Star Wars...Revelation-style!

When I was a student (a few too many years ago now, sad to say) I picked up a couple of Crusader Comics. These were genuine comic books but written from a very 'fundamentalist Christian' point-of-view. While they were 'sensationalist' (to say the VERY least) they did contain some pointers towards good Christian teaching. They were more anti-Catholic than Ian Paisley, as anti-Freemason as a thrice-blackballed bank manager and made Dan Brown's expose of The Vatican read like Cinderella!

But one comic, entitled 'Angel of Light' told the Biblical story of Lucifer quite well! Lucifer was, of course, God's favourite angel - the leader of all the worshipping angels - who got 'bored' with grovelling at the Almighty's feet and tried to con a third of Heaven's angels into bowing to HIM for a change! The Bible tells us that God, in His wrath, cast Lucifer out of Heaven and not - as is popularly believed - into Hell but down onto the surface of planet Earth (and the atmosphere surrounding it)! I even had to look up the relevant scripture to help me believe this! Yet, there it was in King James's best black and white!

It became a popular topic for me as I regarded myself as a rather radical, young Christian student at the time! I even preached on the subject on one of 'Blood & Fire's' evangelical weekend campaigns...

It was remarked upon, by one of the stalwarts of Pontypool Corps, that it was the first time he had EVER heard the 'fall of Satan' preached from a pulpit/SA platform! Extremely sadly, I have to admit that, in 26 years of subsequent church attendance, I have also never heard the same subject preached upon! Now, "Hellfire and Damnation" are, admittedly, rather out of fashion in the modern church - some might say rightly so - though I doubt the SA's Founder, William Booth, would agree - and, just possibly, the progressive weakness of the church's influence in society, as well as its dwindling membership throughout the 20th century may reflect this!

In fact, the only other time I ever encountered the story of the 'fall of Satan' was in the movie 'Bedazzled', written by and starring the popular comedy duo Peter Cook and Dudley Moore! There, Stanley Moon (Moore) encounters Satan (aka George Spigott, played by Cook) and hears the almost exact Biblical description of Lucifer's fall 'from grace', played out around a pillar box!

Anyway, what on earth (and the atmosphere around it) has this got to do with a music blog, I hear the less patient of you ask?

The answer is: a 50p cassette (without box) that I purchased nearly thirty years ago!

Bill Davidson is a well-known name amongst older Salvationists: he was a founder-member of 'The Joystrings', not only the first Salvation Army 'pop' group but, according to many experts (including the late, great Larry Norman) the first Christian pop-group from any denomination! Certainly the first to have a hit record in the UK charts ('It's an Open Secret' reached number 32 in 1964).

After 'The Joystrings' Bill led another group called 'Good News' and later moved to the USA where he is currently the Senior Pastor at the 'Church of the King', Queensbury, New York. Bill was loved (in the SA, anyway) for his wonderful voice, heard on so many 'Joystrings' favourites - especially on one of Joy Webb's most popular and enduring songs 'There Will Be God' - and, later, his beautiful rendition of Gowans & Larsson's 'Love Never Fails' on the LP recording of their musical 'Spirit'.

In the States Bill also recorded some solo albums - and one of these was the afore-mentioned 50p, boxless bargain I purchased all those years ago!

The title of the album is 'Star Wars of Darkness and Light'. The title track begins with a synthesizer introduction - very nearly, but not quite exactly, a note-for note quotation from what is. surely, John Williams' most famous theme! The song tells the story:

"Long ago and far away

Long before the dawning of our day

In a world that we can only dream of

Though it's described so we can clearly read of it..."

(Can't you see those yellow titles scrolling on a black background?)

...Lucifer turned from his maker's eyes,

Coveting the throne for his own prize.

Star Wars of darkness and light,

Hear words that begin the fight:

"Expel Lucifer from my sight!""

What a bold move for a brave pastor/singer to take the most well-known movie of all time and use it as his own evangelical tool to tell the story, a story (as we have seen) almost taboo in the pulpit!

