There are a lot of beetles
"There are a lot of beetles." PLAYBOY: Why do you think rock 'n' roll has become such an international phenomenon? DYLAN: I can't really think that there is any rock 'n' roll. Actually, when you think about it, anything that has no real existence is bound to become an international phenomenon. Anyway, what does it mean, rock 'n' roll? Does [...]
Opposites
I'm listening to my iTunes's "party shuffle" function. Just now it played "My Love," followed by (as a palate cleanser?) "Helter Skelter." I submit that "My Love" is the anti-"Helter Skelter." Can anyone think of a better pair? Try 'em for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SB3x6KtNi4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fvJEpdq8a8
Quadruple fantasy
Let's play along with David L. Ulin's "The Beatles, 1970–1975," in the Believer's 2009 music issue (just out—get yours here or at your favorite store...be forewarned, these sell out!): If The Beatles Hadn't Broken Up The Beatles are the fascination that lingers. I’ve been listening to them since August 1968, when my parents gave me Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band for [...]
You Say it’s Your Birthday (Or Was Yesterday)?; or, How the Beatles May or May Not Have Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll
DEVIN McKINNEY • Again showing our contrarian streak, we thought we'd differentiate ourselves from everyone who wished "Sir" "James" Paul McCartney (jus' Paul to us) a happy birthday yesterday—which, true enough, was his actual date of birth, but isn't it always nice to get something the day after too? (Or is that Christmas?) Sorry for the miss, Paul. But you and we [...]
Hmmm…
Jay-R's mashup of of L'Trimm's "Cars with the Boom," Gary Numan's "Cars," and the Beatles' "Drive My Car." Thank you, Jay-R. Interesting fun fact as of July 2014: L'Trimm's Bunny D. has been married five times (never, though, to Jay-R) and has four children from her first four marriages, which is an admirable kind of efficiency. She has published a series of [...]
"Hullabaloo Salute to RUBBER SOUL"
"We turn the sound down and say rude things." A medley of Beatles medleys at Bedazzled… Man, they loved those Beatles Medleys back in the 60's and 70's... Here, the Righteous Brothers and Nancy Sinatra tackle songs from "Rubber Soul" with predictable results (very lame but slightly amusing).Righteous Brothers – "I've Just Seen A Face"Nancy Sinatra & The Righteous [...]
"How the Beatles Destroyed Rock and Roll"…
If that's destruction, bring on Ragnarok. ...is the provocative title of a new book spied by Ed this morning via the Very Short List. The book's not out yet, so I'll quote VSL as to its premise: "When the Beatles became 'purely a recording group,' author Elijah Wald writes, 'they pointed toward a future in which there need be no [...]
The hardest button
Provenance, anyone?
First bass
Stu and Emptiness Summer reading for Dullbloggers? Stuart Sutcliffe: A Retrospective is available at Book Soup in L.A. MG adds, July 2014-- Michael Bracewell reviewed the book and show Stuart Sutcliffe: A Retrospective for Frieze Magazine, and it's well worth reading. Here's a scrap: "Since his death, and encouraged by the superior but romantically stylized biographical feature film Backbeat (1994), the [...]