Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

A Heartbeat in the Brain

By Michael Gerber|2020-02-03T21:39:34-08:00September 3, 2015|John and Paul|

"A hole in my what?" I was inspired by our recent mention of the ancient medical (?) practice of trepanning to seek out the source of John Lennon's inspiration all those years ago: the documentary "A Heartbeat in the Brain." In this 1970 film, scientist and seeker Amanda Feilding trepans herself on camera. Like many who saw it, this blew John Lennon's mind. Unlike many who saw it, he was actually interested in doing it. According to a scene in the fictional "Two of Us," he suggests that he, Paul and Yoko do it. The film's fictional, but his interest [...]

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Two of Us

By Michael Gerber|2015-09-01T14:13:37-07:00September 1, 2015|Beatle-inspired|

...and so began the Tantric Sex Scene. Commenter Karen pointed me to this interesting interview with Mark Stanfield, the screenwriter for "Two of Us," the film that portrays a fictional 1976 reunion between Lennon and McCartney. Stanfield's interlocutor is Martin Lewis, whom I used to see regularly at Beatle- and Python-themed events all over Los Angeles. I spent the evening of my 40th birthday listening to him tell tales of Peter Cook. The interview meanders, especially at the end, but there are lots of bits worth reading and pondering over. This sentence jumped out at me, in light of all our [...]

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One Last, Lost Beatles Album

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-31T12:12:31-07:00August 31, 2015|alternate history|

You get this sort of effect when you google "Cleopatra Porn" We've discussed the notion of a "Beatles in the Seventies" album many times before on the site -- here, here, and so forth -- but I stumbled across another person's worthy effort this morning and thought I'd share it. I've been slowly reading and enjoying Trav S.D.'s fascinating and florid history of vaudeville, No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous and so I wasn't entirely surprised that his picks for a lost Beatles album were somewhat idiosyncratic. To my great pleasure, Trav has identified McCartney's "Suicide" as the [...]

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The Beatles and Fantasy Football?

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-29T13:54:11-07:00August 29, 2015|Housekeeping|

Texas Tech is a college team. That's how un-NFL the Beatles are. In what may be the strangest post ever on Hey Dullblog…please permit me a brainstorm. For the past several years, I have played fantasy football. In this meta-sport, each individual selects a group of (American) football players. The weekly stat totals of your group are turned into points, which are then compared to the group you are playing that week. If you have any interest whatever in the NFL, it's incredibly addictive and fun. I would be happy to run a league -- eight minimum, probably fourteen maximum [...]

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Paul on Here Today

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-27T15:49:58-07:00August 27, 2015|Interviews|

It's awesome how UK magazines always give CDs and stuff away. Guest post from KAREN HOOPER • I usually read Sir Paul’s interviews with a yawn because it’s the same old answers to the same old questions. However, every now and again he says something that grabs my attention—like the other day, when I read his recent interview with Uncut (which can be viewed as a PDF here). Here’s Paul on Here Today, his elegy to John Lennon: “There’s one bit that I kinda disagree with when I sing it. ‘Well knowing you, you’d probably laugh and say that we [...]

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CARS Checklist

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-26T15:57:03-07:00August 25, 2015|books|

Trustworthy? Anybody read it? Still in my to-read pile Those of you not subscribed to comment updates (and why not?) might have missed the discussion smoldering over on the "Paul Better Than John" post. Thanks to all who are chiming in, it's what makes this site great. The rest of you, please comment! We're still not as lively as we were on the crappy old Blogger site, for reasons I'm not quite sure of, but am determined to address. Loyal commenter @Karen writes: "Our recent conversation about Lewisohn and his conclusions about the Blackpool incident got me thinking about a [...]

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John Lennon, Where Are You?

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-21T22:44:15-07:00August 21, 2015|1980|

Inside: Laurence Shames' "John Lennon, Where Are You?" I am in the process of throwing out the contents of several filing cabinets, almost a decade's worth of paper. It's quite a daunting task. This morning I unearthed something cowering among the dust and silverfish that I thought might be of interest: "John Lennon, Where Are You?" by Laurence Shames. Published in the November 1980 issue of Esquire, Shames' unsuccessful attempt to meet and interview the ex-Beatle is a fascinating portrait of Lennon taken from an oblique angle. It's nowhere online, so I've uploaded the PDF below, to make the information [...]

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Off to the Fest for Beatles Fans! And a nugget…

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-14T11:11:57-07:00August 14, 2015|The Fest for Beatles Fans, Uncategorized|

OK, OK, we're uniting...sheesh So the redoubtable Nancy and I are planning to meet up at Beatlefest Chicago tomorrow. Nancy's daughter is also coming. I am not at all sure she realizes what she's in for, so pray for her. You should go, if you can. The Chicago Fest is a great one (never been to NYC, plan on changing that). On top of all the Beatley goodness, the Fest for Beatles Fans is always a hell of a time-machine: nothing evokes the heady mix of bewildered hope, outsized ambition and creeping angst that was Mike Gerber's teenage years, quite [...]

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Paul Better Than John? Hell Has Frozen Over!

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-24T07:52:36-07:00August 13, 2015|Rolling Stone, Uncategorized|

"REMINDER -- All edit ppl MUST attend 2pm mtg on songwriters list fuckup" Longtime reader Paul Guay alerted me to the following tidbit: In Rolling Stone's latest listifiction, The 100 Greatest Songwriters -- ogle it here -- Paul McCartney is listed at #2, one spot ahead of John Lennon. As Paul wrote, "Hell has indeed frozen over." As a once-and-future magazine person, I bet the halls were slick with blood over this one. From the outside at least, RS doesn't seem like the kind of place one could thrive openly preferring McCartney over Lennon; the implications would be too much [...]

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Cilla Black Sings Alfie

By Michael Gerber|2015-08-05T11:43:52-07:00August 5, 2015|Brian Epstein|

Attached to an email from the indefatigable "Fifth Beatle" (a graphic novelization of the life of Brian Epstein -- now being published in Japan!), was this wonderful clip from 1965. In it the dearly departed sings "Alfie" the theme song from the Michael Caine classic. ...which you should see, if you haven't. (Kate and I will be watching "The Ipcress File" on TCM this Thursday, speaking of. Caine impressions to follow.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAuoNa5g6i8

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