Yesterday and Today

Beatles ’84 pt2

As winter thaws to spring in 1984, a fresh batch of singles plucked from John Lennon's posthumous Milk & Honey LP are released on Polydor Records. Stepping Out and Borrowed Time saw some diminishing returns from the previous singles and LP release, but no one could deny the cold comfort of new John Lennon music back on the charts. Producer Jack Douglas found himself victorious in the court case against Yoko Ono over payments and royalties associated with the sessions which produced those tracks - and with that ruling, the final chapter in the Double Fantasy saga drew to a close. McCartney, meanwhile, was in the process of fulfilling a childhood dream - the development of a new Rupert the Bear animated short which would feature new music and soundtrack (not to mention voice acting!) from Paul himself. Rupert and the Frog Song is now scheduled to debut in theaters, ahead of the new McCartney film on the way... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’84 pt1

As the press tour for the Pipes of Peace LP wound down, Paul McCartney's So Bad music video featuring Ringo Starr heralded the arrival of the forthcoming Macca movie Give My Regards To Broadstreet. But as if from a bolt from above, the other half of the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership was about to have one final collection of unheard new material ready to compete with his bandmate. On January 19th, Polydor Records release Milk & Honey - a posthumous LP from John Lennon assembled and curated by co-headliner Yoko Ono. This release gathered together and finished off the remaining new tracks from John's 1980 Double Fantasy sessions to act as a mirror for the aforementioned ALP and give the world the gift of new John Lennon solo material one last time. Somehow, impossibly, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were once again on the same music charts, competing for commercial superiority nearly 4 years after the brutal murder of John... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’83 pt4

With Paul McCartney's latest solo effort Pipes of Peace, Macca remained on track to continue his hit-making streak through to the end of 1983. Promotion for this new LP - which featured the smash-hit single Say Say Say as its lead-off track - was brisk, and while reviews weren't as kind as they had been to its predecessor Tug of War, Pipes of Peace proved to be the kind of commercial seller that was handy to have leading into the release year of Paul's solo feature film debut, Give my Regards to Broadstreet. Also before year's end was an early clue to the new direction for Ringo. While Starr's record sales continued to falter, his film and television roles seemed as robust as ever - landing the part of a gay fashion designer opposite his wife Barbara Bach in the feature Princess Daisy. But it would be a run-in with a certain blue cartoon train that would signal a new smash-hit on the horizon for Ringo heading into 1984 and beyond... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beatles ’83 pt3

A new solo album is on the way from Paul McCartney in the fall of 1983 - and all eyes were on the follow-up effort to his smash hit LP Tug of War the year prior. Pipes of Peace, however, was a markedly different record from it predecessor - acting in some ways as a peaceful, chipper answer to the heavy, dramatic leanings of much of the previous LP. Uncharacteristic introspection was still on the menu for Macca, with tracks like The Other Me highlighting McCartney's doubts - the kind of self-examination which had been a rarity in the former Beatle's solo catalog up to this point. Also of note the single Say Say Say alongside the enormously successful Michael Jackson - which helped bring Paul back to the top of the charts and keep his 1980s hit streak alive... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.