Of course, in even more modern times - the age of the internet - we can Google 'Star Wars and the Bible' and find over three and a quarter million hits - leading us to numerous scholarly theses exploring the details of the two right down to their absolute pathological minutiae!!!

The same can be said for E.T. (a friend from 'afar' who is misunderstood to the point of being an outcast, heals the sick ("Ouch!") then dies and rises from the dead) and even Harry Potter...gosh, this internet is a wonderful thing!

My own personal circumstances led me to dig out, re-play (and even convert to iTunes compatible mp3) Bill's 1978 album this week (originally because of a different track on the album, I have to admit) but it was good to hear it again after so long - and my Star Wars-loving kids enjoyed it too!

When we, as Christian musicians, offer our music to the Lord we can never know the good He will make of it - even many, many years later! We should not be surprised! Isaiah tells us exactly how God will use our efforts:

" it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

Christian musicians: "Keep singing and playing for Him!" Amen!

Have Mouthpiece...Will Blow!

I know some brass players who treat their mouthpiece the way some golfers treat their putters - i.e. they change them more often than they do their socks! I remember one cornetist with a mantelpiece full from one end to the other with Denis Wicks, Vincent Bachs, Adams, Blessings, Bessons, Kellys...standing like little ornaments on a shelf! Indeed, that's exactly what they WERE...waiting their turn patiently until my friend split a few too many notes and gave each another chance!

My eldest son, Morgan is a collector of mouthpieces. We found, just the other day an antique French mouthpiece with a triangular aperture! I have never seen anything like that before in my 40+ years as a player! Suffice to say there are mouthpieces to help you get high notes, ones to help you get low ones, some aim to improve your tone, plastic ones that are not too cold when playing Christmas Carols, heavy ones with boosters to help you

play longer by dispersing the vibrations to your lips...

Who would think such a small thing could come in such variations or make such a difference? But then...the amateur golfer probably asks the same about putters! I think it was Sam Torrance I once heard admit he had over 400 of them in his garage!

When I first moved onto euphonium it came about almost by accident: While playing with Camborne SA band I had formed part of a 'stage band' in the musical 'Hosea'. I had played cornet myself back then (aged 10) but our wise bandmaster, Ken Norton (left with Morgan and who, very sadly, passed away just a few months ago) realised such a small instrument was not for me. he moved me onto tenor horn and, within weeks, even I could recognise an improvement. When, a short while later, my parents were appointed across the Tamar to Torquay, the bandleader already had, ready for me, a shiny cornet. Oh-oh!

"But I play horn now," the 12-year old me piped up! He didn't have a horn - but he DID have a blackened 1912 euphonium with a bent 4th valve! If ever an instrument responded to some TLC it was that one...I worked and polished until it shone - the bath still had the marks when we left Torquay two years later - and I played and played and played. Six months later I am told I was playing some of the hardest solos in the euphonium repertoire using the SA manufactured Rangefinder mouthpiece my dad bought for me!

At our next home (Tunstall, Stoke-On-Trent) I played an Imperial euphonium (still with the Rangefinder) - although I looked with not a little envy towards our principal euphonium player's Bright Silver Plate Sovereign! At Bedlington (our next port of call) I played one of those strange design Yamaha euphoniums with the 4th valve 'up top' alongside the other three). This was a slightly larger bore and, therefore, necessitated a change in mouthpiece. Billy Webb, a friend from Newcastle, gave me a Denis Wick 6BM which I played until I left home for college.

At Colchester Institute I studied with one of the best musicians it has ever been my privilege to meet, Michael Clack - for many years the conductor of the world famous Chalk Farm Salvation Army Band. Michael was vice-principal of the college (and was an old friend of my parents) - which may account for the fact he managed to purloin one of the college Sovereigns for me to play (I finally got to play one...5 years after lusting after Kevin's back in Tunstall!)

