Episodes
5 days ago
5 days ago
This month, two behemoths of British culture crashed into one another, when the new season of Doctor Who featured a much-anticipated Beatles episode called “The Devil’s Chord.” Both fandoms have been hoping for this crossover episode for years, and we finally got it, complete with an incredible new villain played by Jinkx Monsoon.
Erika is joined by James Ryan and Ed Chen, who both have one foot solidly planted in both of these fandoms, giving us an excuse to nerd out over these worlds colliding. With their love of Doctor Who, the Beatles, and alternate history stories, there are few people more qualified to talk about this topic.
James (Jim) Ryan is the author of the novels Raging Gail and Red Jenny and the Pirates of Buffalo, as well as the popular history The Pirates of New York and short stories in numerous anthologies. He writes the column “Fantasia Obscura” for Forces of Geek, continuing on from his initial run at REBEAT. A lifelong Beatles fan, his alternate-history stories of the Beatles have been published in a collection called Alt Together Now.
Ed Chen is the co-creator and co-host of the When They Was Fab and the Toppermost of the Poppermost podcasts. He tells us that somewhere, buried in his deep dark past is a Beatles/Doctor Who fanfic, where he “Mary Sue’d” himself and his friends into the companion roles.
We’ll be talking about just some of the many connections between the Beatles and Doctor Who, including their shared timeline, actors who played both Doctors and Beatles, and the many Beatles references over Doctor Who’s 60-year history. We’ll also recap the Beatles-specific parts of the Doctor Who/Beatles episode, “The Devil’s Chord.”
We’ve kept this episode focused on the Beatles-related elements of both the history and the episode, and we’ll be discussing spoilers for “The Devil’s Chord.”
If you want more Doctor Who, the When They Was Fab podcast has an extended cut of this conversation with a deeper dive into the Doctor Who side of things.
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- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com.
Wednesday May 22, 2024
The Redhead on the Roof, with Kevin Harrington
Wednesday May 22, 2024
Wednesday May 22, 2024
Our very, very special guest today is the great Kevin Harrington, who most Beatles fans will recognize as the “redhead on the roof” in the Let It Be and Get Back films. At the time, Kevin was only 18 years old(!) but had been working for the Beatles, in some capacity, for years, first as an errand boy at NEMS and then as an assistant to Brian Epstein. He worked alongside Mal Evans as the Beatles’ “roadie,” as he’s billed in the Let It Be credits.
After the Beatles broke up, Kevin stayed closely in the fold, even living at Friar Park with George and Patti during the recording of All Things Must Pass. Then, he finally struck out on his own in the ‘70s and beyond and was a roadie with some of the biggest names in music, including Wishbone Ash, Motorhead, Petula Clark, Ted Nugent, Tina Turner and more.
To learn more about Kevin's time with NEMS and the Beatles, check out his memoir, Who's The Redhead on the Roof?
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com.
Wednesday May 15, 2024
Wednesday May 15, 2024
This week, Erika participated in a roundtable discussion of the newly-released Let it Be film with some of our favorite Beatles podcasters. Enjoy this supersized episode about all things Let it Be. And if you like what you hear, please head on over to our the other participants’ podcasts:
- Blotto Beatles, hosted by Becker, RB, Scotty C., and Tommy
- Ranking the Beatles, hosted by Jonathan and Julia Pretus
- Fans on the Run, hosted by Ethan Alexanian
- Paul or Nothing and Macca in Your Attic, both hosted by Sam Whiles
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com.
Wednesday May 08, 2024
‘Let It Be’ Revisited with Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg
Wednesday May 08, 2024
Wednesday May 08, 2024
We’re thrilled to welcome the incredible Michael Lindsay-Hogg to the podcast. Michael is, of course, the director of the Beatles’ film “Let it Be,” now fully restored and available worldwide on Disney Plus.
Michael joined us to talk about his original vision for "Let it Be," its relationship to "Get Back," and give us the details on how he originally wanted the film to end. And of course we couldn’t resist asking him about one our favorite films that Michael directed, "Two of Us."
