4 April 2021 - THE BIRTH OF THE BEATLES

 

THE BIRTH OF 

THE BEATLES

G'day folks,

We've all heard rumours over the years, but here is a good one laid to rest.

January 1, 1962 — On this day, the Beatles – scruffy, clad in leather and unknown outside their home town of Liverpool – travelled through snow in a van for 220 miles to make a recording audition in London. And they were turned down.

In charge at the Decca studios where the audition was held was senior A&R man Dick Rowe. His assistant, Mike Smith, had seen the Beatles perform at what was to become the famous Cavern Club and had put forward the audition suggestion to their manager, Brian Epstein.

 It lasted about an hour and the Beatles – John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and the original drummer, Pete Best – performed 15 songs. They were nervous and the session did not go particularly well but Smith told them afterwards that he “saw no problems” and they would have a decision “in a few weeks”.

Epstein let the “few weeks” pass, then, fed up with waiting, phoned Rowe and asked for a decision. It was not what he expected. “Groups with guitars are on the way out,” Rowe allegedly said, adding that he believed “the Beatles have no future in show business”.

Rowe, who died in 1986, always denied the story, saying it was actually Mike Smith who turned down the Fab Four. Another group, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, also had an audition on the same day and according to Rowe: "I told Mike he'd have to decide between them. It was up to him – the Beatles or the Tremeloes. He said, 'They're both good, but one's a local group, the other comes from Liverpool.' We decided it was better to take the local group. We could work with them more easily and stay closer in touch."

Whoever made the decision, Rowe went on to redeem himself by subsequently signing, among others, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Moody Blues, the Small Faces and Tom Jones.

And on musical grounds, maybe it was the right verdict. Years later, George Martin, the Beatles’ legendary producer at EMI, said that he, too, would have turned them down on the basis of the mediocre Decca audition tape.

 

Clancy's comment: I still think they were one of the best. Just sayin' ...

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17 February 2021 - THE BIRTH OF THE BEATLES - McCartney and Lennon

 

THE BIRTH OF THE BEATLES 

- McCartney and Lennon -

G'day folks,

Welcome to some facts about the birth of a famous band.

On July 6, 1957, in the midst of a heavy heatwave then gripping Northern England (and all of Europe), 15-year-old Paul McCartney decided to attend the annual Woolton Parish Church Garden Fete. It wasn’t because he was an especially active church member, but rather in the hopes to meet girls at the event. He may have not met any girls, but he did happen to hear a high school band named The Quarrymen performing. 

 

McCartney was immediately impressed by their sound, and after the show, he asked a mutual friend to introduce him to the band’s lead singer, John Lennon. You might think the two Liverpool teenagers would have probably met on some other occasion. But as much as they had in common, the two boys lived in different neighborhoods, went to different schools, and were nearly two years apart in age. McCartney also happened to have his guitar with him at the fair, and he managed to impress 17-year-old Lennon greatly with his skills. The latter invited him to join the band, and half of the Beatles was born.

 

Clancy's comment: What a great quartet.

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13 September 2017 - RICK SPRINGFIELD

RICK SPRINGFIELD

G'day folks,

Richard Lewis Springthorpe is an Australian singer, instrumentalist, songwriter, actor and author, known by his stage name Rick Springfield.

Rick Springfield became a teen heartthrob in the 1980s with his hit song "Jessie's Girl" and his stint as a handsome doctor on General Hospital.

Synopsis

Rick Springfield was born on August 23, 1949, began playing in bands in his native Australia at an early age. The success of his solo debut brought him to Los Angeles, where he acted in television roles and tried to make it big in music. While playing a handsome doctor on General Hospital, he also released an album that included the hit "Jesse's Girl." Since then, he's released several more albums and written two books.

Early Years

Born Richard Lewis Springthorpe, on August 23, 1949, in Sydney, Australia, Rick Springfield is the son of an Australian army officer. Springfield frequently moved throughout his childhood, living in both Australia and England. While in high school, he developed an affinity for music, began playing the guitar and formed a band called the Jordy Boys. He went on to perform with the groups Rock House and Zoot before launching a solo singing career with the 1971 Australian hit "Speak to the Sky."

The Move to America

After an auspicious solo debut in Australia, Springfield was signed by the American-based label Capitol Records. In 1972, he moved to Los Angeles and released the album Beginnings. Featuring many of his previous Australian hits, including a new version of "Speak to the Sky," the album fared well on the charts. But to Springfield's dismay, critics immediately labeled him the next teen pop idol. In 1973, in an attempt to shed his bubblegum image, Springfield moved to Columbia Records, where he recorded the disappointing LP Comic Book Heroes.

General Hospital and Jesse's Girl

In the mid-1970s, Springfield temporarily shelved his music career and concentrated on acting, appearing on several popular television programs like The Rockford Files, Wonder Woman, The Incredible Hulk and The Six-Million Dollar Man.

In 1980, he managed to secure a recording contract with RCA, and while recording with the label, Springfield was cast as the dashing Dr. Noah Drake on the popular daytime drama General Hospital. As his popularity skyrocketed among soap opera fans, Springfield released the album Working Class Dogs, which yielded the now-classic singles "I've Done Everything For You" and "Jessie's Girl." The latter song earned him a Grammy Award and became known as an anthem of the 1980s—a time when his feathered hair, tightly suited body and boyish face became hallmarks of the era.

Springfield recorded the well-received albums Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet (1982) and Living in Oz (1983) before making his cinematic debut in the romantic drama Hard to Hold (1984). While his female fans flocked to theaters, the film received lukewarm reviews from most critics.

 Later Work

 

Throughout the 1990s, Springfield's work mainly consisted of made-for-TV movies, including Dead Reckoning (1990), Silent Motive (1991), A Change of Place (1994) and Dying to Dance (1999). Later that year, he released his first new album in over a decade, Karma, which received generally positive reviews.

In 2010, Springfield saw the publication of his autobiography, Late, Late at Night, and his first work of fiction, Magnificent Vibration was published in 2014. Both books made it onto the New York Times bestseller list, and Late, Late at Night was named by Rolling Stone one of the top 25 rock memoirs of all-time.

For his decades of output and enduring popularity, Springfield received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in May 2014. Later in 2014, Springfield landed a role on the dark HBO drama True Detective, setting the actor up for yet another re-emergence.

 Clancy's comment: Another Aussie who has done well.

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