LENNON RELEASES BEGIN: Wednesday's announcement of the John Lennon Singles Box is one of special edition releases this year to honor what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday. The special editions were first announced when Yoko appeared at the NAMM convention in Anaheim. Additionally, we've already mentioned the "Double Fantasy" unplugged project, which is already being anticipated.
BRIAN EPSTEIN IN VINTAGE BBC INTERVIEW: The recent stories about the financial problems of the BBC (and the possible closing of BBC6) and the possible downsizing of the website are sad because you can find some wonderful stuff hidden there. Here's a great half-hour interview with Brian Epstein from 1963. He talks about wanting to be an actor, how he connected with the Beatles, his love of classical music, the plans for the first Beatles film and more. Hopefully, stuff like this won't be lost. There is a second shorter Epstein profile that includes comments from Cilla Black and Gerry Marsden and some live music (sounds like Billy J. Kramer) in the background and recording session audio by Tommy Quickly, an hourlong chat with Cavern Club emcee Bob Wooler and a short interview from Gerry Marsden.
THE SONGS YOU WISH THEY WERE SINGING: The response to our So what songs should Paul and Ringo add to their sets this year? has been great. Some of the interesting (we think) suggestions for Paul have been "Stranglehold," "Listen to What the Man Said," "Helen Wheels," "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", "Come and Get It" and "Getting Closer." And for Ringo: "Six O'Clock," "Weight of the World," "Y Not" and "Only You." You can add your suggestions here.
'NOWHERE BOY' IN NASHVILLE: The movie "Nowhere Boy" is still making the film festival rounds. It'll stop at the Nashville Film Festival in mid-April, reports Business Clarksville.
NUTOPIA EMBASSY ON THE BLOCK: The building which John Lennon tried to rename as the Nutopian Embassy is up for sale, reports the New York Observer, Here's the listing for it with pictures. The price is $3.25 million.
WHO'S AT CARNEGIE HALL: Who Examiner Michael Petrucci has a story about a Who tribute at Carnegie Hall Tuesday that included some folks with Beatle cover connections. Performers included the Smithereens, Robyn Hitchcock, Bobby McFerrin, the Fab Faux and Rich Pagano and the SugarCane Cups. (Pagano is the drummer for the Fauxs.)
ONLINE TICKET SCAM BUSTED: Every time there's an online sale of a popular show, there is usually at least a couple of horror stories about how hard it was to get tickets. We ran across this interesting story by Elinor Mills at CNET.com about four men indicted who allegedly made more than $25 million by re-selling more than 1.5 million of what was described as the "most coveted tickets." The story details how the complex scheme was done. McCartney or Ringo Starr tickets aren't singled out in the story, but the phrase "most coveted" says plenty.
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Comments
About the ticket thieves : a legit person connected to Ticketmaster said all this proves is that artists should charge more. Yikes. I think Ticketmaster is crooked and one of the biggest resellers there is. They sell a lot on StubHub first and then when it gets close to showtime they bring the tickets they have not sold back to Ticketmaster and sell them at the regular price. Nice way to rob the artist and us.
Oh - and thanks for finding the Brian E interview.
I enjoy your Beatles articles.
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