MTV REUNITES BEATLES FOR NEW VIDEO GAME

THE BEATLES are set to reunite on the small screen - MTV Games bosses are to dedicate a new video game to the band. After many months of negotiations, the group's songs have been licensed to appear in a strum-along game similar to Rock Band. Giles Martin, co-producer of the Fab Four's Love project, will serve as the music producer of the venture, which has been given the seal of approval by former Beatles Sir Paul MCCartney and Ringo Starr as well as Yoko Ono, the widow of their late bandmate John Lennon. MCCartney says, "The project is a fun idea which broadens the appeal of The Beatles and their music. I like people having the opportunity to get to know the music from the inside out. While Starr adds, "How wonderful that The Beatles' legacy will find its natural progression into the 21st century through the computerized world we live in. Let the games commence." SOURCE

Stella McCartney’s new collection for Adidas

Designer and Beatle progeny Stella McCartney has hit the jackpot once again with her new collaboration with sportswear giant Adidas. Stella designed a range of fitness clothes for the German company. Her collection went on sale at selected Adidas flagship stores, including the Adidas Sport Performance store on Khreshchatyk street. Stella McCartney’s Fall/Winter 2008 collection combines cutting-edge Adidas technologies with Stella’s unique designs and characteristic attention to details, like laser-edge eyelets, contour seaming and raw-edge trims. [...more...]

JAGGER FORCED OUT OF NEW YORK APARTMENT

Rock legend MICK JAGGER's daughter ELIZABETH has been forced to move out of her New York home of four years - after the apartment's owners decided to sell it to a family who can "return it to its former glory." The model/actress rented the Greenwich Village apartment - now listed at $7.95 million (GBP4.97million) - in 2004, shortly after she began dating fellow rock offspring Sean Lennon, son of late Beatles star John Lennon. Lennon had reportedly bought a townhouse in the area for $6 million (GBP3.75million). According to the New York Post, Jagger has been forced to find another home in the neighbourhood after the owner of the five-unit townhouse decided to put it on the market. A listing agent for real-estate company the Corcoran Group says: "We're looking for a single-family buyer who can return it to its former elegant glory." [SOURCE]

Yoko Ono Wish Trees to Remain in Arlington Garden

Arlington Garden in Pasadena will be the new home for the 21 crape myrtle trees that have formed an integral component of the Yoko Ono Wish Trees for Pasadena art installation that has been on display at One Colorado since August 2. Visitors have been writing their wishes on pieces of paper and hanging them on the tree branches at a furious pace since August. To date, trees are covered in more than 80,000 individually written wishes by the general public. [...more...]

Lennon among top-earning dead stars

John Lennon is the only Briton in a list of the highest-earning dead celebrities, US business magazine Forbes has revealed. The Beatles' singer-songwriter, who was murdered in New York almost 28 years ago, earned nine million dollars (£5.6m) last year from a string of "royalties, merchandising and licensing agreements". Elvis Presley topped the list with 52 million dollars (£32.4m), despite being dead for more than 30 years, and Batman actor Heath Ledger, who died of an overdose in January, came third with 20 million dollars (£12.5m). [...more...]

Getting better all the time for Beatles fans

With a splashy exclusive agreement to show up in their own music video game behind them, fans of the Fab Four can be forgiven for shouting: “You say you want a [digital] revolution.” Having largely rebuffed the digital era until now, the Beatles’ first major digital foray will hit store shelves next autumn after Apple Corps, which controls the band’s business affairs, struck a deal with Viacom’s MTV Networks, developers of the hit-selling Rock Band franchise. [...more...]

