"While My Guitar Gently Beeps"

That's the name of the Daniel Radosh-penned cover story for this week's NYT Magazine. It's about The Beatles: Rock Band, and it's lengthy (as per usual).

Friday YouTube

"When We Was Fab"


(If the video is removed, go here.)

"Please Please Me" profile

Album: Please Please Me
Release date: March 22, 1963
Producer: George Martin
Label: Parlophone
Sales/chart position: 30 weeks at #1
Singles: -1)"Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You" 2)"Please Please Me"/"Ask Me Why" 3)"Twist and Shout"/"There's a Place" 4)"Do You Want to Know a Secret"/"Thank You Girl"
Best track: "Twist and Shout"
Least best track: "A Taste of Honey"
Best original: "There's a Place"
Best cover: "Twist and Shout"
Most underrated track: "Baby It's You"
Most overrated track: "Love Me Do"
Best track that references a girl not yet 18 years old: "I Saw Her Standing There"
Best lyric (original): "Please please me oh yeah/Like I please you."
Sample review: "For productivity alone, it is one of the greatest first albums in rock. But even at this early stage, the Beatles had invented a bracing new sound for a rock band -- an assault of thrumming energy and impeccable vocal harmonies -- and they nailed it here...."
(from Rolling Stone)

"Twist and Shout" three more times

The original version, performed by the Top Notes:


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The YouTube heading for the next one reads, "Isley Brothers Live - Twist and Shout - Sexy Dancers." I'm including this only because the Isley Brothers were the first act to make a hit out of the song. Enjoy:


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And lastly, the "just rattle your jewelry" rendition by The Beatles. Classic stuff:


(If the video is removed, go here.)

Ferris Bueller does The Beatles

After writing at length about "Twist and Shout," I knew I would be putting together a subsequent entry on the song's beloved and rapturous inclusion in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. And then last week, of course, John Hughes passed away, which only added to the relevance of my planned post. Like (and because of ) "Twist and Shout," the parade scene in Ferris Bueller bursts with energy and joy; it's a spectacle of wild merriment. Hughes constructed a scene which, in its loose and vibrant physicality, perfectly matched the stimulating essence of The Beatles' classic. What we see Ferris and the throng of parade attendees doing is how "Twist and Shout" sounds. Bodies that flail around are like John's scorching vocal; hips that shake are like the song's crunchy rhythm. It's an ingenious marriage of what the cinema and pop music can individually accomplish.

The most important detail of the scene, though, is this: Ferris is lip-synching, not performing karaoke-style. Which means that even one of the coolest and most endearing dudes of the '80s couldn't pull off this magic on his own. He needed some help. Or, rather, John's vocal is just so immortal that it's not worth trying to replace. Back to School, another quintessentially '80s film, tried this by having Rodney Dangerfield's character handle the lead for "Twist and Shout" in one scene. It's a fun part, no doubt. But it doesn't hold a candle to the charmed antics of Ferris Bueller.

Monday potpourri

Some of the (abundant) news items below might be a little old. My apologies.

"Bio of Beatles' Sgt. Pepper in the Works"

"Unseen photographs of The Beatles up for sale"

The Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy will premiere as the closing movie of the Times BFI London Film Festival in October.

"Charles Manson's Race War: The Beatles and Helter Skelter"

Rolling Stone's three-and-a-half star review of Yim Yames' (Jim James of My Morning Jacket) Tribute To.

An "instrument compatibility chart" for The Beatles: Rock Band.

"Beatles Atlanta show made history in more ways than one"

Steve Marinucci interviews Allan Rouse, an engineer who was part of the team that digitally remastered The Beatles' albums.

"Paul McCartney Sets Fenway Park Concert Attendance Record"

"Beatles Copyrights in McCartney's (distant) Sights"

Abbey Road crossing: "death trap?"

"Move to shift star Beatles’ crossing"

In full:
Councillors say tourists flocking to be snapped on the road are causing crashes, with the accident rate on the rise.

There have been four more this decade than during the 80s and 90s.

Last weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the photo taken outside the Abbey Road recording studio in St John's Wood, North West London.

Hundreds of fans gathered there on Saturday as Sgt Pepper's Only Dartboard Band, dressed in replica clothing, played Beatles hits.

But Lindsey Hall, a councillor in the Abbey Road ward, pointed out there had been 22 accidents there since 2000.

She said: "Maybe it's time to end this once and for all and move the zebra crossing. It may end up with that."

Colleague Judith Warner added: "I have asked our transport department if it is in the most appropriate place."

Fans vowed to fight any attempts to move the iconic crossing.

And last night a spokesman for Westminster City Council hinted they may let it be.

He said: "There is nothing to indicate any more cause for concern than on any other road."