popdude

My condolences to the family and friends of both Gail and Don Krider. I corresponded with Don quite a bit back in the day, and always found him to be a class individual - supportive, considerate and kind. May both of them rest in peace.

Hey Guys, Since we're on the subject of upcoming John Lennon books, there's also one that I've written that's due for release right around the same time as Ken's. It's titled "John Lennon: Life is What Happens," and it's a look at Lennon's life and music through words and photos (many of them rare pics of Beatles/Lennon memorabilia). There are also quotes about Lennon's influence from folks such as Dave Smalley, the Turtles' Howard Kaylan, Earl Slick and Tony Levin (both of whom played on the "Double Fantasy" record) - and Ken Sharp! The book is being published by Krause Publications and is available for pre-order now on Amazon.com. PRE-ORDER "JOHN LENNON: LIFE IS WHAT HAPPENS" Ken's book looks fantastic, by the way - congrats to you, my friend! Thanks, and I hope everyone is doing well.

My sincere condolences to Jay and the entire family on your loss.

It's a pretty good - and faithful to the original - version, although it sounds to me like there's a bad edit towards the beginning of the tune...

It's not David Bash.

I'd certainly love to be there to see my friends Wendy, Muzza and Kirk (and the others, of course), but I will be working on a local TV shoot at that time. Hopefull our paths will cross some other time. Be well, everyone.

Thanks to everyone for the kind birthday wishes. They are greatly appreciated. Be well.

Yes, I've been told the first pressing sold out and that they are taking names of folks who want to be placed on a list to be notified when the second pressing is available (although I hear it's going to be a bit more pricey since they're doing a smaller print run on pressing number two). I do have just a few copies left over from the book signing that I can make available to the good folks here at ec.com; if anyone wants one, just PM or email me. Cost will still be $30.00 total (for the book and the companion CD)...and I'll spring for the postage.

Sure, but I didn't write it. :-) It was written by Bart Mendoza...

Thanks, all. It was great to see Jeff and Kirk there, as well as other friends of mine, musicians such as Graham Elvis (of The Elvis Brothers) and Nelson Bragg (of Brian Wilson's band) and other power pop fans. It was a most excellent day at both the book signing and the earlier radio interview - and what a treat to hear power pop classics such as The Records' "Starry Eyes" and Raspberries' "Play On" blasting on a major FM radio station in L.A.! Both John Wicks and Scott were great to hang out with...and I must say Scott is simply one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. It really warmed my heart to have folks come up to Scott and say things such as "thanks for being such a big part of my life." Folks came, pens in hand, from a long way away to chat with him and get his signature. And he mentioned that he's been messing around with the guitar, working on some songs... :-) I'd also like to thank everyone who's purchased a copy of "Shake Some Action" - amazingly, we're about 25 copies away from completely selling out the first print run of 1,500 in only two months. Finally, here's something interesting/humorous - if you take a look at the photo of Scott, Kirk and I, you'll notice that Kirk (aka "sharp dressed man") is wearing a snazzy tie. I had to tell Kirk that not only did I really like his tie, but I have the exact same one in my closet!