LENNON JR. STILL HAUNTED BY HIS FATHER'S VOICE

JOHN LENNON's son SEAN still hurts when he hears BEATLES songs, 28 years after his father was murdered. Sean was just five years old in December 1980 when the singer was shot dead outside the family's New York City apartment by crazed M--k C-----n. But he tells Lennon biographer Philip Norman he finds it hard to hear his dad's voice. Sean - whose mother is Yoko Ono - says, "It took a good ten years before hearing his voice wasn't an incredibly difficult thing. "If I'm at a party and someone casually puts on Sgt. Pepper, it's hard for me. I can't just hang out, drink wine, smoke cigarettes and listen to those songs." Lennon Jr's words appear in Norman's book John Lennon: The Life. [SOURCE]

Disclaimer: First of all, Sean is not a Jr. Secondly, though some of this book seems pretty good, a lot of it isn't. Beatlesnumber9's official stand is 'Don't Buy The Book.' (McCartney and Yoko both withdrew their support of the book)

Storied John and Yoko bed-in has given wannabes a chance to embellish

Bill Rotari simply shakes his head and emits a little grunt. He has just been listening to yet another "expert witness" give his take on what transpired in room 1742 of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel on May 23, 1969. That is a place and date etched in the minds of Montrealers - of a certain age. That's when John Lennon and Yoko Ono descended on the city to stage their bed-in for peace and record Give Peace a Chance, which included background vocals from a host of celebs and regular folk. [...more...]

US: Virgin Megastores opens up Beatles Boutiques

Virgin Megastores is becoming one of the first retailers to offer the largest collection of Beatles-themed products under one roof, with the launch of Beatles Boutiques in all of its US outlets. The chain is stocking a range of Beatles apparel, accessories, books, CDs and DVDs in special designed mini-stores. [....more...]

For The Largest Collection of Beatles Items on The Net
See THE FAB4 BEATLES STORE

Paul McCartney's burning rubbers

Sir Paul McCartney was deported from Germany for setting fire to condoms. The Beatles' former drummer Pete Best has revealed he and Paul returned to the UK after being accused of arson when they used the rubber contraceptives as emergency lighting. Pete explained to Absolute Radio: "We were deported for burning condoms. We defected to another club who paid us more money to play. And we'd been staying in the back of the van. [...more...]

Paul McCartney: I owe Liverpool £300,000

SIR Paul McCartney owes city taxpayers more than £300,000 after being overpaid for this summer’s Liverpool Sound gig. Macca’s production company MPL needs to repay £323,046 because the council ended up providing staffing “commitments” for which MPL was paid. The ECHO understands MPL flagged up the debt to the council. [...more...]

The lost Beatle: John, Paul, George ... and Pete

Had the Beatles not returned from their EMI audition and replaced him with Ringo Starr in the summer of 1962, he almost certainly wouldn't look the way he does this afternoon. Today, the 66-year-old looks like any of the grey-haired Italian hairdressers who have worked in Soho over the past four decades. But back in 1964, when panellists on the US game show I've Got A Secret had to guess who he was, they figured it out in seconds. He was the drummer kicked out of the biggest pop band in the world. [...more...]

Beatles’ mystery Penny Lane nurse unmasked

THE identity of the “pretty nurse” in the Beatles’ song Penny Lane is reveal- ed in a new book about growing up in Liverpool. It was written by Stan Williams, who attended Dovedale County Primary, Allerton, with John Lennon and George Harrison, as well as Peter Sissons, the newsreader. Stan failed the 11-plus and went to Toxteth Technical High School, while John and Peter advanced to Quarry Bank grammar school and George became a pupil with Paul McCartney at Liverpool Institute. [...more...]

Juian Lennon Production "Whaledreamers"

In support of the second annual Weekend of Unity & Peace, Crystal Fantasy of Palm Springs is pleased to present a special showing of "Whaledreamers" at 4PM on Sunday October 26, 2008. Julian Lennon and the makers of "Whaledreamers" have joined forces to raise awareness for the plight of the whales and the earth's oceans at large. [...more...]

Heather Mills has blown £10million in just seven months

HEATHER MILLS has blown nearly £10million of her huge divorce settlement in only SEVEN MONTHS, The Sun can reveal. She spent the dosh on plush properties, lavish holidays and a staff wages bill of £500,000. The former porn star — dubbed Mucca — was awarded £24.3million in March after her six-year marriage to SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY, 66. [...more...]

