Yesterday and Today

Beatles ’80 pt5

The Hit Factory, New York's oft-base of operations for some of the biggest names in recorded music, was once again brimming with the sounds of new John Lennon songs in August of 1980. With a 5 year absence separating recording sessions for Lennon, the burst of creative energy spawned earlier in the year was quickly building up into a new studio album for both John AND Yoko. From songs like Starting Over and Steppin' Out to an unlikely collaboration with rock band Cheap Trick, John was back in a big way...and even more importantly: he was having FUN. With both George and Ringo also in the studio cutting tracks for their next respective albums, 1980 was turning out to be one of the most productive post-breakup periods of activity for the four former Beatles... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’80 pt4

It's the summer of 1980 and a flurry of recording and activity abounds for all four former Beatles. The most surprising of which is that of John Lennon who, after having spent several years not seriously pursuing the writing of tracks for an album release, suddenly found himself with "creativity diarrhea" after a harrowing sea voyage to Bermuda. By the end of July John was on his way back to New York making plans to re-enter the studio for the first time in nearly 5 years. With inspiration at a peak for Lennon, McCartney found himself preparing songs as well...albeit with the feeling of "going through the motions" as it pertained to his band Wings. The group was still technically functional despite a solo release from Macca earlier in the year, but time was proving to run out on Paul's grand musical experiment of the 1970s. Ringo Starr, too, was hard at work on sessions for his then-titled new LP You Can't Fight Lightning, which saw contributions from the aforementioned Wings on the album's title track. With all this new music in the air, George Harrison instead took a look backward at the songs that defined his career to that point - a memoir co-written with longtime Apple Scruff Derek Taylor titled I Me Mine... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’80 pt3

It's summer 1980 and John Lennon is on the move. Following a holiday in South Africa, the reclusive former Beatle found himself in Bermuda, a location that would prove formative for the resurgence of musical endeavors and a major tap in the wellspring of creativity. Inspired by tales of new wave acts echoing the sounds that once solely graced the grooves of Yoko Ono solo LPs, John got to writing songs again...and writing A LOT. A correspondence began between him and Yoko in NY, wherein the couple would write and record demos of new songs for the other to hear over the phone...and before either had realized what was happening, a new album was beginning to form. While John churned away on his first new music in 5 years, Paul McCartney was back in the studio with Wings demoing new tracks for their follow-up to the prior year's Back to the Egg LP. But with Paul McCartney solo tunes on the charts...was Wings' fate sealed? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’80 pt2

In the wake of Paul's "Japanese Holiday", big changes were abound in the life of the McCartney family - both personal and professional. A smattering of recordings captured at Hog Hill from the year prior were about to see the light of day in the form of the second solo release from Paul McCartney since the dissolution of the Beatles: a new LP titled McCARTNEY II. This bizarre collection of electronic sounds and melodies were -- in retrospect -- a forerunner of much of the styles that would become so prominent in popular music over the decades to come. At the time, however, reviews were mixed. Regardless of the critical reception, tracks such as Temporary Secretary, Waterfalls, Nobody Knows and Coming Up proved that once again Macca was on the precipice of the bleeding edge of musical innovation -- even over 18 years into his recording career. While Paul's latest solo release was gracing store shelves, Ringo Starr was graced with the presence of one Miss Barbara Bach, who -- on the set of their new film Caveman -- quickly turned from professional to intimate... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’80 pt1

It's 1980, and just twelve days into the new year (and the new decade) Paul McCartney and Wings touched down at Tokyo's Narita International Airport en route to the Japanese leg of their latest world tour. The high from their electric live set at the Concert for Kampuchea hung in the air as the band braced themselves for another roaring triumph...but a fateful stop through customs upon their arrival would forever alter the trajectory of all involved. Nearly half a pound of Marijuana was extracted from the McCartneys' suitcase, leading to a nine day stay in the Tokyo Narcotics Detention Center and a cancellation of the highly anticipated tour. On January 25th, a shaken McCartney was deported back to Britain, left with an enormous financial loss, a fractured band, and an uncertain path into the 1980's... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’79 pt7