Here's an interesting article written by my friend Bart Mendoza, who heads up his own excellent mod/pop band The Shambles. Lots of stuff in here I didn't know... 01) A Beatles reunion of sorts was definitely in the cards at the time of Lennon's death. While Lennon was known to change his opinion on lots of things with whim and time, this was discussed in legal (binding) documents dealing with a trial against the Beatlemania show. On Nov. 28 1980, John stated in a deposition for Apple Corps against the shows producers. "I, and the three other former Beatles have plans to stage a reunion concert." The show was to have been filmed as the finale for the proposed Long and Winding Road documentary, which became Anthology. It's really depressing to think of what could've been. 02) Yes, these song versions really exist, if only on bootleg: a) Wings - Video Killed the Radio Star (Buggles) Wings - Billy Don't Be A Hero (Bo Donaldson) c) Beatles w/Rolf Harris - Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport (Rolf Harris) d) John Lennon - Lady Marmalade (Labelle - just a bit of this one, but still: -) e) Ringo Starr - I Can Help (Billy Swan/Elvis) 03) An alternate version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was recorded for the Yellow Submarine film but was discarded. This version began with the character Jeremy Boob singing the first verse before Lennon takes over- and with different lyrics to boot! 04) The last piece of music the Beatles ever played before a paying audience was an impromptu bit of "In My Life" (never done live by the group otherwise) strummed by John Lennon just prior to leaving the stage at Candlestick Park. 05) Duets: Paul McCartney has been performing a duet with an artist at each years Anti Landmine Benefit concerts, one of the guests and one of his own. To date he's teamed with James Taylor, Brian Wilson, Paul Simon and Neil Young. Other recent live charity team-ups include tunes with Tony Bennett and Cat Stevens. Honorable mention to George Harrison and Paul Simon's great appearance together on SNL. 06) John Lennon and Paul McCartney knew each other informally before their famous 'first' meeting at Woolton Fete in 1957. 07) Contrary to rumours Wings Over America the album was not subjected to massive overdubs. There were some songs where a mic failed or so on, but where the stories of a studio recreation of the Wings live set come from is for the film Rockshow, for which the band did stage some shots with members of McCartney's Fun Club as the audience, for insert shots in the film. And yes, the sound was sweetened wherever they could. 08) Although the Anthology series was meant to sweep the vault clean there are still dozens of unreleased tracks. There are alternates of most of the studio tracks and many home demos, with a few completely unheard cuts such as "Carnival of Light" and "Etcetera" (a demo for Marianne Faithful) confirmed, plus there are the tunes given away or worked on, "Summertime" with Lu Walters, "Goodbye" for Mary Hopkin, and lots of others. Outside the studio the band left a ton of stuff as well - here are just a few examples: The Hamburg Sessions 1962 - this needs to be done up right - lo fi, but essential, a couple of dozen tracks with the guys in a sweaty German nightclub. The Decca Sessions 1962- Studio recorded oldies and a couple of exclusive Lennon/McCartney originals The White Album Demos 1968 - almost two dozen acoustic demos (there might be more), featuring the bulk of the White Album, and a brace of otherwise unreleased by the Beatles tunes such as Harrison's "Sour Milk Sea," and "Circles" as well as Lennon's "Child of Nature" and McCartney's "Sing-a-long Junk," to name a few. The Hollywood Bowl - Officially released mix of a couple of different nights at the Bowl in 1964 and 1965 BBC Sessions - there are over 100 tracks still unreleased. Mostly alternates, but hey, it's the Beatles. 09) John Lennon was planning a comeback tour for Spring 1981 at the time of his death. 10) While it's true that there are many bootlegs out there claiming to have the soundtrack to the Beatles Shea Stadium concert, as seen in the famous film, they don't. That soundtrack and therefore the bootlegs, consist of re-recordings of the songs done well after the fact, synched by the band playing to the footage of the film. There has not been a release of the true concert recordings. 11) It's also true that the only surviving footage of the Beatles on Top of the Pops is a bit that was used on a TV in a background scene of a contemporary Dr. Who Episode. 12) There are a lot of concerts circulating on bootleg, both CD and DVD. Here are three (with set lists) of the most interesting unbootlegged, but confirmed to be in the hands of collectors, tapes: July 1962 The Beatles At The Cavern with Pete Best: Hey Baby If You Gotta Make a Fool Of Somebody Hippy Hippy Shake Please Mr. Postman Roll Over Beethoven Ask Me Why Sharing You Your Feets Too Big Words Of Love Till There Was You Dizzy Miss Lizzie I Forgot To Remember To Forget Matchbox (vocal: Pete Best) Shimmy Shake Young Blood Dream Baby 08/21/63 The Beatles at the Gaumont Cinema, Bournemouth: Roll Over Beethoven Thank You Girl Chains From Me To You A Taste Of Honey I Saw Her Standing There Baby It's You Boys She Loves You Twist And Shout June 9 1964 Hong Kong 1. I Saw Her Standing There 2. I Want To Hold Your Hand 3. All My Loving 4. She Loves You 5. Till There Was You 6. Roll Over Beethoven 7. Can't Buy Me Love 8. This Boy 9. Twist And Shout 10.Long Tall Sally 13) Ten post Beatlemania hits by other artists with Beatles involvement (not including Cilla, Billy J, Peter & Gordon, Mary Hopkin, Jackie Lomax, Tommy Quickly, The Remo Four, The Fourmost, Chris Barber, Cliff Bennett etc:) a) David Bowie - Fame (John) Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down (George) c) Elvis Costello - Veronica (Paul) d) Cream - Badge (George) e) The Rolling Stones - We Love You (John & Paul) f) James Taylor - Carolina on My Mind (George & Paul) g) Badfinger - Day After Day (George) h) Monty Python - Always Look On The Bright Side of Life (George) i) Donovan - Mellow Yellow (Paul) j) Steve Miller Band - My Dark Hour (Paul) 14) Sticking on the subject of unreleased music, in addition to the studio tracks, radio performance, concert tapes and home demos you can add impromptu recordings. Early examples include what are known as the Alf Bicknell recordings, after the former Beatles chauffer who auctioned them off. On it the Beatles and friends can be heard driving around circa 1963 singing songs and hymns and so on. To date most of these types of recording tend to be from Lennon. Members of Moby Grape report recording numerous spur of the moment songs with dirty lyrics, with him in the mid sixties. One tape said to exist in a vault somewhere consists of Lennon and Carole King post party, but one tape that definitely has surfaced is a sing-a-long in a Syracuse hotel room at his birthday party in 1971, with Ringo and Phil Spector heard amongst the revelers. During his 'Lost Weekend' John hung out with Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, David Cassidy, Nilsson, Jim Keltner, Alice Cooper, Keith Moon and numerous recordings are said to exist held by the rock star who happened to run tape at the time (Cassidy for one has also said he taped get togethers.). Only two of those tapes has surfaced so far - part of a session bootlegged as "A Toot and A Snore" featuring Wonder, McCartney, Lennon and Nilsson amongst others in a studio jam, and the true gem, which is unbootlegged. A home/ party recording was made by author Terry Southern ("The Magic Christian"), with Lennon on guitar and a bunch of friends helping out in the fun. First, Donovan sang "Rivers of Babylon" and "The Royal Canal". Then Lennon performed "Rock Island Line", "It's All Over Now Baby Blue", "Railroad Bill", "Liverpool Lou", and "Don't Fence Me In." He talked about Dylans penchant for "borrowing" from old folk tunes, and did a Howard Cosell impression. It gets even better. At this point Mick Jagger can be heard joining Lennon on guitar, and they proceed to blast through a jam including "It's Only Make Believe", "Under My Thumb", "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window", "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)", "Stand by Me", "There Goes My Baby", "Dream Lover." They attempt, but fail to work out "How High The Moon," and can be heard discussing Les Paul. Southern can be heard on the tape saying "I've got an idea for an album. 'A Stroll Down Memory Lane With John Lennon and Mick Jagger." This clearly sets the pair thinking . Mick simply says "Peggy Sue got married," and the two start playing the Buddy Holly catalog. They forget words, chords and sometimes rhythm, but it's magic to listen to the famous pair from allegedly rival groups collaborating on "Peggy Sue Got Married", "Listen to Me", "Words of Love", "Everyday", "Rave On", "Tell Me How", and "Maybe Baby."