MICHELLE 'WAS MCCARTNEY'S SEDUCTION SONG'

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY wrote the BEATLES' Grammy-winning hit song MICHELLE so he could pick up girls, according to a new book on British pop music. Author Gordon Thompson claims the singer composed the song while at the Liverpool Institute, and included French lyrics to impress potential girlfriends. He writes in Please Please Me, "His musical goal was to 'write something with a melody and a bass line,' while his social goal was to evoke 'that French existential thing' as a way to attract girls." The track, which features on the Fab Four album Rubber Soul, was named Song of Year award at the 1966 Grammy Awards. SOURCE

MCCARTNEY WAXWORK FOUND

A missing waxwork of BEATLES legend SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY has been found - by a homeless man who has pocketed the GBP2,000 ($3,380) reward. The head, which was due to be sold at the weekend (26Oct08), went missing as it was being transported to London on a train by auctioneer Joby Carters - who offered money for the return of the waxwork. And it was homeless Tony Silva who discovered the head in Reading, England, after first mistaking it for a Halloween mask when he saw it poking out of a refuse sack. He says, "It's the strangest thing ever to happen to me." SOURCE

WELCOME, THE PRE-FAB FOUR!

The most famous obscure rock band you've never heard will perform here tonight at Anthology, without its one former member who became world famous. That would be, of course, John Lennon, who was shot to death 28 years ago in New York. Lennon, as some of you may have heard, once played in a little band called The Beatles. [...more...]

Smothers' final season, uncut

From the start of the aborted three-year run of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour," Tom and Dick Smothers wrangled with CBS censors. In the end, CBS fired them, but that only made the boys cultural martyrs and reinforced their mission statement. Despite all the demonstrations, violence and tear gas of the '60s, it may be that a couple of white-bread siblings had more to do with opening a nation's eyes to the futility of war and the need for social justice. One of the joys of the new compilation of the show's final season is that you can now see some of the stuff that got cut, such as Joan Baez's explanation of why her then-husband was about to go to federal prison. [...more...]

Suit settled over early Beatles tapes

A settlement has been finalized in a lawsuit in Miami federal court over the use of recordings of early Beatles performances. A federal judge on Monday signed an order dismissing the lawsuit filed by London-based Apple Corps against Miami Lakes-based Fuego Entertainment Inc. Terms of the settlement are confidential, but Fuego agreed not to market or distribute eight songs recorded in 1962 by the Beatles at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany. [...more...]

Reward Offered For Return Of Sir Paul McCartney's Wax Head

Sir Paul McCartney's head has been left on a train. A waxwork version of the Beatles legend's head is being sought for its safe return after owner Joby Carter left it on a London to Reading train on Thursday. As per the BBC, Carter is offering a 2,000 pound reward, or approximately $3,300, to anyone who would be able to return the head. The upper anatomical part of the wax figure's body was expected to sell from 5,000 pounds to 10,000 pounds [$8,400 to $16,800] at Carters Entertainment auctioneers. [...more...]

Limited Edition Beatles iPod Revealed

Much like the music stored on the inside, the outside of the iPod can say a lot about its owner. Thanks to Limited Edition runs of iPod's that range from the hilarious (The Simpson's "Homer Tested" iPod Touch) to the disturbing (Beverly Hills 90210 iPod Nano), users have had no problem finding one to match their personality and style. For those of us old enough to remember the joy of riding Yellow Submarines and going down to Strawberry Fields, this holiday season finally brings the iPod we've been waiting for, as long as we do our shopping at Bloomingdale's. [...more...]

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2009 Nominees

Eric Clapton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times; John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison were inducted twice and Johnny Cash was inducted for his solo career. This year, nine performers were nominated, five of whom will be inducted. They are: [...more...]

