StarrGrrl asked:


Okay, so yes a bit of an odd question but I really want to know. There are Beatles figures based off of the characters in the cartoon series based on th band. I want to know if the Ringo in the set comes off of his drums or is permanently attached.

Thanks!

Rick

Marvin J Markus asked:


es were only an active recording band for about 8 years. They first started recording in 1962 and the final Beatles recording session was George Harrison working on "I Me Mine" on January 3, 1970.

Although they were really only an active band for rather short period of time, they recorded many of the greatest albums in rock history. In fact they recorded so many great albums that I will have to shave off some really good ones to keep this list at a mere seven greatest albums.

#1 The White Album

The Beatles self titled double album quickly got the nickname "The White Album" upon it’s release in 1968 and the name has stuck even 40 years later. While many find fault with this album due to it’s sprawling nature and experimental tracks like "Wild Honey Pie" & "Revolution #9," I find the album endlessly enthralling because of these very same points.

It has so many great songs in so many different styles. It’s like taking a walk through popular music history at that time. And when you get to "Revolution #9" it’s like falling into a black hole or opening up a secret pathway to some strange alternate reality. I think it’s a distant future we cannot yet envision. Some look at the stranger, more difficult tracks on this album as a fault. As reasons why it’s not as great as Revolver or Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. I look at them as a strength.

But certainly the album has a lot more going for it than experimental music. It’s got beautiful ballads like "Blackbird," "I Will," & "Julia." It’s got great rockers like "Everbody’s Got Something To Hide Except For Me & My Monkey" & the ground breaking "Helter Skelter."

It’s got one of George Harrison’s most powerful songs in "While My Guitar Gentley Weeps" which features a young Eric Clapton on lead guitar. It’s got "Dear Prudence," "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," "Cry Baby Cry," "Back In The USSR," & "Sexy Sadie."

So many truly great songs in so many differing styles. It’s a truly mesmerizing record that only gets better the more you listen to it. In my view it’s the pinnacle of rock music to date.

#2 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

While The White Album is sprawling landscape, Sgt Pepper’s is more like a trip to the carnival. It’s a far more cohesive album. But that’s not to say it’s without it’s unexpected turns, in fact every song on this album is quite different than the one that came before it. The difference is that on Sgt. Pepper’s the songs all somehow feel connected despite being so different from each other.

While the album has more than it’s share of great songs, it’s really the overall feeling of the album that keeps me going back to it. I know it’s become hip to **** on this album and to say it’s overrated but I really feel that the people who say that aren’t truly listening. This is a special album. Every song fits into the whole and more than any other Beatles album in my view, it has no weak tracks. Even Revolver (which I think is their second most consistant album) has "Yellow Submarine" which while a fun singalong does grate my nerves with it’s placement right in the middle of the album.

As far as being "overrated," in my view any album that ends with the greatest song of all time cannot possibly be overrated. And "A Day In The Life" is exactly that, the greatest song of all time.

#3 Revolver

Revolver is a lot like Sgt. Pepper as far as song quality and the variety of styles without the same feeling of album cohesiveness. It sounds more like a collection of excellent songs. And there’s certainly nothing wrong with a collection of great songs. Some of Paul McCartney’s most unforgetable songs are on this album including "Eleanor Rigby," "Here, There, & Everywhere," & "For No One." It ends with the mind bending "Tomorrow Never Knows" which even 42 years later, still sounds like the future.

My one gripe with Revolver is that at this point I am a bit sick of "Yellow Submarine." Don’t get me wrong, I like the song for what it is. But it doesn’t work very well as an album track, it grows tiresome with repeated listening. I feel the same way about Ringo’s rewrite on Abbey Road, "Octopus’s Garden."

#4 Abbey Road

Abbey Road’s second side may be The Beatles greatest achievement. It’s an incredibly smooth but exciting ride. What I like about the suite is that it’s not overdone. It’s not heavy handed. It’s all connected but they don’t beat you over the head with that fact. It done in a more subtle manner and I really think that makes it more enjoyable.