Thanks, Pat. I agree, "Play On" is a fantastic effort. I imagine we'll definitely broach the subject of Scott recording or playing out again...

More exciting news, just confirmed today: prior to this Sunday's book signing, Scott McCarl, John Wicks and myself have been invited to be guests on the top-rated radio program "Breakfast With the Beatles," which airs in Los Angeles on 95.5 KLOS-FM. We'll be chatting from 11:00am - 12:00 noon (PST) about the book with host Chris Carter and giving away a few copies, as well as spinning some cool Beatles tunes and listening to Scott reminisce about meeting John Lennon when Raspberries were recording in 1974. How cool is THAT? For those of you not in the L.A. area who might like to check it out, the program will also stream live over the internet at www.955klos.com. Thanks!

Try www.notlame.com. There should be a banner ad for the book on the home page. Thanks!

Scott McCarl, along with John Wicks of The Records, will be signing copies of "Shake Some Action" (which ranked the Raspberries' "Starting Over" as the best power pop album of all time) in person next Sunday, January 20. Those of you Southern California Raspberries fans who are in the vicinity of the San Fernando Valley and would like to meet Scott and get an autograph or a photo, come on down! __________ Pop music scribe John M. Borack will be signing copies of his new book, "Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide," on Sunday, January 20 at 2:00pm at Freakbeat Records (13616 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423). Joining Borack at the signing will be power pop titans Scott McCarl (from The Raspberries) and John Wicks (of The Records). Books will be available for purchase at the signing, and those who have already purchased a copy are also welcome to bring it in to have it personalized. Freakbeat Records is a neighborhood record store from the days when shopping for music was fun and adventurous. Half the store is filled with new and used vinyl from all musical genres and you can listen to any used record or CD that is already open. Their selection of compact discs highlights new releases and reissues that the big box stores generally ignore. The early reviews of "Shake Some Action" have been overwhelmingly positive: "A terrific achievement" - powerpop.blogspot.com "Wonderful and breezy...essential." - The Orange County Register "A treasure....really impressive." - Adam Waltemire, Host, Pop Garden Radio - WMEL, Florida The 200-page book is built around Borack's choices of the top 200 power pop releases of all-time (including quotes from many of the artists covered), and also includes a comprehensive essay on the history of power pop by journalist Carl Cafarelli. In addition, there are tons of previously unpublished/rare photographs, as well as a companion CD packed with 24 power poppin' rarities from the likes of The Rubinoos (a cover of Raspberries' "Tonight"), Tommy Keene, 20/20, The Rooks, Chris von Sneidern, Scott McCarl and many others. Most all of these tunes are exclusive to SSA!