After the interview, we chat about our experiences at the New York and Los Angeles advance screenings of "Let it Be," and our impressions of the film now, especially in the context of "Get Back."
Warning: we'll be discussing plot points for "Let it Be," so if you wish to remain spoiler-free until you've seen the film, that discussion begins at approximately 27:00.
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com.
Wednesday May 01, 2024
Wednesday May 01, 2024
The trailer for the restored version of Michael Lindsay-Hogg's "Let it Be" film dropped this week, and we couldn't be more excited! So in anticipation of the big day, we combined two of our favorite "Let it Be" episodes from the archives.
- Giles Martin on Remixing a #NextGen "Let it Be" — our first interview with Giles from 2021, where he tells us about everything from making the Beatles sound “fresh” for a new generation to dealing with critics.
- The "Let it Be" Remixes, Track-by-Track — our analysis and impressions of Giles Martin's 2021 Let it Be remixed album
And stay subscribed for next week's episode, all about the film, and featuring a very special guest!
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
Behind the Scenes at Abbey Road on the River, with Melissa Brumm
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
Wednesday Apr 24, 2024
This week, we welcome Melissa Brumm, Co-Producer and Creative Director for the Abbey Road on the River music festival.
Abbey Road on the River (AROTR) is the world’s largest Beatles-inspired music festival (and is very close to Allison's heart!). Since 2002, AROTR has celebrated the best in Beatles music, hosting Beatles and other classic rock tribute bands, as well as many of the original bands themselves.
Now taking place in Jeffersonville, Indiana, AROTR presents over 250 Beatles and ‘60s-themed concerts featuring bands from all over the world. Each year, more than 20,000 Beatles fans gather to reunite with their AROTR family and celebrate the music of the Fab Four over Memorial Day weekend.
Melissa previews this year’s AROTR, and gives us a look into the many elements that go in to producing a huge music festival. And Allison and Melissa reminisce about their history with the festival, as well as the Beatles tribute band scene.
- Learn more about Abbey Road on the River and get tickets
- Listen to the AROTR podcast, Something will Happen
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
Nutopia: John and Yoko's Conceptual Country
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
Wednesday Apr 17, 2024
In an April 1973 press conference, John Lennon and Yoko Ono declared the birth of Nutopia, a "conceptual country" founded in response to John's ongoing immigration struggles. In past weeks, Nutopia has resurfaced online through a new website.
We look at the history of Nutopia's founding, born out of John's wild journey to U.S. citizenship. And we explore the newest incarnation of Nutopia as an online presence, just in time for the 50th anniversary release of John's album, Milk and Honey.
Plus, we dive in to the brand new Lennon/McCartney song—Sean Lennon and James McCartney, that is! And we answer the age-old question: "does a Maccarita contain orange juice?"
- Become a citizen of Nutopia
- For an in-depth dive into John's U.S. immigration journey, check out John Lennon vs. the USA, by John's immigration lawyer, Leon Wildes
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com
Wednesday Apr 10, 2024
Surprise, Surprise! It's a Cilla Black Episode!
Wednesday Apr 10, 2024
Wednesday Apr 10, 2024
When we first started this podcast way back in 2018, one of the reasons we called it “BECAUSE the Beatles” was because we wanted to be able to not only talk about the Beatles, but anything adjacent to them in any way … hence "because" the Beatles. And one of our original reasons was because we wanted to do the episode we’re FINALLY doing today — an episode on Cilla Black!
Cilla is unique in the Beatles’ story — the only woman managed by Brian Epstein, and, as we’ll discuss, she was one of his favorite artistes and close to him personally too.
Later in her life, she became known as a TV presenter and the recipient of an OBE for her contribution to entertainment. She had 19 Top 40 singles in the UK, including two #1 hits - “Anyone Who Had a Heart” and “You’re My World” — and recorded 15 studio albums. And this past year she became one of the best memes on TikTok.
