Our home city of Manchester, England has had fine weather through most of the lockdown since March 23rd. Manchester has a reputation as a rainy city, but as a resident since my birth in 1953 I don't buy that. We have wet winters now instead of the snowbound winters we used to have when I was growing up, and the rest of the year is just fine. Manchester these days is a tourist destination which is a major change over the last 25 years.
Posts made by dirkmcquickly
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RE: What's the weather like where you are?
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RE: Ringo Starr 'didn't have talent' to finish a song - so relied on George Harrison
Ringo once said he couldn't tune a drum to save his life - the modesty of the man !
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RE: U2 frontman Bono writes a fan letter to The Beatles: “It’s my earliest memory of music”
Nice letter from Bono there. I was born seven years before Bono and my first musical memories were skiffle which was big in the UK in the late fifties. Then Elvis was the game-changer - he initially influenced Cliff Richard, who along with the Shadows were, and still are, my number one musical heroes. The Beatles came along much later - I still recall hearing Love me do for the first time. It seemed different but it took me a while to get into them - I feel fine was the first Beatles record I bought.
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RE: 10 Chance Meetings That Changed the World
Mick Jagger bumped into Keith Richards by chance on Dartford railway station in Kent. I believe they'd met briefly before. They chatted about music and one thing led to another. I bet they changed the life of Dick Rowe at Decca records - after missing out on the Beatles he was obviously determined not to mess up again.
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RE: Remembering Linda
I remember watching a documentary on Linda many years ago when she talked about her photographic career. She preferred black and white photos, and she was shown walking down a street and snapping whatever looked different or interesting. I started to try that myself. At the time we were eating quite a few Linda McCartney meals which were very nice, even though my wife and I are not vegetarians. She was a great lady. It must have been unbelievably tough for someone with no musical experience to be pitched into one of the highest-profile bands in the world - you would only do that for someone you loved.
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RE: Database about the all starr band of Ringo
My wife and I saw Ringo and his band a few years ago and they were excellent. The most recent line-ups have people like Joe Walsh and Graham Gouldman, and there are some nice clips on YouTube.
By the way, whatever Sir Ringo is on, is clearly working, and I wouldn't mind some myself !
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RE: The Least Favourite Song - Album: Please Please Me - Round 2
Not surprised Love me do went out. I don't think George Martin was thrilled with it, which is why he tried to get them interested in How do you do it as the next single.
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RE: McCartney writes first musical, stage version of...
It's a wonderful life, for me, is the greatest non-musical film ever made, and Jimmy Stewart is my favourite actor. So the idea of a musical version makes me feel a tad uneasy. This sort of thing doesn't always work, Sunset Boulevard and Singin' in the rain being the only exceptions I can recall. But good on you Paul for taking the risk. Paul has never stood still with his music, he's always ready for a challenge. We all miss the theatre at the moment and theatre people must be really struggling.
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RE: The Least Favourite Song - Album: Please Please Me - Round 1
Interesting poll ! There's always at least one track on each album that doesn't grab you as much, or that you suspect might be 'filler'. For me, Misery is that track on the first album. Although it's OK, and it was as far as I know the first Beatle song to be 'covered' (by the late Kenny Lynch), it's not a brilliant performance (at one point someone nearly loses track of the lyric, and the piano sounds like it was dubbed on as an afterthought).
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RE: THE SHADOWS
Nancy R, Cliff is definitely still performing - he has a UK tour sold out for this autumn (May well be postponed of course). His latest album of all-new material came out last autumn and got a good reception. YouTube has a huge number of items from his entire career. There is a great clip recently of him and Gary Barlow duetting under lockdown from their respective homes. Cliff still does 2-hour full-on shows as he approaches 80. A DVD of his Manchester gig in 2018 was excellent.
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THE SHADOWS
A week or so ago, they featured in a new BBC TV documentary celebrating 60 years since their beginning. The programme featured tributes from Pete Townsend, Dave Gilmour and Brian May among others. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page have acknowledged their debt too. Neil Young took part in a tribute album. George Harrison once said "no Shadows, no Beatles". The Beatles recorded a tribute "Cry for a Shadow". Cliff Richard and the Shadows jammed with the Beatles at Paul's 21st birthday party. Lead guitarist Hank Marvin is one of the most influential guitarists. In the UK and Europe Cliff and the Shadows were the prototype pop group - Cliff and the group have had massive success independently as well as together. Cliff has sold over 250 million records. He's had a handful of American hits, he records in Nashville a lot, but America is one of very few countries where he can walk down a street unrecognised. As you can tell, I've been a fan from virtually day one. If anyone is curious, and finds anything from their incredible six-decade plus output that they like even a little, then I will be very happy.
