tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75942525939458430332024-02-07T12:31:13.892-05:00A Year in the LifeAn increasingly occasional blog about the Beatles and their songs.Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.comBlogger367125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-54589424629015308852013-05-18T16:25:00.000-04:002013-05-18T17:20:00.825-04:00Ultimate McCartney Set List - GO.It's three years later, and Paul McCartney is touring once again! A lot has changed since I last checked in with this blog, but my devotion to Paul remains steadfast and true. (Despite the fact that, even after endless prodding, the guy has never actually called me.) If you care to, you can read about my adventures the last time Paul came through Boston back in 2009-- which, fortuitously enough, Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-68774470590212070332010-04-08T17:48:00.006-04:002010-04-08T18:11:08.769-04:00A new daily fix, new product lust, etc.If you like to do the Twitter thing, you'll love The Daily Beatle, brought to us by the folks at the always excellent Hey Dullblog (which is always over there to the right on my blogroll). There's going to be a quote, a link to a story, or some other fun exciting thing posted every day. Follow it!http://twitter.com/thedailybeatleI like daily things having to do with the Beatles, so I support thisMeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-12157799559364096952010-04-01T12:02:00.014-04:002010-04-09T09:05:36.429-04:00Creeeeeak. (Also, Imagine the album.)That is the sound of a rusty blog being wound painfully into gear by a lazy blogger. Creak creak creak. Argh. Is anyone out there? Hi! I haven't written in a while. I'm very sorry. See, I have this tendency in my life to come up with crazy projects, stick to them with near-religious fervor for a little while, and then drop them just as quickly. Already for 2010 I've adopted some other stupid Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-66069540339401092242009-12-31T17:55:00.002-05:002009-12-31T18:15:58.863-05:00Playlist: Just my totally favorite moments from this past year.Just my personal faves, anyway. And by "favorites," I don't really mean favorite Beatles songs-- I really, no matter how hard I try, can't limit myself there. I more just mean songs that proved fun to write about even if I didn't think the songs would be that great, or songs that just struck as particularly amazing on that particular day in a nice bit of kismet, or songs that seemed to resonate Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-21037363144225715152009-12-26T12:30:00.003-05:002009-12-26T12:56:38.044-05:00Beatles spoils, et cetera.After having slightly bullied my mom about it (as was very unbecoming for someone who's as old as I am, I'd be the first to admit), I was unsurprised to receive the remastered stereo box set for Christmas-- though still terribly excited. Yay!I was, however, pleasantly surprised to also receive Beatles Trivial Pursuit from my parents. And then my husband up and gave me a wicked sexy Revolver Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-45795900790522867172009-12-24T11:04:00.003-05:002009-12-24T11:28:35.290-05:00The Beatles' Christmas Message: 1963Here's a Christmas message you might be a little more familiar with than the others, at least if you've played Beatles Rock Band on story mode and unlocked some of the delightful prizes they've hidden for you. Because this is one of them.1963 was the Beatles' first big year, and what a year it was-- as they indicate here, the year prior they'd been a band with the one minor hit "Love Me Do," and Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-13920145627863137192009-12-23T12:18:00.002-05:002009-12-23T12:28:46.205-05:00The Beatles' Christmas Message: 1964The 1964 message was only the second Beatles Fan Club Christmas record, and it basically follows the model of the first one the year prior-- it's just a recorded prepared statement. These early ones are fairly hilarious without being insane, as the later ones became. Much as I like ALL these Christmas messages, the later ones sometimes come across as something that your friends made while high asMeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-29364354548420677932009-12-22T15:14:00.003-05:002009-12-22T15:36:49.324-05:00The Beatles' Christmas Message: 1965You know what was a really big deal in 1965? Well, besides, the band's second movie, Shea Stadium, and Rubber Soul, that is? "Yesterday," of course. The 1965 Christmas message--the last message to be more of a true message rather than a pantomime, which is what the later messages sort of evolved into-- features the Beatles gleefully lampooning Paul's masterpiece several times, which is a large Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-62059564955438010192009-12-21T15:23:00.002-05:002009-12-21T15:33:24.116-05:00The Beatles' Christmas Message: 1966This one is fun for its sketch about Podgy the Bear. That's still the way I remember things when I'm too lazy to find a piece of paper and make a shopping list. 1966 might have been a year in which the band released music so mind-blowing, so mature, that it changed pop music forever, but they're clearly still messing around like a bunch of kids.Oh, plus there's the song called "Please Don't BringMeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-53676051213799893682009-12-20T16:21:00.002-05:002009-12-20T16:38:58.691-05:00The Beatles' Christmas Message: 1967The 1967 Christmas message is more cohesive than what was to come later, though it's still pleasantly anarchic. It's like a deranged sketch comedy special that devolves into a psychedelic nightmare-- up until the moment that John reads his sweet little nonsense poem that sends us off to bed. My favorite bit is the song "Plenty of Jam Jars" by a band called The Ravellers ("plenty of jam jars for Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-61676842302239313252009-12-19T11:40:00.002-05:002009-12-19T11:55:50.922-05:00The Beatles' Christmas Message: 1968The 1968 message was also recorded separately, as the Beatles were already kind of running out of patience for hanging out with each other. But we get some cool weirdness, including a Chipmunky sped-up version of "Helter Skelter," John reading his Jock & Yono poem, a bizarre interlude from Tiny Tim, and insane yet strangely festive soundscapes that remind me of "Revolution #9" outtakes Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-5260023379735316322009-12-18T16:40:00.002-05:002009-12-18T17:03:44.078-05:00The Beatles' Christmas Message: 1969Don't you hate how when you go out anywhere this time of year the department stores are blasting the odious "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time" or whatever that saccharine nightmare of a McCartney song is called? Or the only-slightly-less-odious-and-in-its-own-way-more-crass "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" by Johnandyoko and the Harlem Boys Choir? Blech. It's no wonder people loathe this Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-32391908024618953792009-12-15T13:09:00.000-05:002009-12-15T13:10:28.063-05:00All you need is love, and also these fine items.Where does the time go in December, kids? Where oh where? I guess we've had a good week of silence in memory of John (many thanks to all commenters to that post, by the way), but Apple Corps must go on! Imagine no possessions, you say? Pshaw! We're in the middle of Hanukkah, so I'm coming to this pretty late (what else is new?), but if you're still finishing that shopping, or just beginning your Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-8646668707721059532009-12-08T10:42:00.004-05:002009-12-08T11:10:32.518-05:00Another sad anniversary.Gees, these crappy anniversaries just come running smack into each other at the end of the year, don't they? Anyway, it's now been 29 years to the day since John Lennon died. That's kind of weird, isn't it? I don't have much to add to the wave of online remembrances that I'm sure are lining up in my blogroll (over there on the right), because I was only about a year and a half old when it Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-17798130532134781842009-12-05T12:32:00.000-05:002009-12-05T12:33:25.242-05:00Thoughts on Beatle books.Because the Lennon vs. McCartney question is a debate (and a fallacy) that apparently will never die, I am delighted to see that the new McCartney biography by Peter Ames Carlin, Paul McCartney: A Life, apparently spends a lot of time once again defending Paul's legacy from those who would continue, blindly, to see him as the lameass of the band and to deify a conveniently deceased John. But I amMeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-43958881591210314522009-11-30T08:45:00.002-05:002009-12-01T00:04:37.333-05:00Pop Matters' playlist versus my own.My first playlist that I did on the blog back in, what, April or something, was a hidden treasures playlist. Listing the Beatles' hidden treasure tracks is a slightly ridiculous exercise, given the culture's massive Beatles overexposure in general. But that's why it interests me so much. Besides, for whatever reason, I have personally witnessed several people come to the Beatles (rather like one Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-76114842387818130332009-11-29T10:52:00.004-05:002009-11-29T11:58:18.628-05:00Two playlists for a sad anniversary.Well, it's been eight years now since we lost George Harrison to cancer. On this day in 2001, I