Wednesday 30 December 2020

Two wonderful musical tributes to John Lennon

In recent weeks we have received two original tribute songs from fans honouring John Lennon.  We thought it was fitting to share these with our members and followers as 2020 comes to an end.

The first is called "Practical Dreamer" and is by David Horton from Sheffield, England.

The second,"Song of Sixpence" by Robert Robert Metcalf was written a while ago. He tells us, "I´m a singer/songwriter living in Berlin. I wrote the ballad SONG OF SIXPENCE shortly after John Lennon´s death and after decades of neglecting the song, I recently got round to doing a video of it. I released it 10 days ago to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of John´s death."


Wednesday 23 December 2020

Review - It's All Too Much by David Stark - Wonderful read

IT’S ALL TOO MUCH.

By David Stark.

This Day in Music Books ISBN 978 1 8380708 1 6 RRP £14.99

This new book is something I would have love to have written.

David Stark has been a Beatle fan for virtually all his life, and this book tells his story. It is not your normal Beatle fan story (collected the records, went to gigs), this one goes much further.

David was born and grew up in London. He became a Beatle fan after hearing ‘Please Please Me’ on the radio.

In 1964 while on holiday with his parents in Torquay he was lucky enough to meet Clive Epstein, the younger brother of Beatle manager Brian Epstein. In early 1965 he went with his parents to ‘Another Beatles Christmas Show’ at the Hammersmith Odeon.

David was now on a mission to meet his idols. In 1968 he gate-crashed the premier of the film Yellow Submarine ending up in the seat immediately behind Paul and sitting next to Keith Richards.

Over the years Dave met The Beatles on numerous occasions obtaining their autographs and exchanging a few words, not just in the 60s.

He would eventually meet Paul at Graduation Day at LIPA in 2011.

In between there are so many exciting meetings not just with The Beatles. He has also met Freda Kelly (original Fan Club secretary), Olivia Harrison, Julian Lennon, Cynthia Lennon, and Sir George Martin, plus many more people associated with The Beatles.

The book tells stories of The Beatles you would not have heard anywhere else. It is beautifully written with pictures from David’s own personal archive.

David also plays drums in the tribute band The Trembling Wilburys.

Of all the Beatle books I have read this year, this one is the best.

 ~ Ernie Sutton.

Thursday 17 December 2020

A Christmas tune from one of our members

 Just because we need a little extra joy today, we are sharing this catchy Christmas tune created by our very own fan club member, Alan Millen, from Zurich.  We hope you like it as much as we do!

Thursday 10 December 2020

Review - New Enamel Beatles Pins by Numskull make perfect stocking stuffers

 

Enamel Beatles Pins by Numskull

Price: UK £7.99 / USA $7.99 / EU €8,99 

These pins are excellent quality, crafted in enamel with a glossy painted finish.  They have a nice weight to them, better than most pins on the market.

The set includes two pins finish featuring ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Help!’ designs on a backing card. The pin on the back is sturdy and fits snugly so there is no chance of the pins falling off unexpectedly.

Both are good size and come attached to a nicely designed backing card making them an excellent gift for all those Beatles fans in your life.

The pins can be purchased here and shipped worldwide.

Review - Moptops' Fables - This wonderful book is not just for children


Moptops’ Fables

By Robert Haynes

Published 2019

Price: UK £16.00 + £3 postage in the UK (for orders from outside the UK, postage will be calculated based on location). All payments will be via PayPal 

ISBN-13: N/A

To order send an Email to book@moptopsfables.com

This delightful children’s book was a lovely surprise to review. Author Robert Haynes has crafted clever life lessons in fable format starring John, Paul, George, and Ringo interacting with many of the animals that have featured in their songs.  The tales meld imaginary events with real life facts about the Beatles.  Each fable is not only interesting and unique, but the illustrations (also by Robert Haynes) are delightful and appealing.  Some of the animals featured include monkeys, pigs, birds, dogs an octopus and a tiger. 

There are twelve fables in all and each one revolves around a particular song.  For example, “Paul and the Blackbird” merges the true facts about the civil rights movement inspiration for the song with an imaginary tale of a blackbird flying onto Paul’s shoulder in his back garden and Paul noting that this bird has the freedom to fly where he likes and leads Paul to write a song about the need for fewer cages and more freedom.  The ultimate lesson is that our similarities on the inside are more important that the differences we see on the outside.

This book would make the perfect gift for the young children in your life.  While reading the book and sharing its lessons with those children in your life, you will also be able to share your love of The Beatles Music and the real-life lessons of love and inclusion that is present in so many Beatles compositions.  Even though I have no young children in my life, I still want a copy of this book for the illustrations alone.  It is a joyful happy book that will entertain us all.

~ Michele Copp

Thursday 3 December 2020

WIN A LIVE ACOUSTIC DUNG BEATLES GIG IN THE COMFORT OF YOUR OWN HOME!!!!

 A message from one of our favourite tribute bands:

Really excited to be involved with the #ILoveLive prize draw (along with Coldplay, Sam Smith, Nick Cave, Mark Knopfler and many more big names... ) which launched recently to raise vital funds for all the unsung heroes who work behind the scenes in the live music industry. We are expecting this campaign to feature on national television during it's course.
We are giving away a package of prizes as follows:
1. The Dung Beatles will come and play a live acoustic gig in your front room (within 75 miles of Aylesbury UK)
2. A pair of theatre tickets from any of The Dung Beatles 2020/21 theatre shows
3. A signed, framed photo of the band
4. A signed guitar foot pedal
To be in with a chance of winning enter here : http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/the-dung-beatles-live