When They Was Fab: Electric Arguments About The Beatles

Lonnie and I roll on with part two of our "Mind Games" SDE review.    This week, disc two - the Elemental mixes (not to be confused with the Elements mixes).     Lonnie also unveils his initial thoughts on the Mind Games (Ultimate Collection) Super Deluxe Box Set!    Roll the I-Ching and see if it advises you to drop the cash!

Lonnie Pena, Jon Stone and I sit down to discuss the first disc of the "Mind Games: Ultimate Collection" Deluxe Box set.           When asked about the release, Sean Lennon says: "People were having trouble adjusting to the 'new' John Lennon. So, I think Mind Games fell through the cracks for a number of reasons. The fact that the mixes were a bit thin didn’t help either."     Does that apply to Jon, Lonnie (who picked up the disc at release) and me (who didn't get turned on to it until the early eighties and the half-price bin)?    Tune in and find out!

Marv and I talk the Birmingham, UK Soundcheck (2015, "Out There" tour).      Soundcheck is 40-60 minutes of Paul doing (mostly) songs not part of the main show.     This week we talk "Celebration", "Miss Ann",  "It's so Squeazy", "I'll Follow the Sun", and a bit about how the show has changed since Out There (two encores compressed to one!    No "Yesterday").    As they say in "Midnight Special" (another soundcheck favorite of Paul's) "If you ever go to Houston, you better act right!"    

The Last Houston storm resulted in Lonnie Pena uncovering his Seventies Beatles scrapbook.     Festival Seating in the Houston Summit!     Ringo, "I Dream of" Jeannie, Jim Backus and one of the hippest looking sexagenarians captured in a photograph.     Also, more "Got Back 2024" dates, preparations for the "Mind Games" box, and the wonder of AI "Get Back Sessions".

The annual "Peace and Love" bonus episode of Fab.      Fire it up precisely at 11:45 local time on Sunday July 7, and join our shows in wishing Ringo "All the Best" and the world "Peace and Love" as we celebrate Richard, Richie, "Ringo-Starrtime" Starkey.

Marv and I review the second disc of the "One Hand Clapping' set, and the contents of the vinyl EP.    It is becoming popular for many internet types to claim that this collection is now amongst their favorite Wings albums.     That might be a bit of hyperbole, and it might be recency bias, but even so, this new mix and official release of the 1974 Paul McCartney and Wings bootleg favorite is at a minimum, quality product from Sir Macca and MPL.

Lonnie and I review the first disc of the "One Hand Clapping' set (available on Vinyl, Vinyl + single, CD and streaming), the new mix of the 1974 Paul McCartney and Wings Favorite.     Just how good a drummer was Geoff Britton?  

Lonnie and I discuss the new Mind Games-related "You Are Here" video with new footage of John and Yoko from the Robert Fraser Gallery, talking about the WWF (not the wrestling one), balloons, charity boxes and tiny badges.     We also discuss Ringo's summer 2024 tour (and Lonnie's visit to Hidalgo, TX), the McCartney 2024 tour,   the Blue plaque at 12 Arnold Grove and several other items from the news bucket.

Marv and I finish up our review/overview of the McCartney "Life in Lyrics" podcast with episodes 11 and 12 ("Michelle" and "The End").      We then briefly overview the series to date, and talk about some of the things we noticed (both positive and negative) through the twenty-four episodes.    No full episode on any song after "Here Today" and the Tug of War album?     That's a shame.      Despite the long odds, our fingers are crossed for at least one more series to cover more of the post-Wings output.

This week I am joined by the host of Fans on the Run and our own Chas Newby (and the guy who made that really neat graphic of "Rocky"), Ethan Alexanian.    He joins us to discuss the Mark Lewisohn kerfuffle.   For those who don't know, here is the dictionary definition of Kerfuffle: a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views. "there was a kerfuffle over the chairmanship"

WHO is talking?    You might not know, as we get a quick flyby from "Toppermost of the Poppermost" hosts "Queen of All Beatles Media" Kit O'Toole and "Yeah, he is also among the co-hosts of the show" Martin Quibell.    (In baseball terms, they are "openers").     The bulk of the show features BC the Beatles co-host Erika White, and "Writer, Occasional Troublemaker and Full-Time Whovian" Jim Ryan.      We talk the intersections of "Doctor Who" and the Beatles (who knew Brian Epstein hung with Verity Lambert), and review/discuss "The Devil's Chord", the recent episode featuring actors portraying Cilla and JPGR.

As with practically every other Beatles podcast in the multiverse, the topic of the week is the 2024 release of "Let It Be" on Disney+.    Lonnie Pena and I sit down, discuss the VHS, Laserdisc, new streaming version and more.

Marv, Lonnie and I talk the new Record Store Day Mind Games EP and two more episodes from the "Life In Lyrics" podcast.  A nice preview of the box set coming later this summer, and we return to Paul McCartney's Life in Lyrics podcast for episodes covering "Here There and Everywhere" and "Give Ireland Back to the Irish."

A review of the Geoff Emerick Lagos tape as auctioned off last September.     Two high-profile "Dutch Imports" have hit the market recently (confusingly, each coming from a different dub of the Emerick masters).    The variants were classified, artifacts removed and a single "good" copy of the tape exists, and we review it!     How does it compare to the "underdubbed" release?     We also review Linda Perry and the new Ringo EP "Crooked Boy".

Kit O'Toole joins the show this week as we run through the voluminous Beatles news from the past week (Record Store Day, Ringo, Let It Be) and discuss the Beatles portion of "Around the Beatles."     Costumes, Shakespeare, Trevor Peacock and some kicking rock and roll.

Lonnie Pena and I discuss Wings at the Hammersmith Odeon - the Concert(s) for the People of Kampuchea.     Through circumstance, December 29, 1979 would end up being the final Wings concert ever.     Got to Get You Into My Life, Coming Up, Maybe I'm Amazed, Mull of Kintyre and Let It Be.    One-Two-Three-Four!

Marv and I sit down and chat about the Ringo selections on Rob Sheffield's "100 Best Solo Beatles Songs" list.    As Dana Carvey might say, "isn't it conveeeeenient" that each claims one of the top four.      More seriously, we discuss the nature of such lists, how, when and why - and we talk about the thirteen selections.    Does Ringo deserve 25% of the take?     Is thirteen too little? 

More of our thoughts on the "Life in Lyrics" podcast.    Martin Quibell and I discuss Episodes 6, 7, and 8.     The episodes are entitled "Silly Love Songs", "A Day in the Life" and "Hey Jude".    However, roughly fifteen different songs get covered within the three episodes...

A Beatles special you might not know about.     In 1977, NBC purchased "The Beatles Forever", a variety-entertainment special from ITC Entertainment (aka: The company led by Sir Lew Grade).    The Toppermost gang "comes together" to discuss this Thanksgiving spectacular!

Martin Quibell and Sam Whiles (Paul or Nothing) join to discuss the final Wings show of the summer 1973 tour.      If your experience of Wings Live begins with Jimmy McCulloch, you are in for quite a different experience.     Excerpts have been available for years (and are now on the official McCartney YouTube channel), but we are discussing and describing the full show, including "Turkey in the Straw."