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Hello all,
Welcome to the SATB Newsletter, to subscribers new and legacy.
Who knew this would become the year of the drummer? 2025 started strong with Ringo in Nashville with Look Up, his shows and TV special, before news of the death of Blondie’s Clem Burke (also Judas Priest’s Les Binks), coinciding with the announced retirement of Pete Best. Then there was last week: the whiplash-quick termination and then reinstatement of Ringo’s firstborn, Zak Starkey, percussionist par excellence with The Who. He’s been on board since 1996 and his role was won not through nepotism but with talent. In 1995, Who bassist John Entwistle was a member of Ringo’s All-Starr Band, and it was there that he first met Zak, also among the entourage. The Who was drummer shopping at the time, having shed Kenney Jones after their 1988 performances. (Simon Phillips took the chair for the 1989 “Final”” tour.) Zak fit like a hand in a glove for their Quadrophenia shows in ’96 and stayed with them ever after, including the 2001 Concert for New York , Entwistle’s last stateside performance. (Here’s a Quadrophenia cut from happier times.)
In March 2025, The Who played a Teen Cancer charity gig at the RAH, and that’s where the trouble started. There’s no need to re-litigate the details here, but when singer Roger Daltrey was having troubles onstage hearing himself, he blamed the drummer (rather than the tech who was in charge of the monitors). The news sparked outrage around the world, most of it directed at Roger, while others suggest that perhaps the band’s time had come and gone. The normally loquacious Pete Townshend stayed uncharacteristically silent, until breaking the news on the third day that Zak in fact was back in the fold, and all mis-communications remedied. (Pity that Mr. Best is newly-retired, since his commentary on a Starkey firing would’ve been so worth it.)
In other news, One To One: John and Yoko has been playing to positive reviews in US theaters. Forbes announced this week that it will be made available for purchase and streaming: details here. As noted in newsletter #23, Gary Wenstrup and I produced a “reaction” video of sorts. It turned out well, so in addition to being posted as a YouTube video, I also dropped it into the feed for the usual audio/podcast access (though I consider it to be something less than an episode – consider it bonus content).
The actual new episode is just out: 303, the conversation with Ian Leslie, author of John and Paul: A Love Story in Song. It’s gotten tons of attention and I am really looking forward to what you listeners/readers think about it.
This wouldn’t be a SATB newsletter without a passing to note: in this case, deejay and TV personality Wink Martindale. He was a fixture in media ranging from radio to game shows (and even had a hit record himself). For our purposes, we remember him for his interview with the Fabs in Nassau, during the filming of Help! Wink was 91.
In other stuff: that David Sheff bio of Yoko was the subject of an online essay by SATB guest Christine Feldman-Barrett. And whilst speaking of new books, newly-posted is my conversation with Joe Wisbey on the fab Beatles Books podcast.
Last: I am sitting on a mountain of video and audio – most of it Beatles-related. If any of you have any requests for anything specific, let me know – I am happy to share!
As noted last time, all past newsletters are now archived on the SATB site – just create a sign-in. Thanks for being here – all reviews are welcomed and encouraged – and tell your friends!