Unplugged Medley Tribute to the Beatles

Before they dominated the late-70s dance floors with their iconic falsettos and flashing disco lights, Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb were a band trying to find their footing. 

By August 10, 1973, the Bee Gees' career had hit a temporary, lackluster lull following a string of lukewarm releases. To shake things up, the brothers stepped onto the stage of NBC's The Midnight Special, cast aside their massive studio productions, and delivered a raw, unplugged tribute to their idols – The Beatles. 

Through pure, unfiltered family harmony and just a pair of acoustic guitars, the trio transformed upbeat, high-energy pop anthems into intimate, melancholic folk-rock gems. It was a stunning demonstration of vocal arrangement and a pivotal moment in pop history that deserves a closer look. 

Instead of relying on predictable covers, the Bee Gees hand-picked five early-to-mid-'60s tracks from the Fab Four, entirely altering their DNA by slowing down the tempo and magnifying the vocal layers:

• "If I Fell": The medley opens softly with Barry’s solo vocals and a single acoustic guitar before Robin and Maurice join in, weaving a seamless three-part harmony over the gentle acoustic strumming.
• "I Need You": A delicate, driving continuation where the tight spacing of their voices gives George Harrison's original a distinct, early-70s singer-songwriter warmth.
• "I'll Be Back": Stripped of its driving jangle-pop rhythm, the brothers lean into the track's inherent melancholia, shaping it into a rootsy, acoustic lament.
• "This Boy": The undisputed emotional core of the performance. The intricate chord progressions become the backdrop for a heartbreaking, show-stopping lead vocal by Robin Gibb.
• "She Loves You": The most daring reinvention of the set. The Gibbs took the quintessential, explosive "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!" pop anthem and completely decelerated it, turning it into a vulnerable, breathtaking harmonic exercise.

What makes this entire performance brilliant is how deliberately the Bee Gees subverted the energy of the British Invasion. By replacing the brisk, electric bounce of the Beatles' early catalog with spacious acoustic arrangements and dragging tempos, they uncovered a dark, folk-rock melancholia hidden beneath the familiar pop hooks. 

It wasn't just a cover medley; it was a structural translation that shifted the focus entirely onto the emotional weight of the lyrics and the flawless precision of their three-part vocal stack.

A masterclass in vocal arrangement and a fascinating piece of pop history.

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Celtic faced St Johnstone yesterday at the latter's home ground in a league match, which they won 1-0. 

The first half was keenly contested but ultimately goalless. However, midfielder Mika Baur found the back of the net in the 52nd minute when he met Haissem Hassan's sharp, low cross. 

That single goal was enough to maintain a 100% Scottish Premiership record for Celtic.

A Lennon-McCartney Collab

When two musicians with famous fathers co-create a song, it's bound to attract attention. That goes double when the names attached to the song are Lennon and McCartney. 

 

"Primrose Hill" is a gently nostalgic ditty by James McCartney with co-writing credit to Sean Ono Lennon. They are the youngest offspring of one of the most famous songwriting duos, Paul McCartney and John Lennon (of The Beatles fame).

 

In a picture (left) McCartney posted on Instagram, the two musicians strikingly resemble their famous Beatles fathers. 

 

Lennon was born in 1975, five years before his dad's murder, and has carved out a respectable, if uneven, career as a musician since the 1990s, performing with his mother, Yoko Ono, as well as bands such as Cibo Matto.  

 

James McCartney, whose mother was the late Linda McCartney, is two years younger. He began his recording career by making contributions to music by his parents in the late 1990s, but didn't begin releasing his own recordings until a decade later. On Instagram, he said the song was inspired by an idyllic boyhood memory.

 

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

 

Those who might be reflexively cynical about nepo-baby collabs will not be shocked to learn that the song has not performed particularly well on Spotify, where it earned fewer than 40,000 listens in the five days after its release. No matter because it is a recognizable tribute to a legendary lineage. 

 

Just a thought. Perhaps the two can get George Harrison's son Dhani and Ringo Starr's son Zak to join them on the next track?

 

One of fashion's biggest nights, Met Gala 2024 falls on May 06. And it will celebrate The Costume Institute’s spring exhibition and gala titled “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion”. 

 

According to a release from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the theme will "explore notions of rebirth and renewal, using nature as a metaphor for the impermanence of fashion". 