The 6BM didn't fit the wider bore of the Sovereign, of course, and Michael kindly lent me a Vincent Bach 3G mouthpiece in my first college lesson, September 1981. I used it until Christmas then, using my Christmas money, I bought my own shiny new one from my fellow SA bandsman Dennis Todd's 'Rosehill Instruments' shop in Bedlington High Street. I think, even back in 1981/2 it cost me £30!

When I got back to college something was not quite right...the new mouthpiece didn't 'feel' the same. Michael and I did an A/B comparison and they weren't the same! I have spoken to Bach 'experts' who 'absolutely assure' me that I am wrong - but that 3G has a different internal contour and cup-size! My surprise (and slight disappointment) was somewhat tempered by Michael Clack informing me I'd been silly to buy a new mouthpiece anyway - he was more than happy to let me have his...for a fiver!

Fortunately, Dennis Todd allowed me a refund...I had the 3G I liked AND a £25 bonus into the

bargain (which, undoubtedly, was soon diverted to Parrot Records in Colchester!)

29 years later, I still use that very same mouthpiece! It has been re-plated once and the number of hours of usage it has been employed in practising and performance must be into tens of thousands of hours...best value for a fiver I will ever have in my life!

At this precise moment, due to some (and I choose my description very carefully) particularly

graceless and clumsy man-management I am without a band to play with for the first time in nearly 40 years. As my new Prestige euphonium belongs to the band who have discarded me I will also soon be without an instrument as well. Today, I enjoyed a good long blow, up and down my scales and exercises and through some favourite tunes and solos. I don't know how long it will be before I can do this again and made the most of it!

But when I DO re-begin to play...my Vincent Bach 3G (pictured left complete with my own reflection) will be

waiting - and, boy, I hope that day comes soon!

Are you listening...or just hearing?

It was one of my favourite questions to GCSE students at the start of their 2 year course! Not worded quite like that, to be honest...I preferred to inject a little bit of fun: "How many of you listen to music while you do your homework?" was more like what I would have asked. Every time, every year, every hand went up. I would shake my head with a wry grin and accuse them all of being liars!

What a great way to provoke a wave of indignation! "But I DO!!!" would come back at me from all corners...and so I would go on to prove my point! Shaking my head, somewhat, I would ask them to 'listen' to a piece of music I had carefully pre-prepared! As soon as they heard the harpsichord arepeggio that led into an operatic recitative I watched the lights go out around the classroom...pupil by pupil the eyes glazed over. Which was something of a shame, really, for the words I sang on the recording included the lines, "Come, touch me on the shoulder and this fiver shall be yours!"

As the music played I took a note from my wallet and placed it, for all to see, in front of me on the desk. I waited for the music to stop, looked around the room in a questioning way for a few moments, then placed it back into my wallet. I never parted with the note in 15 years!

Of course, I would always be asked what I'd been doing with the money and I replie

d each time by writing four questions on the board:

1) Which instrument provides the accompaniment for this song?

2) From which type of work might this excerpt be taken:

a) a symphony

b) an opera

c) a pop song

3) What might have happened had I listened to the words properly first time through?

4) Write a sentence or two about the difference between listening to music and just hearing it.

Of course, second time through, the music was 'listened to' properly, one or two jokers might even try to touch me on the shoulder...but the fiver was staying in my pocket! We would go on to discuss the differences between 'hearing' music (as they now all admitted they did while doing homework) and really listening to it! An important lesson was learned very early on as part of a GCSE course that relies heavily on the ability to listen to music 'properly'

But I have discovered over the years that some people really CAN'T listen to music in the way I do (or the way I might want them to). Listening to music and enjoying it has a pre-requisite requirement* that you 'understand' what you are listening to, at least to some ext

ent. Let me explain:

If I were to play some little known excerpt of 'classical' music** to a brand new class of Year 7 pupils (11 years old) - for example, Bartok's Violin Concerto (see link below) - with the instruction from me to simply 'enjoy it', I may as well give a toothless man a 16 ounce steak with no knife and fork with the same directive! He would choke and they would, at least, feel sick!

