Beatles + 60s girl groups = AmyFrenzy and band dreams.

So BeatlesTrivia.com posted a post the other day about Beatles Novelty Records and that gets my brain all up in a 60s girl group frenzy. And Beatles frenzy. And then it makes me want to start up my own band. Again. Cue the eye rolls and grunts. But I don't care. I think I'm totally serious this time. Much more then last time. Even though I was pretty serious last time, too. Man, can't you just see it? Me. In a band. No, look up. Now, can't you just see it? Wow.

Okay, so what made me think that I need to start a cover band of Beatles novelty songs, (and OMG!!! think of how AWESOME my new band would be!) was that the very essence of Beatles novelty songs is fangirldom. That might be the name of my new group. The Fangirls. GASP! I love it.

So, lets visit, shall we, these gems of all gems.

Starting off with the thing that got all this rollin'.



And The Bootles.



The Beatlettes!



Even Cher. Cher's not too good for it. And why should she be? Except maybe for singing about Ringo.



I LOVELOVELOVE all these songs. I'm gonna do 'em. I'll be famous for it one day, you'll see.

By the way, I'm done with all that Christmas song crap. No one probably cares anyway or notices. And let me tell you... I'm done.

Christmas Day 11?

And so it shall be weezer.

Oh.

My.

Santa.

DOUBLE WHAMMY xmas song!

Day nine should've been yesterday and Day Ten today.


And nothing says Christmas like Friggin' Goodfellas! RIGHT?!  So double down Saturday. Lucky.

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
Written by Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry
Performed by Darlene Love
Courtesy of Phil Spector Records Inc. by Arrangement with ABKCO Records





"Frosty the Snow Man"
Written by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins
Performed by The Ronettes
Courtesy of Phil Spector Records Inc. by Arrangement with ABKCO Records

Christmas Song Day Ate.

What better way to celebrate my most impatient mood right now then dreaming of a cigarette and a hot toddy with my favorite of the "packers. Rats Martin and Sinatra.

Hot Toddy Recipe for good measure -

1 tbsp honey
3/4 glass tea
2 shots brandy
1 slice lemon

Serves one. 

Christmas song Day 7?.

Thought I forgot about my little list huh? Not so. Even after being attacked by a gang of filthy pigeons, I'm still on my game.

And so is the fowl.

How 'bout some Django Reinhardt? I know. Me too. XD

Reporter: George, what do you miss most about John Lennon? George: John Lennon.

December 8, 1980-  my parents 7th Anniversary. A 4 and a half year old me and an even smaller 3 and a half year old sister, after whooping it up at our grandparents house where we were either eating anniversary dinner or more likely now that I think of it, were being babysat so our parents could have date night, quickly fell asleep in the back of the car on the freezing ride home, sounds of the radio floating in and out of my ears. It was nearing 10pm Denver time and we hadn't been in the car long when it happened. SCREAMING! WAILING! My dad pulling over and my mom in full on hysterics. I was terrified, I thought someone had died.

This is the first time I remember hearing the name John Lennon. This is also the first concrete memory I have. I remember the exact part of the exact street we were on and could drive you there to this day, that's how dramatic it was.  

I shared this Earth with John Lennon for 4 and a half years. I don't remember any of it. That's not to say I don't understand the impact his abrupt passing has had on this world. 

I had so many amazing things I wanted to say about John and now, as I'm here to say it, the things won't come. It's okay though. You know what I mean. 

Yoko Ono wrote something about him, his passing and how we should use his passing to help and inspire others. It's really great, actually. Read it here. 

And this video, which I've posted before...

Please check out this CNN article by Bob Greene. It's a very touching look at The Dakota, Lennon's murder and how the events that unfolded on that December day still manage to haunt Central Park West. It's very touching and beautifully written.  


Oh and this friggin' thing, Christmas song #6. What better than Happy Xmas (War is Over)?

