Tag Archive: Ian MacDonald


A MAGICAL TRIP WITH THE BEATLES

Filed under: Movies, Music, Television — Leave a comment
October 7, 2012

THE BEATLES’ MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR REVISITED  BBC Two.

Fabs MysteryOn this Arena special, it was good to get another chance to see the complete TV film of The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. A  documentary, containing interviews and behind the scenes footage, was also illuminating in helping to put the film in a social and historical context.

The last time I saw the film in its entirety was when it was first broadcast (in black and white) on Boxing Day in 1967. I was just eight  years old at the time so had only a vague memory of it.

I was too young to pick up on all the LSD inspired images but old enough to realise that it had what one of the film’s extras describes as “disconnected shots of weird things”.

What I do vividly recall is the scene with a stripper while The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band are singing Death Cab For Cutie. The sight of bare breasts on a prime time TV slot at Christmas made a big impact on me.  My parents, who were also watching, were less impressed!

This is why I can endorse Ian Macdonald’s view, in his book Revolution In The Head, that: “Magical Mystery Tour marks the breakdown of the cross-generational consensus ………this is where parents began to part company with their sons and daughters over the group, rightly suspecting a drug-induced persuasion setting in” Continue reading →

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DAVID BOWIE AND THE 1970s

Filed under: Books, Music — 1 Comment
May 25, 2012

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD  by Peter Doggett (The Bodley Head, 2011)

One of the greatest books on contemporary rock is Revolution In The Head by Ian MacDonald. Subtitled The Beatles’ Records And The Sixties, this illuminating song by song guide to everything the Fab Four recorded is worth buying for the introductory essay alone – ‘Fabled Foursome, Disappearing Decade’. In the space of just 34 pages, MacDonald puts the monumental achievements and legacy of The Beatles into lucid perspective and recognises that we will never see their like again. The way music is made, promoted and consumed has changed beyond all recognition since the heady days of the 60s so the cultural impact the four young men from Liverpool had is unrepeatable.

MacDonald was commissioned to write a similar book on David Bowie but sadly the project floundered n 2003, when he killed himself after a long period of clinical depression. The mantle has passed to Peter Doggett who has himself written a critically praised book on the Beatles, You Never Give Me You Money, which focused on the band’s break up and immediate aftermath.

In his introduction, Doggett admits that Revolution In The Head was the model for his book although the format is not entirely the same and it has to be said that it’s nowhere near as good.

Continue reading →
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BACKTRACKING # 35 : THE BEATLES AND THE WALRUS

Filed under: Music, Poetry, Politics — 1 Comment
September 10, 2011

Part of an irregular series of bite-sized posts about 7″ singles I own – shameless nostalgia from the days of vinyl. (Search ‘Backtracking’ to collect the set!)

THE BEATLES – Hello Goodbye b/w I Am The Walrus (Parlophone Records, 1967)

500px-i_am_the_walrusAt the impressionable age of 9, The Beatles filled my musical world. John, Paul, George and Ringo seemed like exotic family members I never got to meet but were ever-present.

Up to the time of Magical Mystery Tour their songs had always been accessible and hummable. When you heard them they made you feel good in a pure, uncomplicated way.

Nothing about them was in any way threatening which is probably why Mom and Dad so easily embraced them as a positive influence. The brisk, easy-going charm of Hello Goodbye typified the freshness and immediacy of their melodies.

All this explains why the b-side to this single came as such a shock. Continue reading →

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WHAT I HATE ABOUT MUSIC MAGAZINES

Filed under: Blogging, Music — 2 Comments
February 21, 2011

Last week, a colleague at work left me a couple of back issues of Mojo and Uncut – “I’m done with these – you may be interested”.

One time, I used to read both regularly, I even briefly took out a subscription with Mojo. In pre-Mojo days I would buy Q every week.

Way before that (in the late 1970s to be precise) I would devour NME every week and was grateful for articles explaining how bands like MC5, The Doors, The Stooges and The Velvet Underground had paved the way for the ‘overnight sensation’ of Punk rock.

So what is it about all these titles that I now find so depressing.

Here are some of the main reasons:

  • They unearth meaningless trivia about rock ‘icons’ and ‘classic’ albums .  Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Nirvana, REM  etc. etc.
  • High profile imitators like The Libertines or Oasis are routinely treated as innovators and elevated to ‘classic band’ status.
  • They run articles about rock history as if they were writing exam pass notes.
  • They run retrospective articles with celebrity endorsements – like we need to know which ‘stars’ are into a band to make us feel we are cool.
  • They make endless lists of best and/or life changing albums.
  • They constantly reminisce about ‘memorable’ gigs from a time when many of their readers were still in nappies  (e.g. Uncut  September issue 2010 : Alexander Palace 1964, Isle of Wight Festival 1970,  Rick Wakeman’s King Arthur on Ice 1975)
  • They run more features on artists who are dead or dying than those who are alive and kicking.  (e.g. Mojo  March issue 2010 : in-depth pieces on Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sly Stone, Dr Feelgood Captain Beefheart and Syd Barrett and none on current performers).

    • Continue reading →

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