Ringo Starr Apologised To Fans

Ex-Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has apologized to his fans after he grumpily announced he would not sign autographs for them. The 68-year-old caused a stir when he vowed to stop signing anything sent to him after the 20th of October. Fans urged Ringo to change his mind. Even after his apology, he is bent upon not signing his memorabilia, reports The Sun. But his website said the move was down to an "inordinate amount" of signed items sold on eBay. It added "real fans" would understand after "over 45 years of signing". [...more...]

McCartney’s girlfriend moves in with him

Beatles legend Paul McCartney has asked new girlfriend Nancy Shevell to moving in with him just five months after his divorce with Heather Mills. Thesun.co.uk reports that McCartney’s daughter Stella also has approved of the new woman. The 47-year-old Nancy has been spending a lot of time at the East Sussex home in Peasmarsh. But McCartney, 66, has now asked her to move in with her. [...more...]

Blue Meanies and Plasticine porters

It was rather disturbing to read the other day that the Beatles were celebrating the 40th anniversary of their animated film Yellow Submarine. This makes Crutch feel quite ancient because I first saw the movie in Bangkok in 1969, a year after its release. Can't say that I remember too much about the movie except that, being made at the height of psychedelia, there were lots of bright colours and it featured a submarine which was most probably yellow. [...more...]

Waxwork head Sir Paul McCartney lost on train

A frantic search was launched yesterday for the waxwork head of Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney. Auctioneer Joby Carter accidentally left the head in a cardboard box on a train. The model, in which Macca has his 1960s mop top, began its Magical Mystery Tour after he had it valued on Thursday ready for auction. He left his London studio and boarded a train at Ealing Broadway but got off at Maidenhead in Berkshire, leaving the waxwork under a seat bound for Reading. Joby, 33, said: "Somebody must have the head or know where it is - it's quite distinctive." [...more...]

Beatles engineer goes on the record tonight

The average 15-year-old is usually content to earn money doing odd jobs or finding some type of part-time occupation to supplement an allowance from their parents. Not Geoff Emerick. He was hired as an assistant engineer at Abbey Road Studios in 1962 for what was initially deemed to be a two-week provisional appointment. But Emerick soon moved up the ladder at the studio, and four years later became the chief engineer for the biggest band the world, The Beatles. Emerick, who’ll be appearing tonight at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on behalf of the Nashville chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), has chronicled his account of innovative, sometimes explosive recording sessions with the Beatles in his book, Here, There and Everywhere – My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles (Gotham). [...more...]

Ringo Starr's fan plea

Ringo Starr has asked fans for help - only days after saying he will no longer sign autographs. The former Beatles drummer has issued an appeal on his website asking the public to select the best photograph taken from the audience during his recent tour. The winning entrant will win a signed Ringo Starr drumhead. The competition closes on October 30, 10 days after the deadline Ringo has set to stop signing memorabilia. [...more...]

Get Back

As he said about the Maker of All Things in the song he called "God," which was really about himself, John Lennon is a concept by which we measure our pain. Lennon made a great many things both miraculous and ungodly during his foreshortened and intensely public life, and much of what he did brought us grief, in the multiple meanings of the word, or granted us the effect of grief's denial: ecstasy. Lennon and the three mates for whom he served as semi- official leader came to America just in time to provide gleeful relief from our famous post-Kennedy malaise. He proceeded to outrage conservative Christians who were protective of the bigness of Jesus; he vexed aesthetic fundamentalists who were reluctant to accept rock and roll as art; he infuriated rock traditionalists who were even more reluctant to accept the conceptual avant- garde; he irritated Paul fans; he conferred upon us the irrepressibly unpleasant Yoko and released "Whatever Gets You Through the Night"; and then he abandoned us, withdrawing from public life for nearly five years. Finally, through his death at the hands of a crazed fan in 1980, he made us face the darkest potential of the mixed-up, out-of-control feelings of love and fury that he had stirred and refracted with a smirk. [...more...]