"If everyone who had a gun just shot themselves, there wouldn't be a problem." - George Harrison

Day Five my little Sugarplums.

Day 5. - Golden Rings. (I should've perhaps, done a Ringo song but.. mmmm, no)

So since tomorrow is December 8th and all dark and sad John Lennon dying day, I figure bust out the fun, yeah? Now I realize that a LOT of peeps think that this is the most annoying Christmas song of all time, but I disagree. This song makes me want to effin' dance! 

By the way, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I love Paul McCartney. X)


May this song get stuck in your head the rest of December. I hope you're carving your Christmas ham singing "ding dong ding dong ding dong ding" which, you know, you should then feel immense guilt as the holidays are meant to bring about anyway, because Paul's a vegetarian same as me. 

Shame on you and your ham. You might be eating Babe. 

Christmas song Day 4.

Being a couple days from BeatleJohn! Death day, how's about some BEATLES!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!! =) From December 6, 1963.  Oh, and big lols!!!

Day 3 of this xmas music thing.

Day 3.

I think I'm over this already.  How many more days do I have to go...? BIG SIGH!!! Okay. OOOH I've got it!!! 

DUDE you know you love some Wham! This song "Last Christmas" apparently hit #2 in England. And why wouldn't it really? Here's a wiki on it. 

The 20ish days of Christmas: Day 2- with love from Amy.

Day 2. 

This may very well be the finest piece of Christmas music out there. It should really be saved for closer to Christmas but I have been in rare form of late and I would be ever so sad if I forgot to include it. 


I love The Monkees. I love this song. I love Davy Jones. 


Lyrics, but I'm no bablefish and I don't know what it means. (Is it in Spanish? I think?)


Riu Chiu - The Monkees.

Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera;
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera,
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.

El lobo rabioso la quiso morder,
Mas Dios poderoso la supo defender;
Quisola hazer que no pudiese pecar,
Ni aun original esta Virgen no tuviera.

Riu, riu chiu...

Este qu'es nacido es el gran monarca,
Christo patriarca de carne vestido;
Hemos redemido con se hazer chiquito,
Aunqu'era infinito, finito se hiziera.

Riu, riu chiu...


Oh Monkees. I think it's probably Spanish now that I look closer at it.  Anyway, I'll shut up and let you enjoy. 





Oh, and don't ever let me catch you saying The Monkees had/have no talent. I'll pummel ya! 

The whatever many days of Christmas. Brought to you by me. (cue the "ding!")

Day 1. 

What's today, the 4th? The 3rd I meant. I'm posting my fave Christmas songs, one a day (unless I don't) 'til the "x". Craps, how many is that? I don't know, a lot. I still haven't worked out what day it is.... Maybe I should've started later... Oh yeah, and there's probably gonna be a LOT of Elvis. ♥

George Harrison. =(

George Harrison.-- 
Feb. 25, 1943 - Nov. 29, 2001.
I have a problem with my dead Beatles. I love and respect them even more than the living ones and much more than I could ever put into words, or into a pointless blog. I love them for their beauty, their wit, their want to change the world. They both played a major role in sculpting the future of all things music and within a week and a half, the world has to mourn them both (albeit one will get a lot more attention than the other). A lot of people know December 8, 1980 as the date that a friggin' idiot, madman lunatic gunned down the outspoken John Lennon. Very few people realize that November 29, 2001 "The Quiet Beatle" George Harrison quietly slipped away to lung cancer in Los Angeles with his loved ones by his side, Paul McCartney holding his hand and laughing at his jokes. So Johnny, I'm going to deal with you next week. Georgie deserves his moment. But first...



George was, by far, funniest Beatle. That's definitely my favorite part about him. So let's get the biography stuff out of the way and start laughing (and then I'll probably start crying, 'cause I'm insane and even though I don't know him, I feel like I do. And he makes me cry.)

