tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3319136019815050418.post6382688885667323262..comments2023-09-21T08:26:33.475-05:00Comments on The Daily Beatle : Tom Wolfe and The Beatles (sorta)Barry Lenserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03565217426035250059noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3319136019815050418.post-16216943430029987822009-10-20T10:47:48.174-05:002009-10-20T10:47:48.174-05:00Thanks for your comments, Peter. I don't know ...Thanks for your comments, Peter. I don't know if you've read "The Fifth Beatle," but Wolfe does sing the praises of Murray the K (sometimes in a qualified manner), and notes how he was "murdering the competition" well before his run-in with the Beatles and had achieved success on diverse fronts. But he also goes on to say that Kaufman lost his dominance with the rise of the All Americans at WABC and the Good Guys at WMCA. Then the Beatles arrived, and his fortunes changed dramatically for the better. I don't know how accurate this telling is. Maybe Wolfe was just trying to play up the importance/drama of that meeting to make his story more compelling. You're clearly far, far more informed on the matter than I am. The point of my post was just to highlight the different treatment that Wolfe gave to Kaufman and Spector. I found it quite interesting. But thanks again for your comments. All good to know, especially the one about Epstein seeking out Kaufman. Wolfe describes the encounter between Kaufman and the Beatles as a bit more random than perhaps it really was.Barry Lenserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03565217426035250059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3319136019815050418.post-6879954730887473362009-10-20T09:38:22.785-05:002009-10-20T09:38:22.785-05:00When the Beatles arrived in '64, Murray the K ...When the Beatles arrived in '64, Murray the K was already a huge success in the New York radio market. He had the highest ratings of any rock DJ, had established a virtual monopoly on live shows with the three or four a year presentations at the Brooklyn Fox Theater, had released a series of compilation record albums, co-written "Splish Splash," and been responsible for discovering both Darin and Dionne Warwick, among others. When "the Fab Four" arrived, Epstein actively sought out Kaufman to leverage his prominence and use it to the Beatles' advantage. Wolfe missed all that AND his age -- in 1964, Kaufman was 42.Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09383473112507490239noreply@blogger.com