On the contrary, if I asked the pupils to listen for the 8 note introduction by the harp, then hear how it is joined by the plucked (pizzicato) bassline played by cellos and basses - with a single French Horn note above - then, at least they will have some chance of 'digesting' at least a part of the musical 'steak'.

(The Bartok - here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcJx4KkAzW0 )

Of course, it's this very fact that makes The Beatles easier to 'listen' to than Bartok; why (Glenn) Miller sold more discs than Miles (Davis) and why Cheryl (Cole) gets more downloads than...I dunno...Sade!

It's instant palatability - the same reason more people eat bubble-gum than broccoli or drink Ribena rather than rootbeer! And***, if we never venture beyond the instantly appeasing we may go our whole lives without experiencing Elgar, reading beyond Seuss to, say, Salinger...or even doing something as basic as enjoying olives and anchovies on a pizza!

I'll happily admit that when my friend Alvin first played me the music of Yes I 'didn't get it'! When I first played the music of Eric Ball it went over my head! Just like my first month of doing the Telegraph crossword saw one or two clues a day filled in! Fortunately, most of us can continue to LEARN all the way through our lives...and thank God for that!

So...next time you do your homework or have the radio on while you do your housework why not sit down quietly for five minutes and REALLY LISTEN. There's a whole new world out there!

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*at this point I have a vision of my old English teacher, Trish Gilbert, admonishing me for a) starting a sentence with an adjective and b) breaking another rule whose name escapes me 31 years later about using two words with the same meaning...like saying, "Personally, I...". Sorry Mrs G!

** definitely a blog subject for another day: "What is Classical Music?"

***Oh-oh...he's at it again Trish!

Heavenly Minded

When I first went to Music College I stayed with a dear, elderly lady called Mrs Hurnard. She was a widow and her husband had been a leading Quaker. She was already into her eighties but was as sprightly as most half her age. It was porridge or cornflakes for breakfast followed by an extensive Bible and prayers session...I had to be up at 7 in order to get to college by lunchtime! Seriously, one morning she read the entire book of Jonah before I could leave the house. After a month I had memorised the back of the cornflakes packet!

She ate (and expected me to) apples fresh from the trees in her garden, complete with bruises and copious amounts of maggots and expected a lengthy explanation of the sermon when I got home from the Salvation Army on a Sunday. I stayed at her house exactly one half term (and that was only because I'd paid rent up front!!)

Mrs Hurnard was one of those people my dad would have described as "too Heavenly minded to be of any Earthly use!" Bless her!

Well, this evening we've had a death in the family...and hence our thoughts turned Heavenward. Lewis, my middle son, and I had just enjoyed a couple of hours of great music by Randy Newman, ending with his concert for BBC4 last year, Ieuan (my youngest) had been inspired to go to bed watching Toy Story and we turned our attentions to one of our favourite albums "A Trick of the Tail" by Genesis. We put the disc in the machine, selected DTS (which we prefer to Dolby Digital), balanced the surround speaker levels and had just watched the video to "Robbery Assault and Battery". "Ripples" came next and as Phil Collins soared up to the opening notes of the final chorus Lewis saw a streak of white light emanate from our trusty DENON AVR-1601. The room was filled with silence for a moment then filled with hot, electronic smoke as Denon's spirit ascended to Silicon Heaven! Well, it was a good way to go.

As is our wont these days, Lewis and I immediately turned to Facebook where I announced the bereavement to some wonderfully sympathetic friends. Lewis did the same, announcing that we'd been watching Genesis at the time!

Now, if Mrs Hurnard were still alive and on Facebook, I could have expected this reply from her - but thank you Sandy for inspiring this blog entry and giving me the best belly-laugh I've had in days.

For Sandy replied to Lewis with, "At least you were watching something biblical."

...And lines like that one, intentional or not, make dealing with a death in the family so much more manageable!

:)

...And Now You Find Yourself in 2010...

ASIA - Omega (2010

It was a very pleasant surprise to find this album delivered 3 days early when the postman brought it this morning! I first fell in love with rock music back in 1982 when I played Asia's debut album over and over in my student room! I was at Wembley that October where the band were distant heroes...tiny figures making a massive soundscape of noise. Asia, with other bands like Yes, Genesis and It Bites have been the soundtrack to my life ever since.