George was born. He met a chubby schoolboy named Paul McCartney on the bus when he was like 13 or so and then after Paul met a drunk John Lennon, Paul introduced John and George.

They formed some little band, fought a whole bunch, and then broke up. George then did some producing, he allegedly told BFF Eric Clapton to leave Cream 'cause they were holding him back. He made Ravi Shankar famous. He had a concert for Bangladesh to help the peeps there. He produced a couple movies like Monty Python's Life of Brian and that Sean Penn/ Madonna piece of crap Shanghai Surprise.

George got all into racecar-ing and in doing so, he met and became really tight with the main dude for Cirque du Soleil and developed the idea that would later become THE GREATEST CIRQUE SHOW THIS WORLD HAS EVER SEEN! Or that I've seen, anyway. Love.

FYI- If you've not see this show than you should really make it a priority in your life. AMAZING!!!! Sad part about all of that is, George died in 2001,  Love didn't become a reality until 2006.

So, if you want a good dousing of cry, go check out the Larry King interview clips on YouTube about the show's premiere.

Okay, one more sad from our man Ringo and then laughing, because high notes are way better to go out on.

That one with Olivia Harrison looking down on her late husband gets me EVERY TIME! And lastly receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

I love you George Harrison. Hare Krishna.

And Your Bird Can Sing?

Okay. I know. I am STILL not done with Here, There and Everywhere- hot and awesome Beatle book by Geoff Emerick (and Howard Massey). But this has been tickling my brain for quite some many years and yesterday I saw something that turned my casual intrigue into obsessive need to blog about it. About what, you ask?

Lennon, McCartney and birds.

Those Len/Macca boys wrote a couple songs about birds. One of my faves happens to be the Anthology  version of And Your Bird Can Sing because, let's face it, John and Paul laughing is the cutest thing EVER.

The thing that started me on this whole business in the first place comes from Anthology. Rumor has it that Paul, while recording Free as a Bird (bird?) saw John Lennon's ghost in the form of a white peacock.

Okay, let me back up and explain, if you aren't crazy and don't know the background. John Lennon told people that if he ever died, he would send a white feather to show that he was around or something. Julian Lennon even started the White Feather Foundation in the spirit of this to save the planet.

Dad once said to me that should he pass away, if there was some way of letting me know he was going to be ok - that we were all going to be ok - the message would come to me in the form a white feather. Then something happened to me about ten years ago when I was on tour in Australia. I was presented with a white feather by an Aboriginal tribal elder, which definitely took my breath away. One thing for sure is that the white feather has always represented peace to me.

Julian Lennon, 2009

So hearing all of this, I started noticing that there was a lot of birdness surrounding the Beatle boys. I also noticed that John tended to dress in white a lot and Yoko in black, yin and yang like. Guess what I also noticed.... so did John and Paul.

So in this theory, if John were a white bird wouldn't that make Paul a black bird? Singing in the dead of night? Perhaps?

ANYWAY, Paul's song "This One" from the album Flowers in the Dirt came across my YouTube stalking ways yesterday. And Lo and Friggin' Behold.....



Now, another thing strikes me about this video... the reference to India.

Then there's the whole eye thing that I'm not even going to get into, nor that Flowers in the Dirt seems to reference Sgt. Pepper because that'll just make me look crazy like I look too far into things *nervous laugh*... And if we are to assume that MAYBE Paul might have been referencing to John, then the lyrics... well...

THIS ONE Written and composed by Paul McCartney

THIS ONE, THIS ONE, THIS ONE, THIS ONE.

DID I EVER TAKE YOU IN MY ARMS,
LOOK YOU IN THE EYE, TELL YOU THAT I DO?
DID I EVER OPEN UP MY HEART,
LET YOU LOOK INSIDE?

IF I NEVER DID IT, I WAS ONLY WAITING
FOR A BETTER MOMENT THAT DIDN'T COME.
THERE NEVER COULD BE A BETTER MOMENT
THAN THIS ONE, THIS ONE.

