Over the last 12 months I have had the honor, and the privilege, of getting to know a legendary music icon, Ritchie Yorke.

When we first started our label (http://bit.ly/9fgh1x) Ritchie did what he does best, and did an interview with Cowbell.

When you meet people, you seldom ignore the general rule that states there are Six degrees of separation and accept the Human Web on planet earth. However, last week, I discovered there are in fact only two degrees that separate most in today’s global village.

As a John Lennon fan, it was fantastic to sit down and talk with the man that was Lennon’s International Peace Envoy. With John’s words still so firmly in Ritchie’s mind, 30 years later, sitting opposite him and watching the excitement and enthusiasm on his face when he spoke with passion about John, I began to realize the influence Lennon had on the world and specially on those that he came in contact with. Read the rest of this entry

Guest post: Treadmarkz is my brother-in-law, a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and the author of the weblog Treadmarkz.wordpress.com.

Regarding why the Beatles broke up, for years, I was a member of the “Yoko Is Evil” sect. Then for a while I converted to Paul-is-an-Egomaniac-ism. I took it for granted that the truth lay somewhere within these two camps. Eventually I realized the many other factors: John Lennon’s addiction to heroin; the death of the Beatles manager Brian Epstein; their music and individual talents getting too big to be contained within one album; George Harrison’s waning interest in traditional western pop music. Read the rest of this entry

Guest post: Treadmarkz is my brother-in-law, a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and the author of the weblog Treadmarkz.wordpress.com.

Well, clearly the beef between Apple Corps and Apple Computers that started a while back is still bitter as ever, and unfortunately this will deny listeners who live and die by the iPod access to the Beatles music. But, lo! Here it is! The Beatles Rock Band arrives in stores on September 9th!

The upcoming release of the Fabs’ foray into the gamer world is exciting for me. Because it is yet another confirmation of what I have been telling the Musicgoat for years: the Beatles, as a cultural phenomenon, will never – yes I said Never – die.

If I had an Xbox, Playstation or Wii, I would definitely shell out the $99.99 to get myself an imitation McCartney violin bass, or a Harrison twelve-string Rickenbacker which is included for use with the game. I would have liked more information on what specifically is included in the Special Edition. For $249, you want to know, and you want time to save up for it if it is what you want. I am sure it is not worth it unless you get an imitation Beatles sitar, Moog synthesizer, harmonium, tape loop machine, wind machine, and calliope, so I can play the Beatles’ studio-era music to the full effect.

But even if not, wow, music in video games has come a helluva long way since the Mario Bros theme song, huh?

Guest post: Treadmarkz is my brother-in-law, a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and the author of the weblog Treadmarkz.wordpress.com.

I am sure you have heard all the hubbub, but maybe you never quite knew what it was all about, this thing, this MANIA called the Beatles. If you have been thinking of getting into the Beatles (and I mean really into the Beatles, not just buying their latest Greatest hits compilation) this is not the Beatles’ Top 12 Best Albums, and I am not reviewing each album. This is just the order you need to buy them in, in order to feel the full effect of what they did.

The chronological order in which they were originally released seems like the most sensible way to do it. But this isn’t sensible. If you get into the Beatles you have to be prepared for a little disjointedness and things that come out of left field. You don’t have to follow this guide exactly, and as you will see, I give you opportunities to make your own choice. Also, this is just the original Beatles Music we are talking about here, not Let It Be…Naked, or the Love Album. Having said that, I give you…The List: Read the rest of this entry

Guest post: Treadmarkz is a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and author of the weblog Treadmarkz.wordpress.com

Buddy Holly wrote his own songs. Chuck Berry wrote his own songs. Little Richard wrote his own songs. Paul McCartney and John Lennon, being devoted followers of all three, began writing their own songs early, and often. McCartney wrote rough versions of “I’ll Follow the Sun” and “When I’m Sixty-Four” in about 1957. And many of the originals from the Beatles first album were written by John and Paul around that same time. They knew that it set them apart from the other up-and-coming bands.

But rock n’ roll had changed drastically by 1960. Holly was dead, Berry was in jail, Little Richard had become a preacher, and Read the rest of this entry

Guest post: Treadmarkz is a Human Beatles Encyclopedia and author of the weblog treadmarkz.wordpress.com

The Beatles competed to be the best ever since their days as the Quarrymen in Liverpool in the late 1950′s, and during their stints as a bar band in Hamburg, Germany from 1960-62. This desire to be the best did not stop in February 1964 when they were seen by 73 million people on the Ed Sullivan Show, or in April ’64 when all of the top five singles in the U.S. belonged to them. It didn’t stop when they were the first rock band to sell out a Major League Baseball stadium, when they rocked Shea Stadium in the summer of ’65. Desire, some might say ego, is what pushed them beyond teen idols to legend status.

In December 1965, the Beatles released the album Rubber Soul. The Beach Boys’ leader Brian Wilson would later say Read the rest of this entry