I knew the opening track from Icon II (Rubicon) and hadn't expected Steve's guitar to dominate this version...yet it did. In fact I was barely aware of keyboards at first. Holy War really catches the attention - a great prog track and again a very 'big' sound but each instrumental part is well-defined (at least throguh a good system) and, in this song (like the 2nd as well) the backing vocals are towering! John, in likening this new album to Alpha hints for us to find links...and Ever Yours is, clearly, The Smile has Left Your Eyes' counterpart. It was always my opinion that Geoff was a little out of place in Yes...but his perfect musical match is Mr Wetton...and thank God they found each other! What a team!

An earlier reviewer stated that John's voice was as strong as ever here and I have to agree...my teenage son (a fellow prog-head!) remarked that he looks younger with every album. When I stood with John at an It Bites gig last year I said the same to him and it is clear he is enjoying the new lease of life that sobriety and heart surgery has given him...long may it continue! (I find myself hearing his 'testimony' at the start of Icon I: "Stone cold sober - so glad it's over" as I write this...and reflecting on our conversation that day - the day heavy-drinking chef Keith Floyd died - that 'there but for the grace of God' he could have gone himself))

There is a great posititvity in the lyrics and feel of End of the World and the listener is reminded, yet again, of the high standards of musicianship these four men share. As is usual, I find, minor keys dominate this new recording...something that has been a common thread throughout Wetton's entire oeuvre. Light the Way is one of just two Steve Howe compositions here and his guitar leads into another bright song...Howe employing his 'Yes-sounds' more here (compare this to the Asia/Alpha albums back when these sounds were about all he had...I'm delighted he has found some good 'power-guitar' sounds in more recent years...he even makes a pretty good crack at Owner of a Lonely Heart these days :) )

Emily is more of a pop song - but that doesn't mean it is not very welcome at this point in quite a deep sequence of songs! Welcome, Emily, to that seemingly endless list of girls' names to become the theme of a Wettonsong! (Emma, Jane, Josephine, Shannon, Carol-Ann/Kari-Anne, Christina, Suzanne...have I missed any??) I like this song!

And I like the next too...the 6/8 rhythm making a change in I'm Still The same. Was it to make producer Mike Paxman (Status Quo) feel at home? ;) Some great chord sequences and harmonies in here...making me think of ELO at their best. Definitely one of the highlights!

There is a Renaissance - almost operatic? - sound to the next song There Was a Time. Songs like this one seem to suggest a blurring of the lines between Asia and Icon (maybe I can't help thinking along those lines with 'Trigger' kicking off this set?) but I kind of feel easier linking this song with the likes of The Hanging Tree and even Shannon than 'Asia'. However it does feature some beautiful piano playing from Geoff and Steve picks meanderingly in a style reminiscent of what he did on Queen's Innuendo. By the end the 'Asia' feel is more pronounced, however.

I Believe is the song most obviously in the style of Alpha, 27 years ago. It is the one of the tracks that would say 'Asia' to a casual listener acquainted, these days, with little but memories of the early hits...nice to revisit the past and, with tongue just, surely, a little in cheek, say "yeah...we can still do it!"

The final track...already! This must be the one John referred to as Beatle-y, the opening chords a heavier Day in the Life...chord patterns to remind us of Here, There & Everywhere, Beatle-y harmonies...ha-ha, there is even a rhythmic nod to I Am the Walrus (and, to save later additions, Penny Lane trumpet and overtones of Hey Jude). Yet - this is definite Asia product and a very nice way to end an excellent listen. This may turn out to be a 5 star album...I just don't want to say so now on first listen - nearly every album I've ever listened to has grown on me - and if this one does then those stars will be deserved indeed!

He's a Pretty Nifty Guy...

"..Always looks you in the eye.

Everybody passing by will sigh...

...For Harry!"