THE SWAN IS GLIDING ABOVE THE OCEAN,
A GOD IS RIDING UPON HIS BACK.
HOW CALM THE WATER AND BRIGHT THE RAINBOW
FADE THIS ONE TO BLACK.

DID I EVER TOUCH YOU ON THE CHEEK,
SAY THAT YOU WERE MINE, THANK YOU FOR THE SMILE?
DID I EVER KNOCK UPON YOUR DOOR
AND TRY TO GET INSIDE?

IF I NEVER DID IT, I WAS ONLY WAITING
FOR A BETTER MOMENT THAT DIDN'T COME.
THERE NEVER COULD BE A BETTER MOMENT
THAN THIS ONE, THIS ONE.

THE SWAN IS GLIDING ABOVE THE OCEAN,
A GOD IS RIDING UPON HIS BACK.
HOW CALM THE WATER AND BRIGHT THE RAINBOW
FADE THIS SWAN TO BLACK.

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DID WE ALLOW TO FLOW BY
FEELING LIKE THE TIMING WASN'T QUITE RIGHT?
WHAT KIND OF MAGIC MIGHT HAVE WORKED IF WE HAD STAYED CALM,
COULDN'T I HAVE GIVEN YOU A BETTER LIFE?

DID YOU EVER TAKE ME IN YOUR ARMS,
LOOK ME IN THE EYE, TELL ME THAT YOU DO?
DID I EVER OPEN UP MY HEART,
LET YOU LOOK INSIDE?

IF I NEVER DID IT, I WAS ONLY WAITING
FOR A BETTER MOMENT THAT DIDN'T COME.
THERE NEVER COULD BE A BETTER MOMENT
THAN THIS ONE, THIS ONE.

THE SWAN IS GLIDING (is gliding)
ABOVE THE OCEAN, (above the ocean)
A GOD IS RIDING (a god is riding
UPON HIS BACK. (on his back)
HOW CALM THE WATER (calm the water)
AND BRIGHT THE RAINBOW (bright the rainbow
FADE THIS SWAN TO BLACK.

THE SWAN IS GLIDING, OOH -
A GOD IS RIDING, OOH -
HOW CALM THE WATER,
BRIGHT, BRIGHT THE RAINBOW, OOH -.

Maybe he was only waiting for this moment to be free? As a bird? So who knows. Alls I'm saying is that John and Paul might've had a bird thing....

Now if I could only remember the name of that band that Paul started after The Beatles....

Jimmy Mac when are ya comin' back?

So I don't have a lot of time to fully concentrate my feelings on this, but I can tell you that I've been waiting for this for a week or two since I first heard about it. James McCartney. Live. OMG.

Boy of a Beatle, my radar is tuned in to you.

There's all this talk that he sounds like his dad, and with that kind of talk, how could I not be intrigued. Also, he's been this huge mystery - I know what Dhani and Sean sound like and I like what I hear.

Oh James. Well, first off--  if your sister was just awarded for being one of Glamour's 2009 Women of the Year or whatever, and she's a clothing designer, how you do not know that wearing that kind of v-neck with that kind of chest hair is bad news, I don't know. Anyway, he makes me want to hug him all shy up there, hair or not. Oh yeah, and lose the cross. What are you, goth circa 1992?

So then this talk that he sounds like Paul. Hogwash. He sounds like Sean. And that trips me out.

Some videos I found on YouTube.










Anyway, here are some things to check out.

The YouTube channel I stole these from.
An article on the show.
Check out a post on it at the McCartney Photo Blog.
And, you know, for research, the offish Sean Lennon YouTube page.

Here, There and Everywhere. But totally here. PART 1!

UPDATE!  I totally forgot to mention Howard Massey as co-author!  I don't know how or why I didn't mention him, but no offense, Mr. Massey, if you're still reading. =) 


This is the COOLEST book. Now, go figure, I'm readin' a book about Beatles. This one is called Here, There and Everywhere by Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey. Holy Funtimes Batman!

