Category Archives: Beatles Week

Broken Spine #13

  By Ronan | September 9, 2009 - 11:23 pm | Beatles Week, Books, Featured Post, Music, The Culch
9 Comments

Guess what this week’s recommended reading is all about? I picked four books in the end. And they’re all fab! Recommended Reading #13: Books about…The Beatles Two main reasons caused this week’s Broken Spine to appear today, on Wednesday (it’s actually usually meant to be here on a Tuesda). The first was that today (09.09.09) is Beatles day, as you may well know. If you went into HMV today, you would’ve seen Beatles balloons, (remastered) Beatles albums, Beatles posters, Beatles t-shirts, Beatles mugs, and even a zebra crossing and pole in HMV on Henry Street! The second reason is that thre is just too many Beatles books, and I found it extremely difficult to select the right ones. (Oh, HMV also had tonnes of Beatles books too!) Paul McCartney - High in the Clouds Did you know that Sir Paul McCartney wrote children’s books? If you didn’t, you do now. … There’s more →

Jim Carrey sings I am the Walrus by John Lennon

  By darraghdoyle | September 9, 2009 - 11:14 am | Beatles Week, Music, The Culch
2 Comments

It’s been one of my favourite covers since being introduced to the “In My Life: George Martin” album. The whole album, from Goldie Hawn‘s Hard Day’s Night to Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin covering Come Together and even Billy Connolly‘s Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite is constantly on my iPod but I think it’s this cover of I am the Walrus that I love the most. The song itself, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney. It was in The Beatles’ 1967 television film and album Magical Mystery Tour, and was the B-side to their number 1 hit Hello, Goodbye. The story of the song from Wikipedia is quite interesting: The genesis of the lyrics is found in three song ideas that Lennon was working on, the first of which was inspired by hearing a police siren at his home in Weybridge; Lennon wrote the lines “Mis-ter … There’s more →

The Beatles at the Movies

  By Darren Byrne | September 7, 2009 - 11:30 pm | Beatles Week, Movies & TV, Music, The Culch
3 Comments

The Beatles appeared in five motion pictures, most of which were well received. The pretty much unscripted TV movie Magical Mystery Tour was panned by critics and flopped, but the other four were successful. There have also been countless documentaries and a few films based on the life and work of the group. It’s fair to say that while the mythology of The Beatles began with the songs, it was film and TV that created Beatlemania. A Hard Day’s Night, directd by Richard Lester, who later went on to direct Superman II (after Richard Donner was fired) and Superman III, introduced the world to four charismatic young men from Liverpool. A loosely scripted comic farce, it focused on Beatlemania and the band’s hectic lifestyle. A Hard Day’s Night is a black and white mockumentary of the four members as they make their way to a London television programme. In 1965, … There’s more →

Competition: The Beatles Rockband Game

  By Darren Byrne | September 4, 2009 - 9:19 pm | Beatles Week, Competitions, Games, Music, The Culch
44 Comments

*** Competition Closed *** *** Congratulations to Kevin Connolly *** *** who wins the Beatles Rockband Game *** *** and replica Rickenbacker 325 Guitar *** Beatles Week continues on Culch.ie with a look at the new Beatles Rockband game. To coincide with the launch of the Remastered series on 09/09/09, EA releases its newest Rockband game and it has raised the bar. In July, I went to London to preview the game and got to play around with it as well as meet one of the game’s producers. The game (in story mode) follows the band from the early touring days in Liverpool’s bars to the immortal, final performance on the Apple Corps rooftop. We follow in the band’s footsteps as they take over the globe during the height of Beatlemania. Along the way, venues, set lists, clothing and instruments replicate the band’s rise to fame, represented in The Beatles’ … There’s more →

What’s Your Favourite Beatles Album?

  By Darren Byrne | September 3, 2009 - 2:16 pm | Beatles Week, Featured Post, Music, The Culch
20 Comments

As part of the Beatles Week on Culch.ie, I’ve spent a lot of time listening to my old Beatles back catalogue. Granted, I don’t have a gramaphone player anymore to listen to the vinyls but my CD player and MP3 player do the songs justice too. When I first discovered the Beatles, it wasn’t long before Abbey Road stood out for me as their best work, my favourite album. And as I peruse their catalogue again today, that hasn’t changed. Just glancing over the tracklisting, the songs jump out as original, clever, funny, sentimental and complex. Come Together Something Maxwell’s Silver Hammer Oh! Darling Octopus’s Garden I Want You (She’s So Heavy) Here Comes The Sun Because You Never Give Me Your Money Sun King Mean Mr Mustard Polythene Pam She Came In Through The Bathroom Window Golden Slumbers Carry That Weight The End - Her Majesty 1969 1969 - … There’s more →

The Kid Who Interviewed John Lennon

  By Darren Byrne | September 2, 2009 - 3:21 pm | Beatles Week, Movies & TV, The Culch
3 Comments

In keeping with my Beatles week, Will pointed me in the direction of Panti’s blog for this video. Jerry Levitan was just 14 years of age when he conducted an exclusive 40 minute interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In 1969 Jerry tracked Lennon to his hotel room at Toronto’s King Edward Hotel after hearing a rumour that Lennon had been sighted at the Toronto Airport. Jerry inveigled his way into John Lennon’s suite and conducted the interview. In 2007, Jerry produced this short animated film, with Josh Raskin directing and James Braithwaite illustrating, using sections from that interview. The short, I Met the Walrus, has won several awards and was even nominated for an Oscar. For more info check out the official website.

We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

  By Darren Byrne | September 1, 2009 - 5:02 pm | Beatles Week, Music, The Culch
1 Comment

Today’s Beatles song is Yellow Submarine. Both childish and complex, with Ringo on vocals for a change, it held the number one spot in the British charts for four weeks. John Lennon’s ‘Bigger Than Jesus’ comment is said to be the reason it didn’t make it to number one in the US. Curiously, when I went searching for this clip, I discovered that the whole film is available to view on Google Videos. Go on - take and hour and a half and enjoy this:

The Walrus and Me

  By Darren Byrne | September 1, 2009 - 4:30 pm | Beatles Week, Music, The Culch
4 Comments

My dad regularly reminds me of the times he would play The Beatles in the car when I was young and I would give out saying, “turn that off, they’re rubbish”. Sure, it was awful music for old people!! He loves to point this out whenever I start spouting on about the finer points of Let It Be, the mixed bag that is the White Album, the gorgeous kaleidoscope of the Yellow Submarine film or the recent musical, Across the Universe, featuring Beatles’ music. And he’s right to make fun – how could I ever have dismissed this phenomenal band’s music? It would be years later, as a teen in the De La Salle School in Wicklow that I would discover my love for The Beatles. I was not part of the cool gang, I was very far from popular, I was the stereotypical secondary school outcast. But even I … There’s more →

I Am He As You Are He As You Are Me And We Are All Together

  By Darren Byrne | August 31, 2009 - 10:25 am | Beatles Week, Movies & TV, Music, Site News, The Culch
3 Comments

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be running a Beatles Week. In the run up to the release of the new Beatles Remastered series on 09/09/09, I will be looking at what the Beatles mean to me (a devoted fan). I’ll also be reviewing Beatles movies, picking out my favourite Beatles tracks, taking a look at the new Beatles Rock Band game and examining the legacy of the band. If you have anything you’d like to add, if you want to tell your Beatles story, please let me know.