remember being in my still-fairly-new Boston apartment, pacing around the bedroom and trying to get some writing done (I was in a grad program for creative writing) and just being completely blocked, so I turned on the radio to procrastinate a little and suddenly it was all George all the time. There Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-66423510091967680462009-11-13T12:16:00.007-05:002009-11-13T13:09:17.549-05:00Rock Band is Getting even Better.I see at WogBlog that Harmonix, which had long promised a complete Sgt. Pepper download for Beatle Rock Band in November, has announced solid dates: Xbox and Wii users can download the album on November 17th, while PX users have to wait until the 19th.Harmonix has already put up Abbey Road for sale to the Rock Banders of the world, and wisely so-- how could anyone who had already laid out the Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-44019451444372468092009-11-10T16:20:00.005-05:002009-11-10T22:56:35.746-05:00Playlist: My One-Disc White Album.Although I'm a fan of the One-Disc White Album game (the game wherein you pretend that George Martin gets his way and that the Beatles release a wicked solid single-disc album instead of the slightly all-over-the-place double-disc album that DID get released in November of 1968, and then decide which songs should be on it and which shouldn't be), I've never been able to satisfactorily come up Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-90296596284845794762009-11-03T13:43:00.002-05:002009-11-03T13:47:05.023-05:00Remastered CDs not geeky enough for you?Well, you're in luck, because the whole catalog is going to be released again, this time on vinyl.MOJO had the story on its website yesterday. And, you know, I like records a lot. But even I might be too exhausted at this point to lay out more money. I swear, though, if they package Let It Be with a reprint of the original photobook, I might yet relent....Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-46857374239911703922009-11-02T23:20:00.000-05:002009-11-02T23:21:02.847-05:0010 observations on the mono box set.Perhaps you've been asking yourself, "Should I buy the recently released digital remastered Beatles box set in mono?" Well, I'm of the opinion that most people probably should, although you personally might not really need to. It kind of depends on how much of a geek you are. But, wait a minute, you're here reading a Beatles blog, aren't you? So, likely yes. But just in case, I've compiled a veryMeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-26248651747340399682009-10-18T21:38:00.001-04:002009-10-18T21:39:04.145-04:00A breather.Well, there we are-- by my count (and it would be hugely embarrassing at this point if I've counted wrong) I've listened to every legally available Beatles song, one by one, since January 1. And hopefully you've listened along with me. If you've missed something, go back and give it a whirl! There's not a song here that's not worth your time. (Except for, arguably, well... you know.)When I Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-42925915431185295272009-10-18T09:21:00.001-04:002009-10-18T09:43:37.849-04:00A Day in the LifeThe subtitle of this blog, which insinuates that there's a Beatles song for every day of the year, is kind of a lie, because this is it. "A Day in the Life" is the last Beatles song in the catalog for us to listen to. Because if there's an even better ending to this project than a song called "The End" it's an almost-minute-long E major chord. Right? Right. Please sit back for a few minutes and Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-28218243623711973372009-10-17T17:08:00.002-04:002009-10-17T17:10:45.526-04:00The EndAlthough it's not really, of course, not quite. Those paying attention will note that there's one more song to go after today-- and it ain't stupid "Her Majesty," either. But since we're near enough, and since Abbey Road has given me a taste for epilogues, today it's "The End."So we get each Beatle in a solo moment here, which is very cool and very unique in the catalog. But this isn't the crazedMeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594252593945843033.post-84747140460824464732009-10-16T11:49:00.000-04:002009-10-16T11:50:54.309-04:00Two of UsThe official story on "Two of Us" is that Paul wrote it as an early love song to Linda Eastman. But if you're a fan, you absolutely can't help but hear it as a song about Paul and John together, as young friends and artists and collaborators, spending someone's hard earned pay. So let's all drink a toast to Lennon-McCartney, kids, and listen to "Two of Us," and hope that all of us have or will Meganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565760365090993595noreply@blogger.com5