Beatles finally go digital thanks to Norwegian podcasts  |
The Beatles will make a bulk of their musical catalog available for the first time as a free, legal download thanks to a series of Norwegian podcasts. In 2001, a Norwegian documentary told the stories behind every Beatles track, with the tracks themselves being played. The series is now available as a downloadable podcast. [more...]
Source: Rolling Stone |
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| Beatles fans call on Buckingham Palace to release Lennon MBE |
The MBE medal that John Lennon famously rejected has been unearthed in a royal vault. Now, 40 years after Lennon sent the award back to The Queen, Beatles historians are calling for it to be dusted off and put on public display. A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed that the MBE has been located and that it remains the property of John Lennon's estate. [more...]
Source: Click Liverpool |
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| Video: Revived 45 heads for 60th birthday |
For many musicians, your latest song just hasn't been released until it's been forced on to a small, grooved plastic disc. The Wombats and Franz Ferdinand are among the artists whose seven-inch vinyl records are being made at the factory that used to be owned by EMI in Hayes, on the edge of west London. [more...]
Source: BBC News |
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| Queen honors Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant |
The Queen's New Year's Honours list has bestowed upon Zeppelin singer Robert Plant the considerable honor of CBE. Though he's best known as the swaggering singer of the '70s hard rock juggernaut Led Zeppelin, perhaps Plant's 2007 softer collaboration with bluegrass babe Alison Krauss turned the royal ear. [more...]
Source: The Examiner, Los Angeles |
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| Sunday, January 4, 2009 |
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| Fans to celebrate 2009 International Beatles Freak Day |
The excitement and anticipation for this year's International Beatles Freak Day celebration is already brewing, as January 14th quickly approaches. The day when 'Beatles Freaks' from all over the world can come together to celebrate the greatest band that ever was (and ever will be!) along with their Fab Four-loving friends. [more...]
Source: Beatles News |
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| Truth stranger than fiction: Jacko wills Beatles tunes to Macca |
Pop star Michael Jackson is leaving his share of the Beatles back catalogue to Sir Paul McCartney in his will, which, he hopes, may end an almost 24-year-long feud with the legendary rocker. Macca was upset with Jackson when he outbid him in 1985 to win the ownership of the 350 million-pound publishing rights for the whole Lennon-McCartney songbook. [more...]
Source: Britain News |
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| Making Paul McCartney sound good in Tel Aviv |
"Paul McCartney is a straight-ahead, old-school rocker, and that's what I aim to capture. These are songs that every person in the audience has an attachment to, and our goal is to reproduce them faithfully, with the vocals and musical hooks sounding as they should," says Paul "Pab" Boothroyd, who mixed Paul's "Friendship First" concert in Tel Aviv. [more...]
Source: Light and Sound Journal |
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| Actor says sixties music can help in hard times |
Philip Seymour Hoffman thinks that 60s pop music can help people through the credit crunch. The Oscar-winning actor is convinced his new movie The Boat That Rocked, set in a 60s pirate radio station loosely based on the infamous Radio Caroline, will allow people to forget about the global economic crisis. [more...]
Source: News 24 |
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| Saturday, January 3, 2009 |
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| Good Starr signs |
Could this year see a new respect between Ringo Starr and his fans? In October Ringo turned his back on his Mr. Nice Guy persona to tell his followers all future autograph requests would be binned. But it seems that, if you are polite and ask nicely, the moody ex-Beatle will make exceptions. So we're hoping he's cheered up. [more...]
Source: The Sun, UK |
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| Liverpool born again in 2008 |
Liverpool has entered a new era following its spell as the European Capital of Culture. According to the Liverpool Echo, the northwest city has been "born again" as a result of the events and developments it has seen in the last year, including the opening of the new Echo Arena and a performance at Anfield by Sir Paul McCartney. [more...]
Source: England's Northwest |
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| Friday, January 2, 2009 |
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| Alice Cooper dreams Beatles songs |
In an article in Esquire, Alice Cooper lists some of the things he's found to be true in life, and one of his observations included The Beatles. He said, "They should invent some way to tape-record your dreams. I've written songs in my dreams that were Beatles songs. Then I'd wake up and they'd be gone." [more...]
Source: Beatles News Blog |
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| Fidel Castro regrets Cuba's ban on the Beatles |
Until eight years ago Beatles songs were forbidden in Cuba, but times have changed and even Fidel Castro regrets that he got to know the British band too late. Considered to be against the party's ideology, Beatles songs were banned in the sixties. John Lennon was viewed as a decadent foreigner and a harmful influence on the youth. [more...]
Source: Russia Today |
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| Studio where All You Need Is Love recorded faces closure |
Olympic Studios in West London is where the Beatles recorded All You Need Is Love and Baby You're a Rich Man in 1967. But current owners EMI are likely to close Olympic in 2009 and concentrate all their efforts on Abbey Road. "The fact is that the studios are not profitable, like many British studios," an EMI insider admitted. [more...]
Source: The Independent, UK |
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| Review: Acrobatics support the music in Beatles-inspired Love |
In all other Cirque du Soleil shows, the music supports the action. Here, it's the opposite. After cutting a landmark deal with the Beatles organization, the band's entire catalog was handed over to cherry-pick and remix for a theater-in-the-round with 6,000 speakers. New details emerge from old favorites with stunning clarity. [more...]
Source: Las Vegas Review Journal |
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| Beatlemania meets symphony orchestra in Louisiana |
Beatlemania remains as strong today as ever. And the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra in Lafayette, Louisiana, looks to capitalize on the band's continued success with "Classical Mystery Tour" featuring the original members of the Broadway hit "Beatlemania" set for Saturday at the Paragon Casino Resort Mari Showroom. [more...]
