Michael Gerber • Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Let It Be: A Missed Opportunity

By Michael Gerber|2015-10-07T12:48:48-07:00April 22, 2014|1969, Documentaries, Film merde, Let It Be|

Is Mike man enough to withstand the awesome depressive POWER of this film? Last Thursday I happened to rent a DVD of "Let It Be," and I did so mostly out of surprise that it was on the shelf at all. I'd seen it only once before, in the summer of 1981, paired with "A Hard Day's Night" at the pot-scented Tivoli Theatre in St. Louis. Maybe it was Lennon's recent death, or having watched the young Fabs in full flood directly before, but I still remember the funereal aspect of the evening's second half, something even the sweet smell [...]

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Blank on Blank on John and Yoko on Love

By Michael Gerber|2014-04-22T16:47:52-07:00April 22, 2014|john and yoko, John Lennon, Yoko Ono|

Commenter Hologram Sam wrote in to say: "Blank On Blank finally did an animation of a John & Yoko interview. http://youtu.be/DmvmnYEy9NY "What amazed me were the comments on the boingboing link. It looks like the anti-John backlash is growing." To me, Sam, that's not a backlash, just another sterling example of Homo internetius. Uncharitable opinions hastily expressed, based on commonplaces and half-digested conventional wisdom. Internet comments are the single worst invention since the hydrogen bomb.

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Paperback Writer mistakes

By Michael Gerber|2014-03-21T09:59:32-07:00March 21, 2014|1966|

Dig the lineup on this EP. Way to confuse Portuguese fans, EMI. Eagle-eared commenter Bill Garrity writes to say: "I was just listening to 'Paperback Writer' and wondered if anybody noticed some flubs along with background noise — coughs, extraneous breathing, muttering, etc. Notable are the following: 0:08-0:10 extraneous breathing 0:57 cough 1:19-1:21 missed cue on background vocal 1:45-1:48 extraneous breath, sniffling or something like that, someone practicing a background vocal. Let me know!" Can you hear these, and any more? Let Bill know in the comments! PS—Certainly filming this video was a mistake. Most Bored Beatles Ever. http://youtu.be/pz9G5sIS62I

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Merch, Mind Games, and the Serious Proximity Buzz

By Michael Gerber|2021-12-09T03:57:18-08:00March 11, 2014|anniversaries, Beatle-inspired, Beatles tributes, Guest blogger|

JAMIE BRYAN • “It’s the center of the earth,” Lennon said famously. And so inevitably Beatlemania returned to New York, bringing 60s-era good vibes not only to the cavernous convention spaces of Manhattan’s Grand Hyatt, but even to its sterile, airport-style lobby bar. Where the locals were gleefully engaging in a quaint little custom they picked up from Peter Minuit, the fleecing of the rubes. The "OB-LA-DI OB-LA-OLIVES" were $6. The chef's selection of artisan charcuterie and local cheeses ("MAXWELLS SILVER PLATTER") was $16. A buck less got you either the "MAGICAL MYSTERY HUMMUS" or the "FREE AS A BIRD WINGS". All branding [...]

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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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John Lennon and Attachment Disorder

By Michael Gerber|2014-02-13T12:19:55-08:00February 13, 2014|John Lennon, Lennon family|

Lennon, in a pensive moment Attention all armchair Lennonologists: Commenter Karen recently discovered a therapist with an interesting angle on what made John Lennon tick. "Having worked with families with children who demonstrate attachment disorder," Karen wrote, "I've long hypothesized that much of John's behavior can be explained by the attachment process gone awry." Anyone who studies John's behavior in any depth is struck by its changeability. In the words of this therapist, "One minute soft and tender. In a blink, harsh and cruel – with a legendary acid wit that didn’t seem quite as witty when it was turned on [...]

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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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Lewisohn: Tune-In Extended Edition No Longer Available in the US

By Michael Gerber|2014-08-04T15:40:16-07:00February 2, 2014|biography, books, Mark Lewisohn, Tune In|

Sure, we're all smiling before we deal with the book business. Eagle-eyed commenter Sandy wrote, late last night: I don’t know if anyone is interested but here you go from Mark [Lewisohn]'s twitter today: “The extended edition of Tune In has sold out and is now unavailable. Another print may or may not be scheduled at some future time. The e-book (issued in two halves) IS still available, but it’s UK only. My US publisher, Crown, wouldn’t issue the extended book and couldn’t agree terms for the e-book. I’m sorry about that, for me and for everyone in US who [...]

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