1964 Archives | Page 2 of 4 | Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

The Beatles and History

By Michael Gerber|2014-02-24T11:05:11-08:00February 21, 2014|1964, Beatles Criticism, Beatles on the Web|

MIKE GERBER • Devin's excellent post on James Marcus' graceful, slightly Slate-only-smarter Letting Go of The Beatles spurred some thoughts, which were too long to put in a comment. I wrote this in haste and I can feel the dullness of my tools (doing a lot more business-stuff than writing-stuff these days), but I paste them below. It was fifty years ago today… Beginning in May 1964 and ending that November, the BBC broadcast a 26-part documentary called The Great War. Produced with the cooperation of the Imperial War Museum and its analogues around the world, it is a fascinating examination of that [...]

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“Understanding Fuddy-Duddy Beatle Haters”

By Michael Gerber|2014-02-13T07:47:04-08:00February 12, 2014|1964, Beatles Criticism, William F. Buckley|

Buckley: not merely awful Scott Galupo over at The American Conservative has posted an article sure to raise the ire of normally oh-so-placid HD readers: "Understanding Fuddy-Duddy Beatle Haters." The occasion is, of course, the 50th anniversary silliness...and, perhaps, a sneaky attempt to rehabilitate William F. Buckley. To quote Jeffery Lebowski, "This aggression shall not stand, man." "The crowned heads of anti-music" If you read what Buckley wrote in The Boston Globe in September 1964, you can be forgiven for thinking, "Surely he wasn't on cocaine?" It's that over-the-top. An estimable critic writing for National Review [Buckley's magazine], after seeing [...]

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“I’ll have whatever Yoko’s having”

By Michael Gerber|2014-02-10T11:31:48-08:00February 10, 2014|1964, Beatles tributes|

I hate Beatle cheese worst of all cheese. So, much to my surprise I loved CBS' "The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles." And perhaps my favorite part were the cutaway shots to Yoko late in the evening, which showed her doing a couple of weird, great dance moves. There was a slow swim through the seas of consciousness, a sort of arm-waving move--what else? It was thoroughly awesome, and reminded me that the only real sticking point (she'll be relieved to know) between me and Yoko is how serious she always is. But it's truly never too late to [...]

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New York Beatlefans: Stop reading this and go to The Fest!

By Michael Gerber|2014-02-07T12:29:12-08:00February 7, 2014|1964|

The mothership. Longtime readers of Hey Dullblog know that I am just bonkers for The Fest for Beatles Fans, colloquially known as Beatlefest. The New York gathering, at Manhattan's Grand Hyatt Hotel from Friday to Sunday, kicks off this afternoon at 5:00 PM EST. It looks pretty incredible. Dig this line-up: Freda Kelly. She'll never tell...or will she? Will the combined rabid interest of several thousand Beatles fans finally get her to spill some serious beans? If I ever meet Freda I will shake her hand, but since I am in LA, someone must do it for me. HD readers, I [...]

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The Beatles Invade America: CBS News celebrates the 50th Anniversary

By Devin McKinney|2014-02-05T06:36:52-08:00February 5, 2014|1964, Beatles on the Web, Beatles tributes|

DEVIN McKINNEY • To mark the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in America, a mere two days away, CBS News plans a live multimedia event from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, site of a certain world-claiming triumph on February 9, 1964. In anticipation of both anniversary and event, CBS has amassed an impressive collection of video and audio chronicling the happy invasion, and commissioned a number of new pieces from Fab Four scholars, chroniclers, and analysts—among them John McMillian, Larry Kane, Bruce Spizer, and (eep!) yours truly. (The title of my squiggle, “From moptops to hippie chic,” is not [...]

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The Beatles without earmuffs

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-31T12:06:45-08:00January 31, 2014|1964, Uncategorized|

Does anyone else find this photo reeeally creepy? This past week, I've been watching the early James Bond movies obsessively, as research for a new novel. Personally, I prefer From Russia With Love over Goldfinger for two reasons: 1) I prefer gritty Cold War spycraft over glitz and gadgets; and 2) Bond takes a completely gratuitous swipe at the Fabs in the first section of Goldfinger, right before he gets karate chopped and Jill Masterson gets gilded. ("Skin suffocation" is debunked here.) The video's weird, sorry; the Beatles quip comes at about :30. The rest is a bizarre mini-cut of [...]

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Attention Original Beatlemaniacs!

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-15T15:20:53-08:00January 15, 2014|1964, Housekeeping|

Yes, convite them, why don't you? The following just came in over the transom: "I'm a journalist in a Portuguese daily newspaper called "i" (www.ionline.pt). I'm writing a feature about the 50 years of The Beatles in America and I'm trying to get in touch with people who might've seen them back then, live or on the TV. Could you help me?" Yes, Tiago, I believe we can! Any interested (and interesting) parties should contact him directly at tjppereira AT gmail DOT com.

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Billboard 1964: “There! I’ve Said It Again”

By Michael Gerber|2014-01-09T11:24:29-08:00January 9, 2014|1964|

"They have everything over there. Why do they need us?" Two words, George: Bobby Vinton. This morning as I awoke, I had a fun little idea (which must be all over the web): in order to demonstrate the impact The Beatles had on American popular music, HD will post the #1 hit from the Billboard charts for every week in 1964. This week fifty years ago, the top spot was occupied by Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said It Again." It would slumber immovably at #1 for the rest of the month. I think everybody knew how soporific this song was; [...]

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Beatles at the BBC, Volume 2: clearly enjoyable

By Nancy Carr|2013-11-17T05:47:17-08:00November 16, 2013|1964, BBC, Uncategorized|

Just before Paul warned George not to stick that Rickenbacker into John's ear NANCY CARR * I've been listening to "On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2" pretty continuously the past few days, and it's great fun (unsurprisingly, for anyone who's heard volume 1). Of particular note is the astounding clarity of the sound. The warmth and immediacy of the recordings is a large part of what makes the set such a pleasure to listen to. What a superb job of mastering and transferring. "Volume 2" has more between-song talk than "Volume 1," which provides a fascinating window into the [...]

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Beatles For Sale sessions

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-04T20:18:31-08:00November 4, 2013|1964|

Four little-known musicians from Liverpool, 1964 MIKE GERBER • We've linked to the devilishly delightful site Willard's Wormholes before, and in the process of fixing that link this morning, I found a wonderful something I just had to pass along. My love for 1964's Oh-Shit-Christmas-Is-Coming LP Beatles For Sale is almost as idiosyncratic as my affection for psychedelia.* Truth be told, I think my love began when I heard Malcolm McDowell's almost ominous descriptions of the period in "The Compleat Beatles". ("Haggard"..."windswept"...am I making this up? I distinctly remember it.) It's the backside of Beatlemania that I'm always more interested in. [...]

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