 

With around 600 attendees, the guest list is generally kept top secret until the evening before the event. Past guests have included everyone from Rihanna and Lady Gaga to Blake Lively and Kim Kardashian, all wearing unforgettable looks.

 

The said exhibition, which will be open to the public from May 10 through September 02, 2024, will look to bridge the gap between the natural world and fashion.

 

Tied to the aforementioned exhibition, the dress code is “The Garden of Time" as announced by US fashion and lifestyle magazine, Vogue. 

 

Not missing a beat, Ryanair's take on the Met Gala 2024 theme wins over the Internet. The European budget airline shared an edited photo of one of their planes adorned with flowers and leaves, as well as a pair of lips wearing pink lipstick and writing, "Born to slay, forced to fly".

 

Happy Diwali 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Selamat menyambut Hari Deepavali"! Happy Deepavali to all celebrating! May light always guide your way this Diwali and all year long!

 

Following a lot of hype – and a quarter century of work – “Now and Then”, presumably the last song to feature all four original Beatles, is here. It debuted in the charts at number 42 after its release on November 02, based on just 10 hours' worth of sales. 

 

Since then, it has jumped forty-one places up the charts and is the 18th number one single for Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late John Lennon and George Harrison.

 

And "Now and Then" is this century's fastest-selling vinyl single, according to the Official Charts Company.

 

In case you don't know, the Beatles are the British act with the most number one singles in UK charts history – only US singer Elvis Presley has more, with 21 chart-topping singles.  

 

"Now and Then" is a psychedelic soft rock ballad that John Lennon (left) wrote and recorded in around 1977 as a five-minute solo piano home demo, but left unfinished. An apologetic love song, it is addressed to an old friend (or lover), to whom Lennon declares: "Now and then, I miss you/Now and then, I want you to return to me". 

 

It was shelved for nearly three decades, until it was completed by the surviving bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr (above photo), using overdubs and guitar tracks by George Harrison (who died in 2001) from the abandoned 1995 sessions. 

 

The final version features additional lyrics by McCartney and Lennon's voice extracted from the demo using the AI-backed audio restoration technology commissioned by Peter Jackson (right) for his 2021 documentary "The Beatles: Get Back".

 

Martin Talbot, head of the Official Charts Company, said: "The return of John, Paul, George and Ringo with the last ever Beatles single has cemented their legend by breaking a catalogue of records – and in doing so underlined the extraordinary scope of their enduring appeal, across all the generations, with huge numbers of streams, downloads and vinyl singles".

 

“Now and Then” signals, if anything, not just the “last Beatles song” (as it’s been advertised) – but the first in what could be a long stream of work that’s salvaged or saved using artificial intelligence.

Yesterday is Missing Ana de Armas

Movie fans disappointed that their favorite actor was cut from a film after appearing in the trailer can sue the studio for false advertising, a US judge has ruled. 

 

Two film buffs say Universal Pictures tricked them into renting 2019 flick “Yesterday” because the trailer featured actress Ana de Armas. 

 

Peter Michael Rosza, 45, of San Diego, and Conor Woulfe, 39, of Maryland, say they forked over $3.99 each to watch the Richard Curtis comedy on Amazon Prime, only to discover that de Armas (right) had not made the final cut. 

 

A class action suit filed earlier this year alleges fans had been led to expect the Cuban “No Time To Die” star would feature prominently. However, they “did not receive a movie with any appearance of Ana de Armas at all”, says the suit, reported by US media on Friday. 

 

Accordingly, “such consumers were not provided with any value for their rental or purchase”, the suit added. 

 

Universal had asked US district judge Stephen Wilson to throw out the complaint, arguing that trailers are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees free speech. 

 

But in his ruling on Thursday, Wilson rejected the studio’s argument, saying trailers are commercial speech and subject to laws around honest advertising. 

 

“At its core, a trailer is an advertisement designed to sell a movie by providing consumers with a preview of the movie”, the judge wrote. 

 

AFP could not immediately reach a representative for Universal. The suit is claiming at least $5 million on behalf of disappointed fans. 

 

Lawyers will convene again for the case on April 03. 

 

Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday” tells the story of a musician, played by Himesh Patel, who is thrust into an alternative reality where The Beatles do not exist. 

 

He achieves global mega stardom by releasing the Fab Four’s back catalogue as his own. 

 

De Armas, who also appeared in “Knives Out” in 2019, was originally cast in the movie, and appeared in the trailer and certain advertising, but her role did not make the final version, according to the suit.

