The Joshua Liquid Light Show
The Joshua Liquid Light Show, invented by artist Joshua White, was a psychedelic staple at New York's iconic Fillmore East in the late Sixties. White and his colleagues would project their work on 30-40 foot screens behind bands like Jimi Hendrix and The Who, improvising in time with the music. I've found one of their Shows on YouTube, which I'm pasting below. [...]
Philip Norman’s McCartney “poem”; and an afterthought
In the same vein as Norman's 2005 Daily Mail "letter" to Paul, there's the doggerel he wrote and published in the Sunday Times back in the early 1970s. I've seen references to its being longer than the four lines I can find online, but those four lines are more than enough: "O deified Scouse, with unmusical spouse For the cliches and cloy [...]
Sgt Pepper and Psychedelic Utopianism
"Did you hear that, lads? It's...HISTORY" In a comment on Starostin's latest review of Sgt. Pepper, Dullblogger Karen wrote the following: Part of the charm of this album, as it relates to the construction of an alternate reality, is that it was borne of out a felt need. It wasn’t just conceptual; it was an “only if” type of reaction [...]
Philip Norman’s “letter” to Paul
Apparently written around the time Paul McCartney’s marriage to Heather Mills collapsed, an alleged (and uncharacteristic) altercation between McCartney and his public prompted Philip Norman to editorialize in an article he wrote for the Daily Mail entitled What’s eating you, Macca? After reading it I’d like to ask “What’s eating you, Norman? His animosity toward McCartney is almost palpable. Dear Macca, The [...]
Starostin re-reviews Sgt. Pepper
Online reviewer George Starostin has just posted another review of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, this time as part of his working down the list of the RateYourMusic site's "Top Albums of All Time" list. (Pepper is currently at #18). I love the whole review, but here are a couple of my favorite song-by-song comments: ʻLovely Ritaʼ - oh, that triumphant [...]
The Turtles and Managers
"Then he went to Mexico, with $40K and the bass player's wife." Since we've been talking a lot lately about managers and agents and their role in the story of the Beatles, I thought I'd post this so-sad-it's-funny video done in 1990 by Flo and Eddie, the founders of The Turtles. https://youtu.be/5JHN5HaUg28 As the Fabs discovered, this kind of thing [...]
All Things Must Pass
Cool car, too Dullblog readers will likely enjoy All Things Must Pass, a recent documentary on the rise and demise of Tower Records. Directed by Colin Hanks, All Things Must Pass probes all the nooks and crannies of the legendary record store chain, which via the magic of contemporary American capitalism, only exists in Japan anymore. Turns out that the [...]
Beatle humor in your daily life
"Pencil, Mal -- " I was recently in the hospital with my first kidney stone (not recommended). I left the experience knowing two new things about myself. One, I can survive the most intense pain the male body can dish out. And two, no matter how bad it gets, I still keep a sense of humor. After eight hours of [...]
Gopnik on Norman on McCartney
Paul, looking over his shoulder Adam Gopnik has contributed a peculiar review of Philip Norman's new bio, Paul McCartney: The Life. The TL;DR is "A reader familiar with the past twenty years of Beatles biography will have a pretty hard time finding a single new fact or revelation within [Norman's biography]." Pretty damning, right? Apparently not; Gopnik hastens to add [...]