This episode focuses on the beginnings of her fame and hitmaking — and of course, references the spectacular made-for-TV miniseries Cilla, which we highly recommend.
- Learn more about Cilla
- Cilla biopic on iTV
- "Surprise Surprise" on TikTok
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Podcast Preview: We Say Yeah!, a Cliff Richard Podcast with David “Ghosty” Wills
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
Wednesday Mar 27, 2024
This week, we're sharing an episode of one of our favorite Beatles-adjacent podcasts, We Say Yeah!, a show about Cliff Richard and the Shadows. This is one of the only — if not the only — podcasts exclusively about Cliff Richard, who was, of course, a huge success in the UK, and a contemporary of the Beatles. Erika was recently a guest host, discussing Wonderful Life, a movie musical that was released mere days before A Hard Day's Night, but couldn't be more different.
About the podcast: Cliff Richard & The Shadows dominated the British pop and rock music world from 1958 to 1963 and weathered the storm of Beatlemania to continue to release hits for years to come. Many were even recorded in Studio Two at Abbey Road…and they wrote a lot of their own material!). Although pre-Beatles British rock and roll music is largely ignored by American rock historians, the We Say Yeah! podcast has spent nearly three years reviewing every single, EP and LP released by Cliff and The Shadows (either together or apart) in chronological order.
Hosted by David “Ghosty” Wills, former Sirius/XM DJ and cartoon voice actor, each month’s episode features the host and a guest not only reviewing records but also venturing into sidebar discussions about popular music of the era, the film and television industry in Europe and more!
In addition to hosting We Say Yeah!, David has been a Beatles fan since the age of 12 but came in through Paul McCartney’s solo career (which he says he loves “more than anything else on Earth”). He became a fan of Cliff Richard through his early 80’s U.S. hits and when he discovered an album of his 60’s hits.
- Listen and subscribe to We Say Yeah!
- Hear the full soundtrack to the film Wonderful Life
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- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
- Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you’re listening now.
- Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
- Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com
Wednesday Mar 20, 2024
The Last Lennon Interview, with Author Laurie Kaye
Wednesday Mar 20, 2024
Wednesday Mar 20, 2024
Today we're joined by Laurie Kaye, author of the new book, Confessions of a Rock 'N' Roll Name-Dropper: My Life Leading up to John Lennon’s Last Interview.
As a young rock journalist, Laurie got the opportunity of a lifetime: to spend the day with John and Yoko at their home in New York City. She and her team spent hours with the couple, and the resulting interview was one of the most candid John had ever given. It touched on a wide range of topics, including their latest album release, John’s Lost Weekend, and his thoughts on Paul and the Beatles. It ended on an optimistic note, with John having high hopes for the future. But that day was December 8, 1980, and that interview was the last one that John ever gave. A few short hours later, John was tragically murdered.
Laurie tells this story, and so many more, in her new book. In this memoir, Laurie details her life up to that fateful day in 1980, a day she called “both the best and worst day of my life.”
Laurie Kaye began her career at San Francisco’s top 40 station KFRC-AM, where she was both an on-air reporter and writer. She later moved to RKO radio, where she co-produced many rock specials, including RKO Presents the Beatles (later expanded and renamed The Beatles from Liverpool to Legend). Other notable projects include writing Dick Clark’s weekly radio countdown show and leading the location production of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’s Special Extended DVD Edition. Laurie now works in the film and tv industry, handling creative content and line producing for network docuseries.
- Buy the book, Confessions of a Rock and Roll Namedropper: My Life Leading up to John Lennon’s Last Interview
- Visit Laurie Kaye online
- Hear John Lennon’s last interview, The Dakota Apartments, December 8, 1980
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+Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X for photos, videos, and more from this episode & past episodes — we’re @bcthebeatles everywhere.
+Follow BC the Beatles on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening now.
+Buy us a coffee! www.ko-fi.com/bcthebeatles
+Contact us at bcthebeatles@gmail.com.