Reminiscing About the Beatles

It doesn't surprise me that I am reminiscing about the Beatles. Their music, I mean.

A myriad of styles. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock and roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band later explored music styles ranging from ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. 

Here are a random sample of their early hits:

 

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

The Beatles are legends! 

Yesterday, in a Scottish Premiership match, Kyogo Furuhashi's contentious goal in the thirty-third minute gave Celtic a narrow 1-0 win against Hearts. The Japanese forward darted to the front post to turn in Anthony Ralston's cross but appeared to have strayed offside. 

Anyway, the victory takes them back to four points behind leaders Rangers, and moves them five clear of Hearts in third.

The World Owes Yoko Ono an Apology!

Who does not know The Beatles? 

Formed in Liverpool, UK in 1960, whose best-known line-up comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – they are regarded as the most influential band of all time! 

The Beatles officially parted ways in 1970 and rumors were a-plenty, blaming Yoko Ono for the band's split. I remembered being upset about it because I didn't believe it, not at all. 

Anyway, the footage from Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” proves that she did not. 

The producer, scriptwriter and director of LOTR's three-part docuseries on Disney+ compiles and presents hours of valuable unseen footage from the making of the legendary band's final album, Let It Be. 

Throughout the sessions, the four members were frequently at odds with each other, which they made little effort to hide from the documentary filmmakers they allowed into the studio with them. Consequently, the tensions that would lead to the permanent break-up of The Beatles were all on display, giving an intimate and revelatory glimpse into the beginning of the end for the world's greatest band. 

Yoko Ono, an avant-garde artist originally from Japan, met John Lennon in 1966 at a preview for one of her shows in London. They were married when they started their relationship – and they divorced their spouses to marry in March 1969. 

They were a highly controversial couple, as the public could not accept Yoko's eccentricities and provocative ideas about art. Once she and John were together, they were absolutely inseparable and didn't want to participate in anything that did not include the other. This can clearly be seen in The Beatles: Get Back, as Yoko is a constant presence by John's side. 

However, the footage from The Beatles: Get Back shows that Yoko was far from obtrusive; she was simply there to accompany John, enjoy the music, and occasionally read the paper while some of the world's most famous songs were being made. John, Paul, and Ringo even jam with her for a while, with Yoko on vocals doing her signature scream-singing as they seem to have more fun than they do throughout most of the series. Of course, her unique brand of avant-garde music is not a perfect match for The Beatles, but the documentary shows both parties' amiable efforts to accommodate and engage each other while still staying true to their own personalities and tastes. It's also worth noting that John and Yoko were addicted to heroin at the time of filming, which definitely plays a part in how they come across and is not necessarily reflective of who they went on to become after the foursome proceeded with their separate lives. 

Many factors contributed to The Beatles' break-up, including John's drug use and subsequent disengagement with the band. Because of this, Paul felt the need to step in and keep the band on track for them to get anything done. For many years, Paul too has been blamed in some ways for The Beatles' split, as he had been portrayed as too controlling and difficult. The Beatles: Get Back vindicates him as well as Yoko, as it becomes increasingly clear why Paul took the reins in the way he did – somebody had to do it; otherwise, the album would never get made. 

However, this restructuring of power irritated George, especially as his contributions to the group were repeatedly undervalued. There was also a heated legal battle going in in the band's final days, with Paul pitted against the other three members. In the wake of The Beatles' former manager Brian Epstein's death in 1967, they became unmoored, and the dynamics of the group shifted as they began to drift in different directions. Consequently, they disagreed over who should be in charge of their new management and burgeoning company, Apple, creating a big rift between Paul and the others. 

Really, Yoko was the least of their problems. The general public chose to blame her for The Beatles' break-up because they didn't want to blame their favorite band for growing apart or acknowledge that they had changed. Additionally, people often hate that which is different, and Yoko certainly fits that bill. She's a unique artist whose pieces and extensive charity work are well worth checking out. Yoko doesn't have anything to prove, but if she did, she'd prove it in the newest addition to the band's documentary canon, The Beatles: Get Out. 

The above excerpts are from Kylie Boersma’s piece “The Beatles: Get Back Debunks The Oldest Yoko Ono Myth” on Screen Rant published 4 days ago.

Methinks, James Parker (“Like Watching Six Different Marriages Fall Apart”, The Atlantic, December 02, 2021) is spot on when he wrote that the band's estrangement is due to the second law of thermodynamics. The inevitability of entropy. 