But there’s more to the album than the celebrated second side. The first half has some of The Beatles greatest songs such as "Oh Darling," "Something," "Come Together," & "I Want You (She’s So Heavy.)"

#5 Magical Mystery Tour

Magical Mystery Tour was originally released as an EP in the UK but is now officially an album release in the Beatles discography. It was released as an LP in America using some previously released singles (the great "Strawberry Fields Forever" & "Penny Lane" most importantly) to pad the British EP into a full length album.

Because of this background many people don’t consider it when ranking the albums, and I do think that history does somehow take away from the album somewhat. Psychologically it makes it feel more tacked together.

But when forgetting all of that, it’s really an incredible trippy journey. It’s The Beatles at their most purposefully psychedelic. To many they probably took it too far with some of the songs on this album ("Flying" & "Blue Jay Way" for example) but I love the "studio as an instrument" ideal. These songs still hold up today as great pieces of psychedelic music.

#6 Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul has a rather ridiculous amount of stunning songs on it. "Girl," "In My Life," "Nowhere Man," "Michelle," "I’m Looking Through You," & "Norwegian Wood" are just some of the great tunes on this album. But that being said, it doesn’t rank quite as high as the albums above

for me because of a few clunkers (by Beatles standards anyway) that bring down the album. In particular I’m talking about "What Goes On," "Wait," & "Run for Your Life."

#7 Let It Be

Let It Be is often looked upon as a failure or as one of The Bealtes worst albums. You know you are doing pretty good when an album that has songs like "Two Of Us," "Across The Universe," "Let It Be," "I’ve Got A Feeling," & "Get Back" is considered a disappointment.

But it wasn’t so much the songs that disappointed people about Let It Be, it was the haphazard sounding production that turned people off. Personally, I now think that’s very endearing.

But with "Dig A Pony" not being among The Beatles greatest and "One After 909" actually being one of The Beatles most annoying recordings in my opinion along with George Harrison’s somewhat subpar offerings this time around ("I Me Mine" & "For You Blue") the album does indeed not stack up as high as the albums I’ve ranked above it.



Dawn

Wicked Hatter asked:


I designed a picture for a t-shirt and on the back I wanted to put a corresponding Beatles quote, but I’m afraid I might get in trouble for it. Is it copyright infringement to use quotes, even if credit is given?

Cindy

Robert Benson asked:


Popular Music Used In Commercials

Stop The Insanity-Hire Someone To Write A Jingle!

Many years ago, in a far away place and time, companies wishing to promote their wares on television would hire songwriters to develop advertising jingles to promote whatever they were selling. But recently, in my mind, some companies have crossed the proverbial line, so to speak, by using classic Beatles’ music to pitch their products.

Am I the only one who is absolutely appalled by the superstore Target’s use of the great Beatles’ hit entitled “Hello Goodbye” (although in the commercial they have changed it to “Hello Good Buy,” how clever). Couldn’t the corporate big wigs just hire Barry Manilow (who wrote the classic McDonalds’ jingle: “You deserve a break today”) to write a sappy jingle?

However, sadly, this trend has been used over and over again in recent years and there does not seem to be an end of it. Moreover, if I hear the Badfinger song “Come And Get It” (in the advertisement for GMC automobiles), I’ll scream!

When Michael Jackson allowed Nike to abuse the legendary hit by the Beatles’ “Revolution,” it seemed that the floodgates were opened, and an advertisement bandwagon was born. But, I am not sure that these companies realize just how many people are offended by their blatant misuse of these classic rock and roll songs.

But, apparently, these starving songwriters (or whoever owns the rights to the music) are being very well compensated for the right to use these classic songs for advertisement purposes. In fact Randy Bachman, formally of the Canadian group the Guess Who and later Bachman-Turner Overdrive, turned down a lucrative offer from a bathroom tissue company to use his song “Takin’ Care Of Business” (how clever) for a television commercial. He did, however, allow the song to be used for an Office Depot commercial, calling the partnership “a perfect marriage.” Bachman also declared, “you make more in one year with that commercial than you do in your entire lifetime of your band in the 70’s with that song.” I guess I am naive, but when did it all become about the money, not the music?

