Call for Submissions!
Hey folks! As you might have noticed, Dullblog's content flow has been lighter over this last month or so. Nancy and Devin do what they can, but they have day jobs, bless 'em, and my new gig (I'm writing for The Huffington Post's new weekly satire show) makes it impossible for me to spew as prolifically as I have in the past. [...]
1965: The Most Revolutionary Year In Music
Gentle Readers, the following is an excerpt from Andrew Jackson's "1965: The Most Revolutionary Year In Music." You'll have to read the book to decide whether his title speaks the truth, but in the meantime here's Andrew's take on The Beatles, Dick Lester, and the little-known bit of 60s cinema called "The Knack…and How to Get It." My only question is -- [...]
Robert Christgau on “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band”
John and Yoko with (l-r) unidentified, Neil Aspinall, Ringo, and Maureen at John's 31st birthday party in Syracuse, NY, where Robert Christgau met them. DEVIN McKINNEY • Robert Christgau’s new memoir, Going Into the City: Portrait of a Critic as a Young Man, contains a passage on the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album that struck me as resonant, and more [...]
Krall does Paul: McCartney cover on “Wallflower”
NANCY CARR * On her new album "Wallflower," Diana Krall covers "If I Take You Home Tonight," a song Paul McCartney wrote while working on "Kisses on the Bottom" but didn't release. (Not clear if he recorded a version.) I think the romantic ballad blends in seamlessly with the late 1960s to 1970s songs that make up the rest of Krall's album. Listen [...]
Lennon: Through a Glass Onion
In a rather shocking display of feckless self-absorption, I just discovered in my inbox a months-old email touting the musical performance Lennon: Through a Glass Onion. Musicians John R. Waters and Stewart D'Arietta are performing a slate of Lennon's work -- written both with and without his Beatles -- at the Union Square Theatre, on 100 East 17th Street. Just the kind [...]
The Beatles Story: A Bold Sonic Experiment in How Terrible You Can Make a Museum
Is your favorite film Magical Mystery Tour when watched with a hangover? Is your favorite song the sound of Yoko and John screaming in wordless unison? Is your favorite record the White Album… but only when both LPs are playing simultaneously over one another? Then "The Beatles Story" is the museum for you! True fact: More Liverpudlians have had a #1 [...]
Give Greece a Chance
Thousands of Greek citizens have gathered in Athens' Syntagma Square in front of the Greek Parliament, where they hope to prevent a continuation of austerity policies. The protest signs have a bit of a Beatle flavor. One, two, three, four, can I have a little more? Everybody's talkin' about ministers and sinisters Somewhere, John Lennon is smiling. You [...]
Plastic Ono Band — Threat or Menace?
More POB than you can shake a stick at, if that's your thing (The title's a shout-out to the dear departed National Lampoon -- where John and Yoko hung around a bit in their Bank Street days, and which ran an entire Beatles-themed issue in October 1977.) In a discussion with commenter @Rob this morning, I realized that I had [...]
Most pirated group? The Beatles, of course
"Hey guys! We were able to buy a car!" In the process of refurbishing this old post on the Beatles and piracy, I stumbled across this NME article from 2013: according to an industry group, The Beatles are the most pirated musical act. MUSO, who released the data to Music Week, revealed 186,876 files featuring The Beatles music have been [...]