Podcasting

Last year’s Pure McCartney compilation set stirred some debate among fans: how could a career spanning 46 years and over 500 recordings be adequately compressed down to 67 tracks?

The New Years Day 1962 showcase at Decca Records in London did not pan out as The Beatles and Brian Epstein had hoped. But the decision to turn down the Beatles has long been regarded in rock history as one of the most bone-headed executive decisions ever made.

In this year-end special, Richard and Robert took a look back at some of the Beatle-related events of 2016: the new releases – the films – the tours – the anniversaries – the passings.

The Beatles’ 1967 self-produced TV special/film has been pilloried from day one as their first critical disaster; a creative overreach that critics saw as proof of how lost they were when operating out of their element.

It has been 36 years since the December night when we lost John. On this show, Robert and Richard discuss the array of musical tributes to the slain former Beatle that came from peers and admirers alike, some many years later.

For an artist with such a deep and diverse catalog of top-flight material, George remains “the Quiet Beatle” – as his most familiar songs seem to be those from two albums in particular (while the remaining eight are routinely overlooked).

It occurred to us, as it must have with everyone else, that the release of Eight Days A Week really called for an accompanying soundtrack, or at least a parallel collection of music spanning the whole of The Beatles’ documented live performing career.

At the suggestion of Executive Producer Rick Wey, Richard and Robert discuss “the Kinfauns Tapes” (or “the Esher Demos”): 27 new songs composed by John, Paul and George mostly in Rishikesh,

Reminisce with Robert and Richard through a post-Beatles year where residual mania was still rampant, taking the form of two motion pictures – two television specials – two albums from ex-Beatles –

Given the imminent wind-down of the current political season, Richard and Robert thought it timely to examine the political interests connected to The Beatles, both during and after their collective career.