And so we say goodbye to one of my favorite parts of the Beatle story, the complex and talented Astrid Kirchherr. Though their influence is impossible to quantify, Astrid, Klaus and the "Exis" are foundational to what John, Paul, George and Ringo became. It was in Hamburg that the Fabs transformed from a group of English teenagers playing sloppy covers of American R&B tunes into a artistic unit with a coherent aesthetic that would take over the world. The Beatles are so BIG a cultural phenomenon that it can be difficult to see the artistic outlines of other people in their orbit. [...]

This morning while listening to "Fame," the David Bowie song guest-starring our pal John Lennon, I realized something. At a certain point, John ad-libs "What's your name?" Why does he do that? Because, when you're famous and someone comes up to you for an autograph, you ask… "What's your name?"

Stumbled across this via a comment thread on BoingBoing.net, and it was too good not to share. By the way, you'll like the BoingBoing post as well. https://youtu.be/xaDsbnhK2CQ

It was 20 years ago todayyou didn't have to walk around wearing a goddamn facemask If you want a Beatles face mask, and of course you do, here's where to order one. If the zombie apocalypse comes, there will be Beatles-themed machetes. (Not officially licensed, but still.)

What the world needs now, I feel, is this: a Buddhist monk singing Yellow Submarine. I know who I want to go do karaoke with! Enjoy! (And enjoy the two minute sit afterwards.) https://youtu.be/QLELtdrRyhs

Wake up, Sheeple. When approving the last ever comments on the gargantuan "Were John and Paul Lovers?" thread, I found myself asking a simple question, which some of you might have an interest in as well. There are certain niche interests where, if not for fan-generated content, there wouldn't be anything new to talk about. I suspect that if you're interested in the Titanic, for example, or Jack the Ripper, or Sherlock Holmes, fan-generated content is necessary to sustain your passion. But the Beatles is different; it's bigger even than the Marvel Comics Universe. Beatle fans don't need fanfic. We don't need [...]

From friend of Bystander Stephen Kroninger…I'm just glad Sgt. Pepper wasn't alive to see this...

"You're right, she DOES look like Alma Cogan…" A lot of people have asked how you might help the blog, so I'm always looking for painless (read: free) ways you can show your HD-love. I just found one. The Brave browser works just like Chrome, but is faster, more private, and more secure. I've been using it for three weeks now and really like it. Give it a spin. If you use this link, we'll get a small kickback. There's another neat aspect to Brave, in that you can earn money by opting in to ads. They block the crappy ads you [...]

Thanks to our ever-vigilant @Hologram Sam, we now know that Peter Jackson's frenzied attempt at making the 1969 Get Back sessions less of an unholy drag will premiere on September 4, 2020. Mike will not be there. Mike may never be there, unless all of you say it's wonderful. Mike's teenaged years were scarred by many, many Twickenham bootlegs, and Mike DOES NOT FORGET. "State-of-the-art image-correction technology will be used to make Paul less pushy, George less sullen, and Ringo less cold," said a Disney spokesman. "It will also sweep the opiates from John and Yoko's bloodstream." The film will be sponsored [...]