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SATB began as a conversation between two Beatle friends who happened to be writers; this episode began as a conversation about being a Beatles fan in the 70s. But in both instances, some unexpected twists and turns along the way led to other destinations…
I’d like you all to meet Andrew Vaughan – a good friend of mine, a music writer and hardcore Beatle fan. He’ll be helping out with the show, and in this episode, we try our best to stay on topic. Results may vary.
Songs include recordings by The Damned, The Optimists and The Residents.
Welcome Andrew. Good to have the UK / US balance and comparison back
Great show and Andrew Vaughan was an informative and funny guest. His “condition”, I believe, is called Synesthesia. https://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/what-is-synesthesia-and-whats-it-like-to-have-it
I was born in ’68, so I was a Wings fan first. My older cousins pointed out to me that the guy in Wings also sang on “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”. That was when the madness started. Talk about 70s fandom.
Andrew has filled the empty seat admirably. The contrast between the British and American perspectives has been maintained without the underlying snideness that occasionally infected previous podcasts.
Thank you Richard for continuing this fine scholarship on the subject dear to so many of us.
Does anyone else suspect Andrew is really Mark Lewisohn? I think they sound remarkably similar.
Robert thanks you!
Interesting stuff. I believe The Beatles revival in the UK (not just England) was kick started in 1976 by a) having 23 singles in uk top 75 (inc Yesterday) and b) 4 movies being shown in primetime on main channel BBC1 that summer. 20 million could have been watching.
Truly fantastic podcast and I couldn’t agree more with patcol about the really annoying patronising we heard from your previous partner in crime because he disagreed with you! The balance is much better now and I really hope you try this format again. It works really well. Oh yeah, and I was the Beatles geek at school who wore my heart on my sleeve whilst everyone else was getting into Punk and New Wave (which I also loved) and couldn’t see what all the fuss was about with The Beatles. This podcast has helped me understand even more how linked up everything is! Keep them coming please. Great stuff
In addition to everything else, Andrew apparently has kaleidoscope eyes.
The “mod revival” in the UK changed some attitudes to The Beatles and the death of Lennon changed responses to me walking around with Beatles lps from ‘Beatle’ or ‘hippy’ as a term of mild abuse to requests to borrow my records. The age old signifier of the lp cover proudly displayed has been lost as a communicator of musical passions but was such a part of identifying fellow Beatles fans when tribal loyalties were so important. There were four of us in my school
Great show. You hit it on the head when you discussed the quality of the Beatles songwriting as contrasted with Springsteen and Costello and others . There are a few songs that are very good but the Beatles craft and quality has never been equaled that is why the songs are timeless.
While Springsteen isn’t as melodically adventurous as The Beatles he is a great songwriter. A somewhat bizarre opinion I think to declare Born to Tun as “half finished”. Equally Elvis Costello was not really at a commercial peak when he worked on Flowers in the Dirt. In this case, the cliche may be true. He did want to work with somebody who was a bit like Lennon, although Costello’s Liverpool roots have been exaggerated (He was born in London and grew up there).
Born to Run of course!
Clever intro, Robert. I enjoyed what Richard brought to the show and I’m sure I’ll enjoy Andrew as well. This episode’s a fine start.
Flock of Seagulls were BIGGER in the US than they ever were in the UK and elsewhere!Just like the US fully embraced Bush (the band)a decade later, which baffles me.