Yoko Ono Withdraws Lawsuit Over Film

Yoko Ono has withdrawn her lawsuit against the film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” Ono had sued the filmmakers for using a 15-second excerpt of the John Lennon song “Imagine” without her permission. The film challenges the theory of evolution. Ono was denied a preliminary injunction against the filmmakers in June, and another court denied a similar request from EMI and Capitol Records. The film’s producers say Ono and EMI have withdrawn their claims. Ono could not be reached for comment. (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

MORE THAN WORDS….what do your favorite rock songs really mean?

“Walrus' is just saying a dream - the words don't mean a lot. People draw so many conclusions and it's ridiculous... What does it really mean, 'I am the eggman'? It could have been the pudding basin for all I care. It's not that serious.” John Lennon, Anthology. Perhaps one of the more difficult Beatles songs to decipher, “I am the Walrus” has been subject to many different interpretations since it was released as part of The Magical Mystery Tour in 1967. John Lennon reportedly admitted to writing parts of three songs whilst on acid, but unable to finish any of them, he combined three into one. [...more...]

Paul McCartney Has Been Dead For Some 40 Years?

Conspiracy theory enthusiasts, keep on reading, because ... Paul McCartney is – dead! He died in 1966, but other Beatles (Richard Starkey, George Harrison and John Lennon) and their manager covered up his death. Furthermore, they have subtly included the signs of McCarnety`s death into their expression, both musical and visual, in order to give fans a hint about his death. The Beatles told the tale of their frontman`s death through their songs, i.e. some of the lyrics. [...more...]

Beatles engineer will share stories here

Geoff Emerick, who engineered several Beatles albums, will discuss what it was like to work with the legendary band during a Recording Academy event Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. Geoff is a four-time Grammy winner and author of Here, There & Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. He is known for his work on the Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The White Album and Abbey Road. [...more...]

Paul McCartney urges fans to boycott McDonald's

Hey, McDonald's, leave those bands alone! Mickey Dee's has a history (albeit, brief) of exploiting images of musicians. Five months ago, the '80s post-punkers of Devo sued the company over a happy meal toy that looked conspicuously like one of the act's early costumes. Then just last week, Sir Paul McCartney took a stand against the international hamburger chain. Upon finding his and the other three Beatles' images plastered on the wall of a Liverpool McDonald's, McCartney was infuriated. The veteran singer—and evangelical vegetarian—is known for his fervent support of animal rights. His late wife Linda wrote veggie cookbooks, and owned a line of frozen vegetarian meals. [...more...]

BEATLES STARR 'TOO BUSY' TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS

THE BEATLES drummer RINGO STARR has given his fans one week to request his autograph - because after that point he will no longer give out his signature. The drummer has warned he will throw away all mail addressed to him after 20 October (08) because he no longer has time to cope with the piles of letters he receives. In a 40-second film posted on his website, Starr, 68, announces: "This is a serious message to everybody watching my update. Peace and love. Peace and love. "I want to tell you after the 20th of October please do not send fan mail to any address you have. Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed. I'm warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love." SOURCE

BEATLES STARR 'TOO BUSY' TO SIGN AUTOGRAPHS

THE BEATLES drummer RINGO STARR has given his fans one week to request his autograph - because after that point he will no longer give out his signature. The drummer has warned he will throw away all mail addressed to him after 20 October (08) because he no longer has time to cope with the piles of letters he receives. In a 40-second film posted on his website, Starr, 68, announces: "This is a serious message to everybody watching my update. Peace and love. Peace and love. "I want to tell you after the 20th of October please do not send fan mail to any address you have. Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed. I'm warning you with peace and love, I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love." [...more...]

McCartney broke up Beatles at Scottish retreat

SIR Paul McCartney decided to quit the Beatles and sue his former bandmates while walking on a beach near his home on the Mull of Kintyre, according to a new book. The decision, which ended the most successful songwriting partnership in the history of pop music and provoked a bitter feud with John Lennon, proved so painful that the former Beatle has never revealed the circumstances in which it was made. [...more...]