Those were the opening lines of a little song composed in tribute to Harry Nilsson by his very good friend, and Monty Python star, Eric Idle. Having recorded it, with singer Charlie Dore, Eric sent it to Harry...only to have it used as the opening track...on Harry's next (and final) LP!

That album, 'Flash Harry' was released in 1980 - the same year, of course, as the last album from another of Harry's great friends, John Lennon...yet Harry was to outlive his Beatle-buddy by 14 years.

Despite that it was sixteen years ago today that Harry Nilsson passed away - his death virtually coinciding with the Northridge earthquake in LA (and I tried very hard not to mention Marianne Faithfull at this point...). That voice - that lent its youthful tenor to "Everybody's Talkin'", reached its mature peak in the Schmilsson era with "Without You", "Remember" and the wonderful, Gordon Jenkins arranged, "A Little Touch..." album of standards and then suffered the ravages of sharing Lennon's 'Lost Weekend' and never fully recovered - was silenced by a massive heart attack just as he finished work on a comeback recording...still (to the shame of his estate) unreleased and, largely, unheard.

Harry had recorded in the intervening years, of course...a Beatlefest single to raise funds for the 'Campaign to End Handgun Violence' in honour of John, a whole (unreleased) album of covers of songs by Yoko, three of which appeared on her "Every man Has a Woman..." album, various film themes and songs (including a new recording for 'The Fisher King"), contributions to various Disney compilations...quite a lot, in fact...but never a new, complete album.

Harry was never a 'fashionable' pop star...he'd have thought the very idea preposterous! Even the millions who, still today, hum along (out of tune?*) to his best known 'hits' don't, in the main, know who they are humming with! But those who DO know...and there are more than a few...are the most knowledgeable, loving fans on this earth! It was lonely, growing up a Nilsson fan in England and it was not until I discovered the internet that I was finally able to find all the others who felt like me! An internet group known, informally, as Nilssonweb centred on Roger Smith's wonderful Nilsson web pages (originally on jadebox.com but now at http://www.harrynilsson.com/ ) gradually grew to be the ultimate Harry resource. An email mailing list brought together fans who over the past 15 years have become friends and where all the stories you ever wanted to hear about Nilsson and his music spread and grew like a wildfire...until all the stories were told and the emails dwindled to a meagre trickle. But, by then, we had met anyway at 'Harryfests' - gatherings of fans at Harry Nilsson conventions in LA, Ohio, Florida and London (but none since 2002...come on, somebody!)

At Harryfest 2001 (which I helped organise at London's prestigious Hotel Russell) I finally met Roger, Harry's son Zak, his discographer Andrea T Sheridan and, of course, the leading Nilsson scholar of our age, Curtis Armstrong (yes, he of 'Booger' and 'Moonlighting' fame), without whom so many of the wonderful re-releases and remasters of the last 2 decades would never have happened. When I went to LA later I was welcomed into Zak's home (where I even played Harry's own piano - see left!), Curtis took me for a ride in his car just to play me a new track he'd found in the vaults. Ted Parkinson came to my home, I spent a holiday in Yorkshire with Pam Murphy...and many others I met on Nilssonweb have become (or became...RIP Dzhimmm Painton) close friends although we've moved onto other forums these days (like Facebook).

Others, like Rinus from Holland, I've now lost touch with...but I guess we'll all be spinning some Nilsson today and raising a glass or two in memory of the greatest voice of all.

Thank you, Harry!

My own Nilsson pages (including the fullest reviews of the albums etc you'll find) are found at www.marcharry.com/nilssonmenu.htm

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* just a reference to a Harry song (an in-joke for a few readers!) 'They always hum along, out of tune" from 'I'll Take a Tango'

Blowing My Cover!

Thirty years or so ago...when I first 'properly discovered' The Beatles I recall being rather amazed to hear (or read, I forget which) that 'Yesterday' was the most covered song in history with, at that time, over 1,500 versions recorded.