Believe it or not, I've read somewhere around like one other book about this band and the thing that struck me about this book as HOLYCRAP-BRANDNEWINFO! was the angle. You always read "The Beatles Story" from either the Beatles perspective which  starts in Liverpool, Hamburg, London and then the world! OR you start in America after they've become OMGTHEBEATLES!!, ya know? And then there are all the books that concentrate on just one Beatle, which are great, but you kind of lose sight of the the group as a whole.

Well, our hero, Geoff Emerick was a mere 15 years old when he started at EMI Studios (later renamed Abbey Road Studios in 1970). FIFTEEN! in case you skimmed. I was painting my nails and thinking about Johnny Depp when I was 15.  Then on Dude's second day on the job, he's just sittin' in on The Beatles' first ever recording sesh. No bigs.

So, Geoff, first day new kid, is just getting to know this new job of his and all this buzz is swirling about this new pop group from up north (they spit on the Northerners in this London town) and there's one guy that works there that is STOKED on this group (but don't get too attached to him, he gets sacked in a minute). Everyone else is like, "alright, whatevs". Next night Geoff gets to sit in on the recording and is immediately swooned. He also develops a boy-crush on Paul. He never actually says this, but I can read between the lines. And besides, who doesn't have a crush on Paul, I mean seriously. Look at him.

Swoon. Where was I?... Oh yeah, Paul McCartney. Wasn't I? I think one of the most "What?! Dude! Yes, that makes sense!" bits in the book is this on page 43.

Though [Paul] didn't raise his voice like the lead singer did, I had the distinct impression that he was the leader of the group. When he spoke, the others listened intently and invariably nodded their heads in agreement, and before each take, he was the one urging them to give it their all. Looking back on it now, it's funny how most people thought of John Lennon-the hook-nosed lead singer on that first song-as the leader of The Beatles. It might have been his band in the beginning, and he might have assumed the leadership role in their press conferences and public appearances, but throughout all the years that I worked with them, it always seemed to me that Paul McCartney, the soft-spoken bass player, was the real leader of the group, and that nothing got done unless he approved of it. 

There are two things that excite me about this quote.  First off, it's this Lennon we see later on as being the whipping boy to Yoko which adds to the widely felt "Yoko is a witch!" opinion. Turns out, apparently Paul was cracking the whip, too. That's all for another post. It also goes to show that John's assertion that the band broke because Paul took over in 1967 after the death of manager, Brian Epstein is a load of crap. (I will get to the bottom of the Beatles one day. You'll see and will feel foolish for mocking me.)

I also dig seeing how they interacted with each other. In the beginning, it was Paul and John BFFs- but it seems that around '66 it was John and George pairing up and Paul and Ringo off to the other side in their own little huddle. (Oh that's sad and kind of prophetic seeing as how it all turned out...)

So anyway, I'm only half-way through the book so there will be a part 2 to this in a day or two. Stay tuned. And since I was curious, and you might be too, here's what ol' Geoff looked like, back in the day.

He's the one that's not Ringo. If you don't know which one is Ringo, then you need to go back to Cool School.


HEY! I have an idea! I'm gonna start my own Oprah! Book Club. Go get this book and read it. We'll re-convene in a couple of days and maybe somebody will win a car! And probably not from me!

facebook brings the crazy!

I'll make this quick because I'm not here to get all deep and talk smart stuff. I'm here to ogle and swoon. However, I feel like this whole business of the facebooks is busting my skull open and it causes.... angst and almost a hatred, to be quite honest. So rather than go off in a status update as I'm so wont to do, I've chose to blog it, 'cause that's much less passive-aggressive. =D


I never felt this hate and rage with myspace. I've felt lonely, but never passive-aggressive with the 'space. And twitter, no passive-aggressive feelings there either. That's more a glimpse into a person's window, stalker-like, and way encouraged- and if you start to get all annoyed with somebody and her egomaniacal self-adoration, you just stop following her. (Or him. Not that I have someone in mind at ALL ::evil smirk::) No hard feelings when you're no longer "a follower". Not so, my friends, with the facebooks.