Sadly, this trend is catching on like wildfire, as nowadays you can hear many rock legends allowing their classic music to be used for commercial purposes. Why we have Iggy Pop for Royal Caribbean, Bob Dylan promoting Victoria’s Secret products, Billy Preston teaming up with the Zombies for Fidelity Investments, Led Zeppelin pitching Cadillacs, Aerosmith for Buick, the O’Jays for Coors Beer, Deep Purple promoting Dodge, the Who allowing their music to be used in Cisco commercials, the flower power group the Association pitching Allstate Insurance, why we even have Helen Reddy’s classic anthem hit song “I Am Woman” being utilized in a Burger King commercial. The list goes on and on and when will the insanity end, and are these songs actually helping to sell the products they are endorsing?

It won’t be long before we hear he Donovan song “Mellow Yellow” actually promoting the soft drink called Mellow Yellow. Or, how about the R.E.M. song called “Orange Crush” being used for, you guessed it, the soft drink called Orange Crush. While we’re at it, how about beating down some more Beatles’ classic such as “Ticket To Ride” for the highest bidding airline company, “She Loves You,” for the latest stinky men’s cologne or the song “I Feel Fine,” for an allergy medication? How about the appropriate song “Leaving On A Jet Plane” for United Airlines or Blondie’s hit single “Call Me” for AT & T? We could be hearing the classic Hollies’ tune entitled “Bus Stop” (plug in any major city bus line here) or “Angel Of The Morning” by Marrilee Rush for some feminine product or even “Baby I Love You” by the Ronettes for a diaper commercial. I have a few for Viagra, how about the Three Dog Night ditty called “Easy To Be Hard” or Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and the Rolling Stones’ hit “Start Me Up?”

While we’re at it, how about the Rolling Stones’ hit “Tumbin’ Dice” (plug in any Indian Casino), the Police hit entitled “Every Breath You Take” for a cold remedy, the iconic Elvis hit “Hound Dog” being used for a dog food commercial? How about the Who’s classic song called “I Can See For Miles” for Lens Crafter, or the Mama’s and the Papa’s 60’s hit “California Dreamin’” for any airline company?

We can take it several steps further with “I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You” by the Bee Gees for a telephone company, the Bobby Fuller hit entitled “I Fought The Law,” (plug in any lawyer’s name) or Don Henley’s hit song called “Dirty Laundry” for Tide laundry soap? One could also make a case for the Chicago single called “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” being used in a Timex commercial or the Doors’ classic song “Light My Fire” being utilized by Kingsford Charcoal?

It’s just a matter of time before we hear the Tom Jones’ song “What’s New Pussycat” in a cat food commercial. Or how about the Raspberries hit “Go All The Way” used for a Trojan commercial? And don’t get me started on sleeping aids like “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics or “Last Night I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All” by the Fifth Dimension. How about the Eagles’ classic entitled “Take It To The Limit” being used to pitch a major credit card? And any local funeral home would be pleased to use the Queen ditty called “Another One Bites The Dust” or “When I Die” by Blood, Sweat & Tears and God forbid, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” by Bob Dylan. And now that you got me started, how would the hit song by Olivia Newton-John called “Have You Ever Been Mellow” or the Elton John hit called, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”; or better yet, “Do You Feel Like We Do,” by Peter Frampton being used for the latest and greatest antidepressant to hit the market? One could use the Johnny Nash tune called “I Can See Clearly Now” for any eyeglass maker or “One Headlight,” by the Wallflowers in an Auto Zone commercial. And one more just for fun, the Neil Diamond classic “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” utilized for an FTD commercial?

The list seems endless and we may hear some of the aforementioned music paired up with their respective products. Some may seem downright silly, but after all, it is all about the money, not the music.



Arnold