Yesterday and Today

Old Wave: Analysis & Review

Doesn't make a difference, don't care how far -- we can go the distance, in this pod! We're taking a break from our regularly scheduled 1983 program to offer a closer examination of the LP Old Wave, a forgotten gem in the catalog of Ringo Starr and a shining example of the heights of the Ringo/Walsh collaboration. Originally recorded as an episode of the Now Hear This podcast, in this episode we offer background, commentary and track-by-track analysis of this record - from the bouncy rock of In My Car to the top shelf balladeering of As far As We Can Go and everything in between. We hope you enjoy this special crossover episode, and can't wait to welcome everyone back next time for part 3 of Yesterday & Today: 1983! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’83 pt2

It's June of 1983 and there's a new Ringo Starr album out...but for the first time since his meteoric rise to fame with his fellow fab four, this album is not available in the US market. It's the Joe Walsh-produced Old Wave LP, and as musicianship, quality and material goes it would be one of Ringo's finest efforts to date. But with Starr struggling to recapture his successes of the early and mid-70s, faith in Ringo's commercial viability was at an all-time low...reflected ultimately in his struggles to find a label to release his latest solo effort. Wonderful tracks such as In My Car, As Far As We Can Go and Be My Baby would go largely unlistened to by the record buying public, and Ringo's recording woes remained intact. With fall approaching, another solo Beatles album lay in wait on the horizon, this time with the complete opposite of commercial results... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’83 pt1

It's 1983, and projects abound for the three former Beatles at the start of the new year. Ringo Starr was in the process of finalizing a brand new solo LP release, with the hopes that a consistent producer and collaborator (former Eagle Joe Walsh) would reverse his fortunes and allow him to once again score a hit record. While Ringo revved up, George was revving down, with the single I Really Love You marking Harrison's last release before a self-proclaimed indefinite musical hiatus. As George and Ringo planned for the future, McCartney found himself again ensconced in the "now", recording a brand new music video for his smash-hit recording partnership with the biggest pop star on the planet - Michael Jackson. Macca was also hard at work filming and recording for his planned solo film Give My regards to Broadstreet - which just so happened to feature new music from both Paul and Ringo, playing together once more... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’82 pt5

It's the finale of 1982 and this epic year in former Beatle history has one more surprise left before the new year. It's a brand new LP from George Harrison, the tongue-in-cheek, happy-go-lucky, sardonic-with-a-smile GONE TROPPO. As early clues to the new direction go, this collection is chock-full of the kinds of upbeat synth bop that would permeate the 1980's and serve George well in the years to come. Tracks like Greece, Dream Away and the title track Gone Troppo are an exploration in catchy hooks, musical virtuosity and major key commercial potential. But as album projects go, this effort from Harrison was intended more as a gigantic middle finger to the music business, not promoted in any way by its creator and signaling the beginning of a long recording hiatus for George similar to that of John Lennon in the mid-seventies. 1982 gave us many things - new music, new projects, and a new tone for the decade to come...see you in 1983. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’82 pt4

It's fall of 1982, and a mix of both nostalgia collections and vital new content are a swirl in the world of the Beatles. In October Capitol Records issued both the 20th anniversary single release of Love Me Do, as well an LP titled The Beatles: 20 Greatest Hits - another in a string of successful repurposed material in Capitol's ever-growing line of Beatles collections. With The Who homaging the Beatles during a stint at shea Stadium, alongside October's NY Metro Beatlefest hosted by Mark and Carol Lapidos, it would be easy to classify interest in John, Paul, George and Ringo as a misty-eyed recollection of years past...but despite the decades apart, the former Beatles continued to chart some of the biggest, most successful releases of their careers.. Case in point: Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson's collaborative effort The Girl Is Mine - the titanic hit for both artists that heralded the arrival of Jackson's Thriller LP and cemented Macca as one of the most successful musicians of a third consecutive decade: the 1980s... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’82 pt3