With an exponential increase in the number of recordings the last three decades have spawned I'd probably be correct in guessing that number would now be well into the tens of thousands...maybe that figure could be accounted for just in the sleazy...yes...yucky...world of muzak - 'Music For Relaxation', 'Panpipe Moods', 'Theo Papadopoulos's Zither Zeniths'...you get the idea, I'm sure (actually, I own the accursed 'Panpipe Moods'...have done for 15 years...still in shrink wrap - and 'NO' I didn't pay for it!)

The age of CD and mp3 downloads has heralded this sharp increase in available 'music'...and, for me, nothing sums up the disposabilty of the majority of new pop music than the necessity of more and more cover versions released week after week!

To be fair, it's not just the music world that reaches back to halcyon days of yore...have you noticed the number of remade movies in the last few years? Why did they need to remake 'Alfie' or 'The Italian Job', for instance? It's not as if Michael Caine has even gone out of fashion, is it? Staggeringly, they even remade 'The Taking of Pelham 123' this year! Why? I've seen both and there's only one of them I'd want to watch again! Disney are even going to remake 'Yellow Submarine', I see...which brings me back, yet again, to the Fabs!

The very first LP of Beatles cover versions I bought I probably owned before I had even completed my collection of originals: the album 'Northern Songs' by Revolver was a collection of songs the Beatles 'gave away', performed (roughly) in the style the group may have used themselves had they recorded them. Filled with titles like 'Bad To Me', 'One and One is Two, 'Hello Little Girl' and 'From a Window' I remember listening over and over...imagining that there might, somewhere, be 'real' versions yet to be discovered...without ever seriously believing there were! I was wrong, of course - and from the mid-1990s, as I began to explore this new wonder called the Internet, I even found a few very lo-fi real audio files of a few of these tracks. 15 years later we OWN legitimate copies of most of them thanks to the Anthology series! A few remain elusive and will probably remain so (most notably Paul's demo of 'World Without Love') but every so often I still get a little surprise...good things come to those who wait...and surf!

A friend recently sent me a CD containing two BBC Radio specials, the latest incarnation of 'Beatles at the Beeb', this time introduced by Bill Kenwright and the second, a programme about Beatles cover versions hosted by former Cavern Club cloakroom attendant Cilla Black.

The former was another good trawl through the archives - not as exciting these days as when the original (Andy Peebles?) show was transmitted, opening our ears to recordings us mere fans never knew existed! We now have the 2-CD BBC set in our collections...have had for several years now...but I still cherish those Chrome Dioxide C-120s that repeated playing of once confirmed to me that The Beatles really did play songs like 'Oh Carol', 'Johnny Be Goode' and 'Cryin', Waitin', Hopin''

Yet the latter show has given me quite a bit more 'happy car moments' over the last few weeks - Sandie Shaw, Ella Fitzgerald, Dollar...my fellow Beatlemaniac 2nd son, Lewis, commented (very astutely, I thought) that there probably was no other group whose catalogue could be played in so many different styles and sound as if they were written for that genre...and I have to agree!

So...which Beatles covers stand out in my mind? Like most people I would have to include both the best and the worst in order to answer that one! Anyone remember the 'Sergeant Pepper' movie starring 'The Bee Gees'? It's VERY hard to find these days and it sums up all camps...the good, the not so good and the downright awful! The version of 'Got To Get You Into My Life' by 'Earth, Wind & Fire' (with the Phoenix Horns very much to the fore) is a much underplayed masterpiece...one of VERY few covers I might even prefer to the original! The same might not be said for Frankie Howerd's take on 'Mean Mr Mustard'!

I was very impressed, generally, by the musical versions found in the movie 'Across The Universe'. 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)', Bono's 'I Am Tne Walrus' and the title track are particularly effective, I think. The same cannot be said for George Martin's retirement offering, 'In My Life', made up of various celebrities 'doing' Beatles songs, which I find ponderous and somewhat pretentious. Most people love Joe Cocker's classic version of 'With a Little Help From My Friends' and it certainly lifts what could have been a throwaway 'Ringo' number were it not on 'Pepper' - did you know the original first lines were 'What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you throw tomatoes at me?' Apparently Ringo refused to record that as he was unsure the days of concerts were over!