Source: The Town Talk, LA |
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| Album sales plunge in 2008 while digital downloads rise |
Music sales continued to slump in 2008 as the increased number of downloads of digital tracks failed to make up for a plunge in the sale of compact discs. Year-end sales figures show total album sales, including album equivalents made up of single digital tracks, fell to 428.4 million units, down 8.5 percent from 500.5 million in 2007. [more...]
Source: KNBC TV, Los Angeles |
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| Not an easy day's night being a Ringo |
The Beatles Project has a new Ringo Starr and landed a gig almost as good as The Ed Sullivan Show. Jim Sanders said that the tribute band went on hiatus after his brother, the drummer, retired because he didn't have time to fulfill his rhythmly duties. Fortunately, the band tapped another stickman, Greg Sprearance. [more...]
Source: Beatles News Blog |
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| Thursday, January 1, 2009 |
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| The Beatles back on AM radio in Las Vegas |
Dennis Mitchell announced this his long-running syndicated show Breakfast With the Beatles will air in Las Vegas on KMZQ AM-670, "The Q." But AM? True, the original early Beatles singles and albums were recorded in mono for AM distribution. But most teenagers today don't even know AM exists. [more...]
Source: Las Vegas Weekly |
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| The first 2009 interview of Sir Paul McCartney |
Sir Paul McCartney has had a busy year. There were a number of concerts, including the celebratory show at Anfield to mark Liverpool's status as European Capital Of Culture, and another, more controversial one in Tel Aviv, not to mention that nasty divorce business. It's no wonder he's looking forward to some time off. [more...]
Source: Macca Blog |
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| Wednesday, December 31, 2008 |
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| Looking back: The Year in Beatles News 2008 |
2008 was quite a year for Beatles fans, with lots of ups and downs, sad times and happy times. From Paul live in Liverpool to Ringo ranting on his website, this is a look back at some of the more prominent and interesting things that happened in 2008, as we covered them this year on the Beatles News Blog. [more...]
Source: Beatles News |
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| Beatles tribute band to recreate rooftop anniversary |
An anonymous source says that a well-known Beatles tribute band is planning to recreate the famous Beatles rooftop concert to commemorate its 40th anniversary. The concert will take place on January 30, at No. 3 Savile Row, and the band will be trying to get as close to the original timings, starting the concert around 12:00. [more...]
Source: Beatles News Blog |
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| BBC pulls Paul McCartney's Michael Jackson impersonation |
The BBC has pulled an interview with Sir Paul McCartney saying he did a "impression" of Michael Jackson. Sir Paul is said to have talked in a high-pitched Jackson-style voice when asked about the singer, which BBC managers decided could prove offensive. A BBC source said Paul's impersonation was 'very funny'. [more...]
[Related Articles] Source: The Telegraph, UK |
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| Official grafitti is new stop on Liverpool Beatles tourist trail |
A new stop-off point has been added to The Beatles map of Liverpool with tourists rolling-up to be pictured with a piece of "official grafitti". The images by Mark Ervine and Danny Devenny are in the style of the cover of John Lennon's Rock n' Roll album, and were commissioned to mark the city's year as European Capital of Culture. [more...]
Source: Click Liverpool |
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| Beatles photographer becomes CBE |
Harry Benson has been made a CBE in the Queen's New Year Honours list. The photojournalist, best known for his pictures of the Beatles, was recognised for his services to photography. Mr Benson has photographed every US president since the early 1960s as well as Hollywood's most iconic stars. [more...]
Source: BBC News |
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| The photographers who caught Liverpool '08 on camera |
Liverpool Echo's award winning photographers look back at Liverpool's most exciting year, including the Backbeat Beatles warming up on the rooftop of the ECHO Arena, and the fireworks finale of Paul McCartney's gig at Anfield in June, the picture of which was syndicated around the world. [more...]
Source: Liverpool Echo |
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| Tuesday, December 30, 2008 |
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| CD Review: The Beatles 1 |
The Beatles 1 is by far the best Beatles album ever compiled. It was released in 2000 and includes all of the band's biggest pop rock hits from the U.K. and the U.S. Most of the songs were released during the '60s, and all but two were on top-ten lists. No matter how often I hear the songs, they never get old. [more...]
Source: Teen Ink |
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| The kids today just don't understand... |
When I read the news about the possible release of Carnival of Light, I just about hit the roof. When I calmed down, I fired off a text to my wife and kids and various associates, telling them of this wondrous news. Immediately, I was bombarded with replies bearing the same theme: what the hell's the Carnival of Light? [more...]
Source: New Zealand Herald |
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| Beatles tribute to perform in Orlando |
The award-winning Beatles concert, RAIN - A Tribute To The Beatles, makes its debut at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre in Orlando for two shows, January 20th and 21st. RAIN boasts a repertoire of nearly 200 Beatlemaniac favorites, ranging from such beloved songs as "Hey Jude" to classic hits including "Come Together." [more...]
Source: WFTV 9, Orlando |
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| Last chance today to register to win Paul McCartney DVD |
Each month the A&E Cable TV network holds a giveaway for a recently released or upcoming title. Good news for Beatles fans and Paul McCartney fans! This month's giveaway is for Paul McCartney: The Space Within Us on Blu-ray or DVD. To win the DVD, just go to the A&E Home Video Facebook page. [more...]
Source: Beatles News Blog |
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