The beauty in both myspace and twitter is that you're flying solo. "Nothing you can see that isn't shown". Facebook is some sort of All My Children meets Melrose Place- and peeps bring their game, believe you me. Now in that comes the other problem. Myspace, being so 3 years ago, I sign in over there maybe once every 12 or so days. I sign into twitter once every 12 or so hours. I sign into facebook once every 12 or so minutes. Or seconds.  So I am on constant bombardment of the drahms. It's my own fault, I do know, but I am not immune to the annoyance even so.


People post at will the insanity that runs through their mind, most of it HILARIOUS! and entertaining, some of it TMI. People post pictures of their parties or trips. I love that. People post pictures of their kids and pets. ADORE!!! People will post pictures of their food. That's disgusting. And in the case of one of my friends yesterday, there are people who will post a picture of a chef kissing the severed head of a pig that was once a pet, merely to get under the skins of some vegetarians that annoyed this person at a party. (And you think you're not a snob?) That kind of action is enough to get you "hidden", although, I don't hide people for fear that I might miss out on something awesome and spectacular. And that is, once again, my own fault, because apparently all the awesome and spectacular involve ... well... that. I also realize that the very mention of any of this is hypocritical because I status up about 14 times a day and I'm sure that my immature rantings and swoonings of all and everything Beatle drive people to drink. Or hide me. Or in the case of the sister of a girl that I've known since we were two years old, my BFF  all through elementary and Jr High, this BFF's sister, whom I've also had the pleasure to know for just as long, defriended me just as quick as she friended me with not so much as a "howdoyado?" AWESOME. I'm looking right at you, "Madame S". You know what you've done.

Perhaps I'm mad at "Madam S" because she had the guts to do what I'm here moaning about in this very blog, and it was done to me, let's not forget. And it probably didn't even take guts. She probably just read "BeatleRockBandPaulMcCartney" 50 times, rapid-fire and thought "And we're done here *defriend*". So is it right to shoot mind daggers at her? Yes, because, how dare you defriend me. I am Queen Of All and you should worship my unpolished toes! Or maybe not, but I'm really nice and I'm full of love and goodness, spices and sugars. And you hurt my feelings. :'(


Not to mention, I take EVERYTHING as a personal attack. I don't know why, exactly, but every negative, mean rant I take as a punch in the neck.  And it makes me want to punch you back. And then cry in the corner for a day. And then make up and forget it ever happened.


So what started this today was a stat-up I saw this morning when I woke up and hoped it wasn't directed at me (I'd like to think it was directed at the pig picture, but they're not friends).

Oh gawd! I'm this close to offing myself from facebook, some of you people make me want to puke. --sorry,just being real. 9 hours ago - anon facebook friend. 

OMG have I felt this way everyday, although I bite my fingers so as not to type it, but facebook friend, I'm with you!! There's talk of a friend culling though and I hope I pass the audition. I don't think the self-worth can take another round of dismissal. 

So what I've learned here today, though, facebook has made me love and respect many more people than it's made me hate, I feel contempt for a small portion of you that I never would've before simply because I can't take the complaining and over-confidence, the bragging or the "nobody loves me" crap any longer. But I do. I don't want to miss out on anything or make anyone feel inferior because I've culled and defriended. I just like knowing that I can.  (Oh, and fyi btw, I'm also totally annoyed by people who can't bother to respond back. You're RUDE.) 

I could NEVER have fit that into 140 characters. 

For some more pass-aggress laughs, 

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/

Also, check Detta's Blog about the facebooks. 

Thank you and good day.