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RE: WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS - ISOLATED PIANO & EXTRAS
I play this one on the piano and it's so beautifully constructed that you feel as though the descending chord sequence is going to keep descending forever ! My favourite version is the stripped-back one on Anthology (sorry Eric !)
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ALL YOU NEED IS CASH
The story of the Pre-fab Four - Dirk, Nasty, Stig and Barry. The group that made the sixties what they are today. In October 2019 my wife and I saw the brilliant Bootleg Beatles in our home city of Manchester, England. The concert was introduced by Neil Innes who played Ron Nasty in the Rutles. Neil played some songs too and was very funny. Sadly he died two months later, leaving a long legacy of laughter and music. Neil also appeared in Magical Mystery Tour with his group, and his song I'm the Urban Spaceman became a UK hit (produced by Paul). All you need is cash featured Neil's brilliant parody songs, and the film was the perfect testament to his talents.
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RE: International Beatleweek 2020
Reading about International Beatleweek reminds me of the Beatles conventions I enjoyed in the 70s and 80s. The first one I attended was in 1976 in Norwich, a beautiful city in Eastern England. Liverpool at that time hadn't woken up to the tourism potential of all things Beatles. The last convention I went to was at Liverpool's Adelphi Hotel in 1986. Things had mushroomed by then, and now the city recognises the legacy of their famous sons.
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RE: THE TRAILER IS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE
I've not seen the trailer for Give my regards to Broad Street, but I did see the film, and the trailer probably is better ! I remember thinking that it would have made a good extended music video, but it was a disaster as a film. What on earth was Paul thinking ? Sir Ralph Richardson must have asked that question too - a great Shakespearean actor like him deserved a better end to his career than a walk-on in a turkey. However, the music was OK (some of it !)
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RE: Top 10 Paul McCartney Post Beatles Songs
This is a bit like David Letterman's top tens. Pretty impossible really but here goes:
10. My brave face
9. Another day
8. Mull of Kintyre
7. My love
6. Wanderlust
5. 1985
4. Back seat of my car
3. Band on the run
2. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey
1. Maybe I'm amazed
I assume it's just original songs, otherwise I'd have chosen covers like Love is strange.
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RE: The Beatles: Their 10 best solo albums ranked, from Flaming Pie to Imagine
I've loved Ram since the day it came out. It's never bothered me what critics say, after all music is subjective - one man's Mozart is another man's trash. Ram overflows with melody, it rocks, it's fun and Paul and Linda sound as though they had fun making it. Sure, it's got rough edges, but Paul was finding his feet after the Beatles break-up. It's a good-time album, I love the discreet use of the New York Symphony. Back seat of my car is wonderful, you feel as though you're in the back of his car, roof down, cruising down the highway with the wind blowing your hair. What's not to love ?
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RE: 50 Reasons We Still Love The Beatles’ Let It Be
I remember reading a review of the album when it came out, describing the album as a "cheapskate epitaph". A trifle harsh, I thought. If it hadn't been for all the extraneous stuff going on, the Let it be album would have come out first, with some of the classic rock 'n roll songs and the full "Dig it" included, and probably minus the syrupy strings. The Let it be Naked CD set is a lot closer to that. At the end of the day, Let it be contains several classics which more than justify the selling price. Non-Beatlefans might also say "groups get tired of each other and split up - get over it !"
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RE: The Number Ones: Paul McCartney
Paul's biggest post-Beatle number one in the UK was Mull of Kintyre which topped the chart for NINE weeks at the end of 1977. I loved it, a simple tune with a stirring arrangement, paying tribute to the beautiful part of Scotland where he and Linda had a home. It's a very Scots anthem, I know it divided opinion, but it sold plenty !
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RE: Let It Be / Get Back (the movie)
I watched the original film recently again on YouTube and found it a lot more positive than people make out. A big deal was made of Paul and George's bickering but that was probably just because they were all a bit tired of each other and needed a break from all the nonsense going on around them. There were a lot of old rock 'n roll standards not featured in the original film, and hopefully some of those will turn up in Peter Jackson's film.