Beatles covers have been recorded successfully all around the world - and in most languages. The group themselves recorded 'Sie Liebt Dich' and 'Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand' for their own German fans - Del Shannon had a US hit with 'From Me To You' 6 months BEFORE the band themselves had a US hit! It seems that, whatever the group, if they've done any covers, they've probably done Beatles ones - even prog giants like 'Yes' featured 'Every Little Thing' on their first album, Deep Purple did 'Help' on theirs...Rick Wakeman did a whole tribute album...as have many others.

I hated the 'Dollar' hit version of 'She Loves You' when it came out and remember decrying it as some sort of sacrilege...I was pleasantly surprised that when I heard it on the Cilla show that not only did I quite enjoy it...I was actually somewhat impressed by the effective contrast that was Thereza's middle 8! Time can be forgiving, obviously!

Jazz has been good to Beatles music - I mentioned Ella earlier but many other singers, big bands and even modern jazz ensembles have taken Lennon/McCartney into new realms...I might not like all I've heard but that is not necessarily an indication of value, of course. Sinatra, of course, was another who covered several Beatles songs, once proudly announcing in concert that 'Something' was his "favourite Lennon-McCartney number"...OOPS!! (I hardly need to explain to educated folks like yourselves that George wrote that one!)

One of the strangest CDs of Beatles music I own is 'The Beatles Collection' by British vocal group 'The King's Singers'. I love this group anyway (they have recently released two sublime CDs of Salvation Army classics which are amongst the most played of all my vast collection).
'The King's Singers' are many groups in one: they can be hilariously funny - some wonderful, inventive arrangements of Noel Coward songs, a capella mediaeval madrigals, modern, self-commissioned classical and experimental works and many easy-listening (but far from muzak) pop covers (their singing of Neil Sedaka's 'God Bless Joanna' is one of the loveliest things I've ever heard) make up just part of their oeuvre... 'The Beatles Collection' visits many of these styles (all a capella) and includes some excellent versions of songs including 'Michelle', 'Eleanor Rigby' and 'And I Love Her'.

Another album I picked up on LP back in 1987 was 'Sergeant Pepper Knew My Father' - a collection of Beatles covers by bands of...1987 and released as part of the 'It was twenty years ago today' celebrations. When I pulled it out for this article I was pleased to see that the songs have outlasted all the featured artists! While I recall most of the NAMES of the artists featured the only ones I really KNOW are 'Wet, Wet, Wet' (who, of course, had the big hit with 'With a Little Help') and Frank Sidebottom, a cartoon-esque comic character with a spherical, fibreglass head! Let no-one claim that The Beatles are the sole property of the highbrow!

And, while talking of anniversaries, Google will no doubt have already brought to your attention the 40th birthday of the redoubtable 'Sesame Street' - a show which, as its viewers will know, features its own 'Sesame Beatles', well known for wonderful pastiches like 'Letter B' (Let It Be) and 'Hey Food'...they deserve a mention here!

It's OK...I know what you've been waiting for...and your 'proff' won't let you down! I can't complete this blog entry without going 'trekkie', can I? Love them or loathe them, the Beatles covers of Captain Kirk and Mr Spock simply cannot go unmentioned! William Shatner's dramatic, spoken interpretation of 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds' was voted the 'Worst Beatles Cover Version Ever' in a 2203 poll - beating Pinky & Perky's 'All My Loving' and Damon Hill's 'Drive My Car'...Yet Shatner's rendition has a cult appreciation too...it is SO bad it's actually quite good...if you get what I mean - either way it has to be heard to be believed (check it out on YouTube!). Leonard Nimoy's covers are barely better, sad to say!

And the number of Beatles covers will continue to grow, of that I am certain, for many years to come. The best music never dies (even when someone tries to kill it!) - the songs have survived the best efforts of Candy Flip, Will Young and Mrs Miller - just as Mozart's Piano Sonatas survived my clumsy efforts!

Let it be!