The world owes Yoko Ono an apology!

Communicate with Confidence

For those who are really serious about wanting to learn public speaking: 

Check out these 2-hour "Communicate with Confidence" online sessions facilitated by Ahmad Fakhri (right). Just in case you don’t know him, he’s an international speaker, a certified trainer, a professional mentor and coach and a parenting consultant. 

Two things you should know – these sessions are gratis and places are limited. And two dates in September are available, so please do register if you are interested!

I blogged about the Yellow Submarine tiny house yesterday. 

I do think the post is incomplete if I don’t include the 1966 song by the Beatles. I suppose that’s because I’m a Beatles fan.

This song was originally intended as a children's song – but over the years, it received more than its fair share of social and poltical interpretations. It was even adopted as an anti-authority statement by the counterculture during Vietnam War protests, while some commentators viewed it as either referencing the drug Nembutal or symbolising escapism.

Whatever. Anyway, here's that song:

 

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

Who doesn’t love the Beatles, right?

Yellow Submarine

If you can recall the lyrics of a Beatles’ song from 1966 about the “yellow submarine” in “a sea of green” – let me tell you that it does exist!

 

Bryce Langston from Living Big in a Tiny House visits an incredible tiny home which has been constructed out of an old grain silo and transformed into a whimsical yellow submarine themed dwelling. It is located in Marton (Māori: Tutaenui), a town in the Rangitikei district of the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. 

The yellow submarine is almost entirely a collection of up-cycled materials assembled together. From spa baths, to radar domes, you'll be amazed at how all these old parts have been combined to create a tiny house.

 

For those who love ultra-creative projects, this is a must see video!

 

The couple who made this possible (below photo) are Keith Lovelock, a former radio technician and wife Jen:

The "yellow submarine" project is all about putting their creativity to the test, having fun, and creating something memorable that Airbnb guests can enjoy for $130 a night. 

To book your own stay in this wonderful tiny house: https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/20605023

Advisory on Happy Xmas (War is Over)

This is just plain silly. Ridiculous even but John Lennon & Yoko Ono's Happy Xmas (War Is Over) official YouTube video which is an anthem for peace and the end of war now carries an advisory:

“The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as inappropriate or offensive to some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised”. 

YouTube conveniently forget that war is real! I wish Lennon was alive, he'd tell YouTube what's inappropriate! 

Sunday’s Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Rangers saw the latter winning 2-1 and narrowing the gap with the former to 2 points with a game in hand. 

Ryan Kent’s stunning first-half strike put Rangers in front before Odsonne Edouard’s equalizer before the interval. And then, Gers’ Nikola Katic popped up to head home the winner in the 56th minute. 

Well done to Rangers – they deserved the win! 

And hours later, Liverpool battled their way to a hard-earned 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

Sadio Mane's 42nd-minute winner decided a tight match at Anfield and restored the Reds' 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

LEGO's Beatlemania

Image credit: http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/lego-launches-beatles-yellow-submarine-set-97083

The Beatles' Yellow Submarine is now immortalized in LEGO!

 

The 550-piece submarine set, which will be on shelves on November 01, comes with characters representing John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr and is based on the 1968 surreal musical film inspired by The Beatles.

 

The idea of the Yellow Submarine set became a reality, after amateur musician and songwriter, Kevin Szeto, submitted the idea to the toy company’s LEGO Ideas section.

 

“The creation of the Yellow Submarine model was really my way of showing my affection for The Beatles, as well as trying to pay a small tribute to The Beatles phenomenon,” Szeto said in a statement.

 

Szeto’s model was later refined by LEGO designer Justin Ramsden, who said it was a “dream come true.”

 

“I watched the film when I was younger and was really inspired by how it oozed so much imagination comparable to how I view LEGO elements”, Ramsden said.

 

The set will be available for $59.99 (£49.99). 

Beatlemania is alive!  

In case, you wish to re-visit The Beatles:  

 

On Thursday evening, I was in Jalan Tangsi in KL to take up the role of a speech evaluator at the UniRazak Toastmasters meeting. And I was voted Best Evaluator.

Fellow Toastmasters Ong Mei Lin and Mark McKenzie have raved about this university club and I just had to check them out!

View from the 7th Floor of UniRazak

 

And it was a really good meeting. The only damper was the late start to the meeting and it also resulted in the meeting finishing late. The old Victor Ong would have walked out of the meeting.