‘Let it be remembered as where history was made’

HOPES have been raised of commemorating a Southport nightclub’s place in rock ‘n’ roll history. On February 5, 1962, The Beatles appeared at the Kingsway on the Promenade – for their first night performing together on stage as John, Paul, George and Ringo. Now, the venue stands empty and its owner, Bennett Property, recently undertook urgent remedial work after it became affected by cracking and parapets coming loose. [...more...]

John Lennon's sister rages over claims Beatles star wasn't loved

JOHN LENNON’S sister has hit back at claims her brother was abandoned by their mother. Speaking on what would have been his 68th birthday, Julia Baird said she wasn’t happy about comments made in relation to a new film about John which said he was a “lonely teenager abandoned by his mother”. Julia was in the city to open a new exhibition celebrating the life of John at the Beatles Story at Albert Dock. [...more...]

The Beatles were musicians, not capitalists

Let's make one thing clear. Writing about music and its attendant subcultures is a noble, enriching, high-minded pursuit, which has played a surprisingly large role in the last 40-odd years of British pop-cultural history. I have bookshelves crammed with music writing, and I rather miss the days when I would cart home at least three music weeklies from the newsagent and pore over what they had to say. Contrary to what that Elvis Costello famously said, it amounts to much more than "dancing about architecture", and as someone who has endlessly benefited from the adoration of writers and critics, he should know. [...more...]

Exhibit Marks John Lennon’s Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN LENNON

The 1960s? Sell-outs. Radical youth means the 1930s

Forty years ago the Beatles sang “we all want to change the world” and the Rolling Stones declared that “the time is right for fighting in the street”. To millions of people around the world their songs still define the 1960s, trumpeting the rise of youth culture as we know it today. But a new study of youth cultures argues that the opposite is true: the Swinging Sixties only swung for a narrow metropolitan elite, and the likes of John Lennon and Mick Jagger were shrewd capitalists who put the pursuit of wealth before any serious challenge to the balance of power between the generations. [...more...]

MCCARTNEY BLASTS FAST FOOD CHAIN

Vegan SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY is furious a meat-selling fast food chain have used his photograph in its restaurants. The former Beatle - a long-time vegetarian campaigner - was stunned to learn MCDonald's were using his image in his hometown branch of Liverpool. MCCartney's spokesman Geoff Baker says, "What sort of morons do MCDonald's think Beatles fans are? [...more...]

MILLS BUILDS SWIMMING POOL WITHOUT PERMISSION

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY's ex-wife HEATHER MILLS has been caught building a swimming pool in the grounds of her English home without planning permission. Planners discovered the pool while visiting Mills' Robertsbridge, East Sussex home to check the former glamour model had pulled down a huge marquee she had erected illegally. They have now ordered her to submit an application for the pool - and if permission is denied, Mills will have to fill it in. [...more...]

Macca returns to his Youth: Download Sir Paul's new single

We recently told you about Paul McCartney's return to The Fireman, his ongoing side project. The debut single from the new album has hit the web, courtesy of ATO Records. It would seem teaming with the producer Youth has inspired Sir Paul to roll back the clock a bit. The single, Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight, has got a bit of the feel of his best post-Beatles work (ie: Live or Let Die), with Led Zeppelin III mixed in. [...more...]

Madonna Bans Sarah Palin From Shows

Madonna stated on stage during her show in East Rutherford, N.J. on Saturday that U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin isn't welcome at her shows. "Sarah Palin can't come to this party," Madonna said. "She is not in my show. She will never be in my show." She later went on to say, "Here's the sound of Sarah Palin's husband's snowmobile when it won't start," and then made a screeching noise with guitar feedback. Madonna had previously been criticized by a spokesperson for Republican U.S. presidential candidate John McCain's campaign for footage she's using during her Sticky & Sweet tour that shows McCain interspersed with images of figures like Adolf Hitler, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, John Lennon and Al Gore. [...more...]

Lennon has been painted a crazed recluse. But the truth is very different - and deeply touching...

