anyone who's heard volume 1). Of particular note is the astounding clarity of the sound. The warmth and immediacy of the recordings is a large part of what makes the set such a pleasure to listen to. What a superb job of mastering and transferring. "Volume 2" has more between-song talk than "Volume 1," which provides a fascinating window into the [...]

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Book Review: “Beatles vs. Stones”

By Devin McKinney|2014-02-03T05:09:15-08:00November 11, 2013|1968, Beatles vs. Stones, biography, books|

Beatles vs. Stones by John McMillian 288 pp. Simon & Schuster, 2013 Reviewed by Devin McKinney Note: This review was first posted, precipitately, on July 22nd, after review copies of John McMillian's book were sent out; it was difficult for the reviewer to resist reading and responding to it immediately. Now that the book is publicly available, we repost the review, without any changes. A character in Jonathan Lethem’s novel The Fortress of Solitude claims that every small-group dynamic found in fiction or in life is comprehensible via the Beatles model of organizational relationships: “The Beatles thing is an archetype, it’s like [...]

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