Trump and the Beatles
This is just to say how disheartening I found it to hear the Beatles' "Revolution" played twice at Donald Trump's victory rally in New Hampshire last night. I realize that his use of the song is perfectly legal, and that it probably won't make a dime's worth of difference to the way anyone votes. And we seem long past the point where candidates even [...]
John and Yoko at the Fillmore
Frank Zappa tells an interesting story about John and Yoko and their guest appearance at Zappa’s 1971 live album concert at the Fillmore East. After briefly meeting them through a reporter, Zappa invited John and Yoko to come to the Fillmore that evening to jam with the band. Nervous but buoyed by cocaine, The Lennons played with the Mothers for nearly an hour [...]
The Lennon Audio Diaries
In the fall of 1979, John sat down with a tape recorder and began to tell his life story. But these Lennon audio diaries were a non-starter: in true Lennon fashion, he got bored after 1.25 minutes and let his thoughts drift to his usual preoccupations—Paul McCartney, his mother Julia, and his fear of professional redundancy. According to Rolling Stone magazine, the [...]
Ringo and Paul raid the costume box
Hey Dullblog readers, Today I share with you the greatest, most ridiculous Beatle pictures that might exist anywhere. What is the context for these? I have NO idea (I randomly found them on tumblr). And I love them so much BECAUSE I have no context for them. Please do not rain on my parade and explain them, unless your explanation is completely fictional and [...]
Explaining Beatlemania via Sex At Dawn
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 [...]
I’m Down by Joe Strummer
"You tell lies thinkin' I can't see..." This morning, I awoke to find this gem in the comment queue from @O'Boogie... "Long time/first time — tangentially, there are some neat bits of Beatles flavoured trivia to London’s pub rock/proto-punk scene. Joe Strummer christened John Tiberi (pre-Clash manager of The 101’ers, later associated with the Pistols) “Boogie” because he’d smoke Winston [...]
Was John Lennon bipolar?
After watching a TV program on Spike Milligan's battle with depression, John Lennon sent the comedian a book. In the comments on the John and Mimi post, @Karen and some others have elucidated a theory that I've toyed with for years, myself: that John Lennon, Chief Beatle and beloved by all denizens of Dullblog, suffered from bipolar disorder. Formerly called [...]
The Meaning of Fun: The Paul is Dead Rumor
In Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream in History, I wrote at length about the Paul is Dead (PID) rumor, attempting to weave it into a larger comprehension of the Beatles’ unprecedented, and exceedingly bizarre, effect on the private and public fantasies of the Sixties (and beyond). The rumor occurred at precisely the same time as the Manson Family murders, and my [...]
John and Mimi
Sometime in the mid-70’s, John wrote a letter to his Aunt Mimi asking her for information about the family genealogy. Mimi replied in the form of a recording. I found this little gem on Amoralto’s excellent tumblr blog and wanted to share it with fellow dullbloggers. But first, a little background on the lady who played such a significant role shaping the [...]