There is an enduring legend, largely fuelled by disgruntled ex-employees with axes to grind, that, in his latter years, John Lennon became a virtual recluse. Holed up in his vast apartment in the Dakota, a forbiddingly gothic mansion block in New York, the most famous member of The Beatles supposedly came to resemble Howard Hughes, the eccentric tycoon who never cut his hair and nails and lived in a sanitised hotel suite for fear of catching germs. [...more...]

Benton becomes Beatleland for a day

Beatles memorabilia was abundant on Saturday, as Benton welcomed the Pete Best Band: Best of the Beatles, Peter Conrad, Rex Van Zandt and area musicians. Jim Kirkpatrick, president of the Benton George Harrison Beatle Festival committee, welcomed the crowd from the steps of Hard Day’s Nite Bed and Breakfast. “Members of the committee worked very hard and want to keep the memory of George Harrison alive,” he said. “This is the second year we have welcomed Peter Conrad, who hails from Columbus, Ohio.” [...more...]

LOVE FOR MCCARTNEY TURNS SHEVELL OFF MEAT

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY’s girlfriend NANCY SHEVELL has given up meat in an effort to prove she is serious about her relationship with the animal lover. The New York socialite has been dating MCCartney since last year (07), and the couple recently took a road trip across the U.S. together. And Shevell is so besotted with the former Beatle, she’s reportedly turned vegetarian and ditched her love of crocodile skin handbags to impress MCCartney and his family. A source close to Shevell says, “Nancy has... given up her beloved steaks, which shocked us. When they travelled around America this summer, they lived on avocado sandwiches and tomato soup. Now Nancy orders veggie food all the time.” MCCartney’s late first wife Linda was a staunch campaigner for animal rights and started up her own vegetarian food range, which the family still run today. [...more...]

Young people lack empowering force like The Beatles

Young people are so smart. I'm amazed as I watch them thumb through what resembles a minefield of iPods, text messages and cell phones that can even turn off the coffee pot. But I wonder if they feel powerful as a generation? If they ever think, "We showed our parents, didn't we?" or "We're going to change the world." [...more...]

John Lennon's one-time girlfriend May Pang talks about his 'Lost weekend'

John Lennon's "lost weekend" from 1973 to 1975 included some of his most acclaimed solo work and a recording session with Elton John at Caribou Ranch in Nederland. But his companion at the time, May Pang, remains annoyed that the period is written off by many observers as a long alcohol bender for Lennon, largely because of an infamous drunken incident at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. That's why she loves the reaction to Instamatic Karma, her new photo book of Lennon's life at the time. In it are two jaw- dropping pictures for fans. One is the last-ever photo with Paul McCartney, hanging out in Santa Monica, Calif. The other depicts Lennon holed up in a Disney World hotel, adding his signature to McCartney's, George Harrison's and Ringo Starr's on the paperwork that officially dissolved The Beatles. [...more...]

Emotionally tormented and painfully insecure - the unknown Lennon

Those whom fate decides to make rich and famous discover sooner or later it is not the storybook happy ending they had always thought, but merely a threshold to unimagined new problems, pressures and dissatisfactions. This was never truer than for John Lennon.Once the Beatle from suburban Liverpool had all the recognition he could ever seek, all the sex he could ever desire, all the expensive food and drink he could ever consume, all the shiny new guitars he could ever play, the promised land was quicker than usual to reveal its drawbacks. [...more...]

Beatles changed the way music was perceived

If you read this column frequently you already know how I feel about The Beatles. If not, I will try and sum it up without using too many clich&233;s. The Beatles were the only band in the history of rock ’n’ roll to have a cultural impact on the world. They were, for most of their seven years in the spotlight, the best and most popular band in the world at the same time. There may be another someday, but I seriously doubt it. The Beatles changed the way music was perceived. They also changed the way it was played, recorded and the way that harmony vocals were used. As a group, they went through more stylistic changes in the few years they were together than almost any band in history. They were just so far ahead of everybody else when it came to what they wanted to do and at the same time maintained their ability to stay connected with their fans. [...more...]