The finale of 1979 is here and with it the last major Beatle reunion rumor in John Lennon's lifetime. As Wings travel the UK on the kick-off leg to their newest World Tour, Paul McCartney & co seemed undeterred by the soft critical and commercial reception to their latest LP Back to the Egg - play-testing their live set amongst the kinds of crowds that Wings first performed in front of so many years before. At the close of the year Paul, Linda, Denny, Lawrence and Steve joined an all-star line-up of rock'n'roll royalty for a benefit show to aid the refugees from war-torn Cambodia in an event called The Concert for the People of Kampuchea...and rumors of a reunion between Paul's former bandmates John, George and Ringo swiftly followed. While this latest rash of the rumor mill may have simply been another over-blown media concoction, the possibility of such a reunion was perhaps more likely here than in reunion rumors past. But alas, the fab four did not join together on stage once more, and instead audiences were wowed by performances from The Who, The Pretenders, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and, of course a triumphant Wings touting their "rockestra" experiment before a screaming crowd of thousands. With the year 1979 reaching its end, Paul and and the band set their sights on the next leg of their tour -- Japan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’79 pt6

On October 9th, 1979, John Lennon and his son Sean celebrated their shared birthday in New York City's Tavern on the Green - an annual tradition at this point of friends and family gathering to wish father and son well. John's so-called "house husband" period was rounding the corner into a 4th consecutive year of relative musical inactivity, and the former Beatle seemed no worse the wear from his time out of the spotlight. The Lennons' domestic activities in the fall of 1979 included a donation to the NYPD for the purchase of bullet proof vests, and the preparation of a will in the event some ill-fated circumstances should befall them. While John and Yoko basked in the glow of family life, Paul McCartney and his band Wings were once again basking in the glow of an adoring audience - as the Wings 1979-1980 World Tour began on November 23rd in Liverpool's Royal Theater. The sizzling set which included deep cuts (Hot As Sun), brand new material (Coming Up) and here-to-fore unheard live Beatles classics (Got To Get You Into My Life) inaugurated the band's return to the stage following their epic WINGS OVER THE WORLD tour earlier in the decade. With Paul blazing up the stage, Ringo Starr beheld a different kind of blaze - in the form of a fire that tore through his Los Angeles home. It was said that some priceless Beatles artifacts were destroyed in the fire, though the overall damage was blessedly kept to a minimum. All this, while George Harrison continued demoing tracks slated for a new LP... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’79 pt5

It's September 1979 and the former Beatle furthest from the public eye is John Lennon by a New York mile. With his wife and child by his side and the spotlight was nowhere in sight, John's compositions from throughout the so-called "house husband years" made for an impressive portfolio of scribbles, ballads, ideas and musings that were inspired by family, nature and his hot-and-cold feelings toward colleagues in the rock world. Songs such as Free as a Bird, Real Love and Serve Yourself rang from the walls of the Dakota... while songs from Lennon-McCartney past rang from London's "Buddy Holly Day 1979", hosted by the world's foremost Holly fan: Paul McCartney. Paul's live set for this evening consisted of tracks ranging from It's So Easy to Bo Diddley, and were an advance sneak-peak of a brand new WINGS tour on the horizon in the months and weeks to come... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’79 pt4

With the launch of Wings' 7th studio album Back to the Egg, Paul, Linda, Denny and their new recruits hoped to recapture the successes of their preceding record releases - especially in light of Macca's newly inked deal with Columbia Records. But mixed reviews and the absence of the radio-hit Goodnight Tonight on the LP kept Back to the Egg from reaching the kinds of heights that the band had hoped for. Never one to back down from a perceived failure (and still receiving major awards around the world) Macca pushed even harder, releasing targeted singles from the LP and planning a new world tour that would (hopefully) echo the successes he and the previous iteration of Wings achieved in 1975 and 1976. With Paul planning big, George Harrison also found himself moving a mile-a-minute...around the racetrack in Donington. George's motor racing hobby was a welcome release from the stresses of the music industry, and Harrison indulged in the immersion into a new world apart from the self-destructive world of rock and roll... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’79 pt3

It's spring of 1979 and a new album from WINGS is ready to launch! After the continued success of their previous effort London Town, a lineup change brought Paul McCartney's band of rock'n'roll comrades back to the proverbial "beginning" once more...or to coin a phrase, Back to the Egg. Macca's columbia debut was preceded by the crowd-pleasing toe-tapper Goodnight Tonight single, which Paul curiously omitted from the LP...much to the chagrin of the record-buying public. This remarkably contemporary-sounding new Wings album featured punk rock homages (Spin it On), MOR-ready ballads (Winter Rose/Love Awake) and vaguely new wave-inspired bouncy rockers (Getting Closer) -- all in an attempt to get a new iteration of the band off on the right foot. Well, even the best laid plans of former Beatles are subject to error, and Back to the Egg - while somewhat successful by the metrics of the day - proved to be a critical and commercial misfire from Paul & co. Regardless, Wings readied themselves for a tour to support the new sound, and eyed a bright future for their new post-shell life... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.