Beatles News
If you’re a fan of the Beatles, you no doubt know that ["She Loves You"] came before ["All You Need Is Love"]. But what about ["Help!"] or ["Yellow Submarine"] or ["I am the Walrus"]? You may not know which came first, but researchers from Lawrence Technological University in Michigan created an algorithm that does. By analyzing the evolving structure of the Beatles’ music, the computer program was able to correctly place the Fab Four’s albums in chronological order. The work is in the journal Pattern Recognition Letters. [Joe George, Lior Shamir: Computer analysis of similarities between albums in popular music] The researchers initially produced the algorithm to catalogue whale songs. [whale sound] And they figured what worked for killer whales should also work for the lads from Liverpool.
There's a whole lot of good radio out there which isn't made up of soporific playlists and banal chatter but it isn't always easy to find. With this in mind, we've compiled a list of the best internet radio stations, which are guaranteed to introduce you to something fresh, whatever your tastes. We'll keep listening and update this list every week with the best new internet radio stations.
For many, John Lennon – along with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – is known for starting a musical revolution with the Beatles. However, before the Beatles even began, Lennon studied at Liverpool College of Art along with the original Beatles bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe. This rather unflattering self-portrait is set to sell for £3million at a London auction house. The piece dates back to 1958, an important year for the then 18-year-old Lennon as it was this year his mother was killed in a car accident, he played with Paul McCartney and George Harrison for the first time and he met his first wife, Cynthia Lennon. The painting is rather unflattering expressionist piece showing Lennon with a pot belly and male mammaries. Louise Cooper, the owner-managing director of CooperOwen Music Media Auctions of London which is selling the piece, said:
A waxwork model of Sir Paul McCartney will take pride of place at a Beatles-themedauction in Liverpool this weekend. The mannequin could go for between £800 and £1,000, the auction’s organiser believes. Stephen Bailey, manager of The Beatles Shop in Mathew Street, told the ECHO: “We hold the auction every year and it attracts people willing to spend £10 as well as people willing to spend thousands of pounds.” The life-size waxwork came from a museum in Great Yarmouth. The auction begins at 10.30am tomorrow and will be held at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, co-founded by McCartney on the site of his old school. There will be 330 items up for grabs, including signatures, clothes, books, posters and other memorabilia. Mr Bailey said: “We have sold all sorts of stuff over the years. The international pull is amazing. “This year will be the biggest auction we’ve ever had with 330 lots. “The Beatles were the first ever boy band and you can only invent something once – and they invented it. That’s why they are still so popular.”
“All of my girlfriends. We all lived on the same street. All we did, you know,we we’re the Beatle’ girlfriends every single chance we had,” Denise McKevitt Rasmussen, who was celebrating her ninth birthday, said. Her dad let her pick two friends to take to the Beatles show at the Cow Palace. One of them was Terry O’Brien. “I remember I wore my pink pants dress with my John Lennon boots. Everyone had them then—the little white boots,” O’Brien said. Terry’s mom Gina was not so thrilled. “I just thought, she’s too young; she’ll get eaten alive down there but, oh, she wanted to go so bad,” she said. “They were so excited.” While youthful fans were primping, a KCBS reporter named Hilly Rose was trying to figure out an angle on what was obviously the story of the day. “The Beatles were big but really with teenagers—young people. And so guys our age, who in that time where in their 30s and 40s working at KCBS, we didn’t know a lot about them,” Rose said.
They hold down the low end, but many of them are living the high life. A new list compiles the Top 10 Richest Bassists in the World, and there are many of our favorites among them. This countdown can be found over at a website fittingly called the Richest. Unsurprisingly, it’s topped by Paul McCartney, whose net worth is valued at $1.2 billion. In fact, McCartney is so far ahead of the pack that he’s got more money than the next four bassists combined. There’s a tie for second, with Sting and Gene Simmons both worth $300 million. Two months ago, Sting made news when, while discussing his fortune, said that he will not pass it on to his six children so that they understand the value of a hard day’s work. “I certainly don’t want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses ’round their necks,” he said. “I told them there won’t be much money left because we are spending it!
Kanye West has secretly been recording tracks with SirPaul McCartney, sources exclusively tell Page Six. The rapper and the former Beatle have quietly been collaborating on a number of tracks that could develop into an album, we’re told. One song, tentatively titled “Piss on My Grave,” is sparking some chatter. West’s wife Kim Kardashian has been heard telling friends she was a little surprised they chose such a provocative name. Kanye, whose rep declined to comment, was also present at McCartney’s show at LA’s Dodger Stadium last week. The legend had previously revealed he would be interested in collaborating with a rapper such as Kanye or Jay Z.
Don Was took home an Emmy on Saturday night at the Creative Arts Awards. The show, held one week before the formal Emmy telecast, presents the awards for all categories that will not be part of the main show. Was won for Music Direction for the CBS special The Beatles: The Night That Changed America, a special that aired on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show and including performances of Fab Four songs by classic and contemporary artists. Was, born Don Fergensen, formed the group Was (Not Was) in 1979 with childhood friend David Weiss. They hit their commercial peak in 1987 and 1988 with the album What Up, Dog? and the number 7 hit Walk the Dinosaur.
Rare pictures of The Beatles meeting youngsters from a children's home while filming A Hard Day's Night in 1964 have been discovered by a children's charity. Staff at The Children's Society discovered the photographs in an archive which contained a copy of the charity's supporters’ magazine from 1964. It featured an article on children from the Society's now-defunct Roehampton home, Hambro House, meeting the band while they were filming at London's Scala Theatre. "We were thrilled to discover these photos in The Children’s Society archive, showing The Beatles taking time out from filming A Hard Day’s Night to spend time with children from one of our children’s homes in London," a spokesperson for the charity said.
PHOENIX -- When attending a concert, especially in a large arena, most of us would just be happy with a shout-out from our favorite rock star. But for one Phoenix couple, the Paul McCartney concert at US Airways Arena Tuesday was a night to remember. Adam Kowal and Andrea Copado have a wedding planned for Oct. 11. Copado read on the Internet that McCartney was ordained, and with their seats in the sixth row, they decided to make a sign that read, "You're ordained, we're engaged, please marry us tonight!" "We put together that poster and just hoped that he would acknowledge us and see our sign. We would have been happy," Kowal told News/Talk 92.3 KTAR's Mac & Gaydos Thursday.