McCartney Takes a Lyrical Stab at Mills

How is Paul McCartney dealing with his ugly and costly divorce to Heather Mills? Sure, he has a new gal pal, but the ex-Beatle is also taking out his frustrations with a new batch of songs, many of them targeting his former love. The living legend has recorded an album with long-running side project The Fireman, and the UK's Daily Mail has transcribed the lyrics of one of the tracks about Mills. "Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight" [...more...]

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY - MCCARTNEY HAPPY WITH LOVE AND LIFE

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY is happy and "in a good place" after finding love with American heiress NANCY SHEVELL. The couple has been dating since last year (07), and in recent months, the former Beatle has been busy introducing Shevell to his closest friends and family. On Thursday (02Oct08), MCCartney was all smiles as he took Shevell along to his designer daughter Stella's runway show at Paris Fashion Week in France, reports People.com.
And when asked whether he was having success in his quest for happiness, MCCartney replied, "I'm in a good place, I think." [...more...]

Sir Paul McCartney to appear in Peter Kay's new spoof TV talent show

Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney has teamed up with Peter Kay for a spoof talent show comedy. Macca agreed to appear in a cameo role in Kay’s new Channel 4 project this month. The pop icon has filmed several scenes for the comic’s mickey-taking Britain’s Got The Pop Factor And Possibly A New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice. [...more...]

When they were Fab

The director of a new documentary that chronicles the creation of the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil's Love show calls his film an "emotional journey" that manages to reveal something new about music's most documented band. All Together Now, which will be screening tonight as a part of the Edmonton International Film Festival, features the surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, as they worked together to oversee the development of Love. [...more...]

John Lennon Plastic Ono Band = Groundbreaking

Now for the "ground breaking" aspects of JLPOB. Musically this record served to tear down the stifling expectations that fans tried to strangle John Lennon with and illustrated the possibilities that we ALL have creatively- If John Lennon can do all this absurd shit than a nobody like me can get away with murder. Some musical innovations: Utterly raw, beastly guitar licks, gutteral screaming, stark, one word song titles and of course Lennons haunting piano chords- I had never heard such things before. I actually think JLPOB was a proto punk album. I also remember being shocked around this time cause Lennon cut his hair monkey short- I had been secretly wanting to cut my own hair but I didn't (get a short haircut) for several more years- didn't have the guts. [...more...]

Stella McCartney: If I Was Your Boyfriend

One fashion house that seems poised to ride out the current financial crisis is surely Stella McCartney, the London-based designer who staged a wittily tailored spring 2009 collection in Paris Thursday, Oct. 2, that was all about women raiding their boyfriends' wardrobe for clothes and inspiration. Silk jackets came long and loosely cut with mannish lapels, boyish shantung shirts appeared in combo with just knickers, as if each model had grabbed what they wanted out of their main squeeze's closet as they headed out to a gallery opening. [...more...]

MILLS DENIES ISLAND MOVE

SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY's ex-wife HEATHER MILLS has denied she plans to move to a Caribbean island owned by British tycoon RICHARD BRANSON - branding the rumour "totally made up".
Last month (Sep08) the former glamour model was alleged to be setting up home on Branson's exclusive Necker Island - in a bid to escape the press intrusion in her native Britain. [...more...]

All Together Now for the Beatles: with a little help from dad’s friends

When Giles Martin was asked to work alongside his father and remix the Beatles for Love, a Cirque du Soleil show based on the band’s back catalogue, he wasn’t sure he should take it on. “If anyone told me they were going to get George Martin’s son to mix the Beatles and put on a show in Las Vegas, I’d probably have punched them,” he says in his well educated voice, as he puts down his mint tea. “Because it’s a repulsive idea.” He resisted not only because of the inevitable accusations of nepotism but also because he wasn’t sure it would be successful. But he was wrong. Since Love opened in a $100 million theatre in Vegas in 2006 — with a staggering 7,000 speakers and enough dancers, mime artists, trampolinists and bungee jumpers to keep any Cirque fan content — it has virtually sold out every night. [...more...]