Category: Beatles

There they go again

With the release of OK GO’s new Capitol album, “Of The Blue Color of the Sky,” EMI, the eminent UK music company, is telling the band their videos on YouTube — like the new one, “This Too Shall Pass” — can’t be embedded on other sites.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2010/JAN/OKGOShallPass.flv 512 288]

In 2006, OK GO made a big splash on YouTube by dancing on treadmills for their song, “Here It Goes Again,” that I have to assume helped make money for Capitol.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2010/JAN/OKGOTreadmill.flv 480 360]

Seems to me that EMI is applying the same faulty logic that Disney used in the early days of VHS, when it refused to allow their movies to be rented, rather than sold at retail. The comparison isn’t exactly comparable, because there was money to be made in both transactions. Once again I point out that the first printed warning of the coming age of digital downloaded music was made by Stewart Brand in 1972.

Maybe EMI is thinking that banning embedding will give them time to decide what they can do to generate a revenue stream from streaming videos, like those featuring the Lily Allen, Britain’s leading bad girl of Pop music, who resides on the Beatles’ original label, Parlophone.

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Is Lily any worse than a United States Senator who posed nude for Cosmo in his buff youth, and whose wife was once in a racy music video herself? Isn’t the Brown family only slightly less shallow?

Ringo’s starr still shines

Good old Ringo, the eldest Beatle, born three months before John, turns 70 this year. Back in ’08 Eric and I saw Ringo in Boston, and now he’s out plugging his new record — that I downloaded from Amazon last night, after seeing him on the Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Ringo Starr – With a Little Help From My Friends
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Brunch with the Beatle Years

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s hoping for a good 2010. There were highs and lows in 2009, with the low being my wife’s illness, and the high being contacted by Prue Bury.

Two syndicated radio shows I listen to are The Beatle Years and Beatle Brunch. Both programs are carried in Boston by WODS-FM, Oldies 103. If you click the link below you’ll find six months of shows available for streaming, and you can even download them. Elvis fans will find something there, too.

http://www.wods.com/Oldies-On-Demand-Audio/4334827

A particularly good example is the most recent Beatle Years installment that’s been posted. From November, 14 — “Works in Progress.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JAN/BeatleYears_14Nov09.mp3]

Beatle Brunch from November 8 also has excellent alternate takes of songs.

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2010/JAN/BeatleBrunch_8Nov09.mp3]

Touring became intolerable

It’s safe to assume that any Beatles documentary without Beatles music is unauthorized. Some of them have an interesting clip or two. One of the worst I’ve seen is “Beatles Biggest Secrets.” Don’t bother. A BBC DVD called “Unseen Beatles” is pretty good. The use of Classical music is odd and unnecessary, but the narrative is strong, because it does a good job of explaining why the Beatles had to quit touring. I’ve spliced together a couple of minutes from “Unseen Beatles” about the aftermath in America of Lennon’s infamous Jesus quote.

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2009/DEC/UnseenBeatles.flv 512 384]

The guy telling the story about the show in Memphis is Barry Tashian, of the legendary Boston garage band, The Remains, who were on the Beatles’ final concert tour.

Tashian recounts the summer of ’66 in his excellent book, “Ticket To Ride: The Extraordinary Diary of The Beatles’ Last Tour.” I scanned Tashian’s journal entries for the Memphis show.

There’s a movie about The Remains called “America’s Lost Band” that I hope finds its way to DVD. Here is a preview with related clips.

Let’s finish with “Why Do I Cry,” by the Remains. We’ll never see another time like the mid- to late-60’s, folks!

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/DEC/WhyDoICry.mp3]