When They Was Fab: Electric Arguments About the Beatles

2022.r16 The Concert For Linda

Linda McCartney passed away in Arizona on April 17, 1998.    A year later, her friends Chrissie Hynde, Carla Lane and Kevin Godley would organize a concert in her honor at the Royal Albert Hall.    We discuss that show, and a bit about Linda herself in this "very special episode" of When They Was Fab.

2022.r15 Ray Cooper plus bits and pieces.

Ray Cooper and the solo Beatles.    We look into the "Zelig" or "Forrest Gump" of the solo Beatle world, Ray Cooper!    A drummer, a percussionist, and yes, a tambourine player.      He is also a guy who survived the entirety of Handmade Films, and even tried to revive it after the debacle of Denis O'Brien.      We also talk a bit about Julian (and the announcement of his new album "Jude"), George's 2022 Grammy win, and look back on our past with "Beatlefest"/"The Fest for Beatles Fans".

 

 

2022.r14 Lennon Naked (BBC telefilm)

A wheezing grinding sound fades away as we close in on Christopher Eccleston wandering around in a moptop on the set of "A Hard Day's Night".     Perhaps it is the plot for a lost episode of "Doctor Who", but it is also early on in the telefilm "Lennon Naked".     Jon and I review the film, compare the reenacted scenes to their real-life counterparts (surprise!    It's pretty good, for the most part), continuing on from last week's look the theatrical "Nowhere Boy".

2022.r13 Nowhere Boy

The first of two weeks covering some John Lennon biopics from the 2009-2010 era.     We start with "Nowhere Boy", a deep dive into the psychology of John Lennon as viewed through the lens of his half-sister Julia Dykins.     A surprising amount of time is taken up covering the romantic relationships between older women and much younger men!      

2022.r12 McCartney assemble! Flaming Pie to McCartney IIImagined -- Judge Timbers

Jon and I get back to the last (almost) thirty years of Paul McCartney's solo career.      Pick at least song from each mainstream release, and one (or more) frp the others (live, classical and Fireman), then build a playlist.    Here are ours.  What are yours?

2022.r11 The Beatles at the BBC - disc two - April 1963 - June 1963

We continue our look at the collected "Beatles at the Beeb" (Lord Reith 2021 edition) with disc two.     It took the lads 14 months to generate a single disc worth of material, and now the BBC invites them back often enough that they can fill the second before the end of the summer.     The disc closes with the momentous event of "Pop Goes the Beatles" (they had moved all the way to the top of the BBC radio food chain), as their album appeared atop the British LP charts!

2022.r10 Wings and the Rock Hall

Please ignore if you have seen/heard this episode already.

This week - Wings and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.     We move from Paul's induction in 1999 to questions about Wings and how they upheld "the spirit of rock and roll" with diversions wide and far including The Monkees, David Cassidy, the E-Street Band, the Traveling Wilburys and thoughts on the appropriateness of "Lumpy Trousers" as a (joke-) band name.

 

2022.r09 The Beatles at the Washington Coliseum

February 11, 1964.      Fresh off their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Beatles take a leisurely trip to Washington DC (via train) and blow the minds of several thousand teenagers including future Vice-President Al Gore.    A CBS crew filmed the show for closed circuit distribution, and we are fortunate enough to have a record of this show to review.

2022.r08 Fab Fools (Jem Roberts)

There's a lot of serious business to fooling around!    This week, Jon and I sit down with humorist, author and man about town Jem Roberts.     The audio version of his book "Fab Fools" is newly available on Audible.     We touch on a number of comedy topics, with a lot of chat about Neil Innes and the Rutles.      No Wom Direction though.

2022.r07 Rubber Soul / Yesterday & Today

The twelve months between Fall of 1965 and fall of 1966 were difficult ones for the Beatles and their American record label Capitol records.     While the Beatles prepared and released a single album, Capitol found a way to release two (creating a deficit for the forthcoming "Revolver" as well).      We look at the material, the covers, the hours, the times and more in this week's episode.