With his new album Tug Of War sitting at the top of the charts, Paul McCartney strode into the back half of 1982 with a confidence not seen in some time. Accompanied by Macca's trademark relaxed demeanor to the press, the former Beatle rose to the impossible expectations that a still-mourning world had placed upon him in the wake of John Lennon's death, and did so with some of the biggest commercial success of his entire solo career to that point. George Harrison and Ringo Starr, meanwhile, found themselves back in the studio once more during these waning months of 1982 -- albeit for much different respective reasons. Ringo Starr was determined to prove his critics and nay-sayers wrong with a record that would restore his once-unbreakable commercial success. And George? George's new record had one goal: ride out that contract... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’82 pt2

It's Spring 1982, and a flurry of activity abounds in the world of the former Beatles. Ringo Starr - determined to rebound from his string of musical misses - is back in the studio with producer Joe Walsh to record what he hoped would be a consistent-sounding hit record. Ringo's sessions rolled on as Capitol's The Beatles Movie Medley climbed the charts in the US...but the most exciting release of Spring 1982? A new solo LP from Paul McCartney. Tug Of War saw Macca reunited with producer George Martin for an album determined to recapture the greatest corners of McCartney's genius. Gone were the experimental noodlings of McCartney II - this collection swung for the commercial fences...and succeeded. With the monster hit Ebony and Ivory leading the charge, this collection of power pop earworms and tender emotional ballads struck a chord with the record-buying public, providing some much-needed validation for the non-martyred half of the century's most successful songwriting team... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’82 pt1

If 1981 was a year of reflection in the Beatle world, then the beginning of 1982 certainly continued that tradition. While work was hard underway on Paul McCartney's latest solo effort, alongside producer George Martin, an appearance on Britain's fabled Desert Island Discs program saw Macca peering down memory lane and reflecting upon his biggest musical influences. Perhaps the most touching segment of this unique interview was Paul's selection of the slain John Lennon's Beautiful Boy as one of the records he would take with him to the desert island -- a moment of tenderness and rare vulnerability from one half of the century's most successful songwriting partnership. Ringo Starr meanwhile was focused on the future, and how to rebound from the commercial flop that was his latest single - the McCartney-penned Private Property. After a string of musical misses, one would expect Starr to lay down his sticks and resign himself to the history books...but Ringo was not about to give up without a fight... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’81 pt4

As Summer 1981 turned to fall, the music landscape, too, underwent a major shift. In August, MTV debuted on cable television - a moment which marked a seismic shift in both television and the music industry. While the Beatles themselves helped to invent the genre through their motion picture and pre-taped performance projects in the 60s, Paul, George and Ringo would not be immune to this change in the musical landscape. Ringo Starr especially was struggling to find his footing after several unsuccessful album projects - culminating in a strong new LP titled Stop and Smell the Roses, released on October 27th. Featuring contributions from an all-star cast of musicians and friends (including his fellow former Beatles), this record was a return to form for Starr - yet despite the lead-off single Wrack My Brain cracking the top 40, the album itself stumbled. While 1981 was, in many ways, a reaction to the events of the prior December, it was also a demarcation point for the careers of the now-three former Beatles...and an early clue to the new direction in the world of Beatles... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’81 pt3

In the wake of John Lennon's murder, a wave of Beatles nostalgia and interest gripped the word - and nowhere was this global mourning so evident as in the worldwide top 10 single All Those Years Ago, taken from George Harrison's new LP Somewhere In England and recorded as a tribute to the slain former Beatle. The strife that had gripped the initial release of George's 9th solo studio album was long washed away by the time its June 1st, 1981 came around, and once again Harrison found himself with a worldwide hit album on his hands. In the decade+ since the dissolution of the Beatles as a partnership, George, Paul and Ringo found themselves in uncharted waters: upholding the legacy of their childhoods with an eye on the golden years yet to come... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.