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Sculpture Starr, who released his most recent album Liverpool 8 in January, recently completed a tour of the US and Canada. The musician currently divides his time between Los Angeles, the South of France and his UK home in Surrey. In April, a foliage sculpture of Starr outside a railway station in Liverpool was beheaded by vandals. The performer had reportedly angered some locals when he told the BBC's Jonathan Ross he missed nothing about the city.

The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has ordered his fans to stop sending him fanmail. The drummer says he's got "too much to do" and warns he'll throw any fanmail in the bin after October 20 in a video posted on his website. "This is a serious message to everybody watching," Starr says in the clip. "I want to tell you that after the 20th of October please do not send any fanmail to any address you have. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed. "I'm warning you with peace and love, I have too much...

John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and EMI Records, the world's fourth largest music company, dropped copyright infringement lawsuits against the makers of a documentary that used the portion of the song "Imagine" without permission. The news was made public on Tuesday by a Stanford Law School's Fair Use Projects release. The dismissal follows unsuccessful attempts by Yoko Ono in federal court and EMI Records in state court to enjoin Premise Media Corp's documentary, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," because it uses a 15-second clip of the song. "We think it was clear from the beginning that our clients had every right...

New Christian Song Sparks Controversy Fireworks Contemporary Orthodox Christian singer/songwriter, Jim Giatas, has written and recorded “If You Imagine” as an answer to former Beatle, John Lennon’s song “Imagine.” “If You Imagine” has generated significant criticism. One writer called it blasphemy. On MySpace, Vangellis responded that it was: “A terrible denigration of Lennon's ode to reason. And the fireworks are just beginning. “John’s song has gone virtually unchallenged for all these years and I felt compelled to write an answer to it from my own conservative Orthodox Christian faith.” It can be heard for free on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMM3WZ7AErA “I...

“All strangest things, The multitudinous years bring forth and shadow from us all we know. Falter alike great oath and steeled resolve. And none shall say of aught, This cannot be.” Sophocles 496 B.C. to 406 B.C.

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has played his first gig in Israel in front of an estimated 40,000 cheering fans. The 66-year-old singer kicked off the historic concert with the familiar Beatles' song Hello, Goodbye at Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park. Some fans turned up wearing "I love Paul" and Beatles T-shirts. Earlier the star said he was "not nervous, but excited" ahead of the gig, which comes 43 years after The Beatles were banned from performing in Israel. Back in 1965 The Beatles were scheduled to perform, but were prevented taking the stage because of fears they could "corrupt the...

Beatles Sir Paul McCartney Defies Islamic Suicide Bombers In Israel By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel --- September 14, 2008 ..... In what is truly becoming a Magical Mystery Tour, former Beatles member Sir Paul McCartney has been threatened with death by Islamic terrorists if he comes to Israel for a concert. Dennis Rice, a freelance journalist and reporter for the Sunday Express has been in contact with the Israel News Agency and other Israel news and governmental organizations seeking for and finding the answer to "Has McCartney been threatened if he plays in Israel?" Rice's investigative journalism...

To tune of When I'm Sixty Four/Beatles Barack Obama he's such a dope Running for the Pres Said that he's campaigned in 57 states Chose Joe Biden, thinks that he's great! Media loves him, wants him to win Olby is a fan Don't wanna meet him--can we defeat him? I think, YES WE CAN! (other song parodies of your own welcomed!)

Israel Says She Loves You To Beatles Paul McCartney By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel --- August 31, 2008 ..... Life is certainly a magical mystery tour. And for those of us who live in Israel, the long and winding road just became a bit more scenic. With the surprise announcement by Beatles singer and composer Sir Paul McCartney that he will be performing in Tel Aviv next month, the Jewish nation has taken a smiling leap back 40 years in time. From car radios, open market CD players and inside elegant, modern stores, the warm, loving, magical...

Bob Herbert just doesn't get it. As Noel Sheppard has noted, in his NYT column today Herbert accuses Barack Obama of "lurching right when it suits him, and . . . zigging with the kind of reckless abandon that’s guaranteed to cause disillusion, if not whiplash." The NY Times columnist goes on to condemn the candidate for "pandering to evangelicals;" agreeing with Justices Scalia and Thomas on a "barbaric" interpretation of the 8th Amendment; and playing a "dangerous game" with his "shifts and panders." No, no, no, Bob! That's not what's happening at all. Obama isn't flip-flopping. He's simply fulfilling...

LONDON (Reuters) - A film enthusiast has discovered a long lost interview with The Beatles from 1964 which has not been broadcast since. Richard Jeffs came across 64 canisters of film stored in a damp garage in South London, and when he started to go through them he stumbled across a piece of pop history. The conversation with Scottish television dates from April 30, 1964, according to the BBC, which played excerpts from the nine-and-a-half minute interview on the radio on Tuesday. It came shortly after the Fab Four's trip to the United States during which they were besieged by...

The "Musicians Who Turn 50", "Musicians Who Turn 60", "Favorite Drummer" and "Favorite Guitarist" were such hit threads on FR, I've decided to do this one. Who is your favorite SONGWRITING DUO? We all know that Lennon-McCartney were amazing together and possibly the best songwriting duo ever. They might be mentioned several times on this thread. If you choose John & Paul, be specific about which song and lyric(s).

NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Aspinall, a longtime friend of the Beatles who managed their business enterprises and helped make the group a moneymaking phenomenon decades after they split up, has died. He was 66. Aspinall's death was announced Monday in a statement from surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, and the band's Apple Corps Ltd. company. Aspinall died Sunday night at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, where he had been receiving treatment for lung cancer, according to Geoff Baker, who formerly represented both Aspinall and Apple Corps.

Beatles try to block historic bootleg By David Harrison Last Updated: 8:43pm GMT 22/03/2008 The Beatles are trying to block the release of an album of "lost" songs recorded during Ringo Starr's first performances with the group. The Beatles built their reputation at Hamburg's Star Club. A plaque now marks where it once stood The eight unreleased songs date from 1962 when the Fab Four agreed to do a few final gigs at Hamburg's Star Club, where they had performed as a fledgling band. The songs include Paul McCartney and John Lennon singing an early B-side, Ask Me Why, McCartney...

Heather Mills torn to shreds by Sir Paul McCartney divorce judge By Caroline Gammell and Gordon Rayner Last Updated: 8:26pm GMT 18/03/2008 Heather Mills has seen her reputation left in tatters after the High Court judge presiding over her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney tore into her character, accusing her of "make-belief", inconsistency and inaccuracy. Mr Justice Bennett said she was a "less than impressive witness" during the six-day hearing last month who "wholly exaggerated" the extent of her wealth before she met her now ex-husband. Telegraph TV: Heather Mills spent 11 minutes outside court attacking the legal system Miss...

Paul...you wife beater.....loser....who cares

He rocks out in his diaper and delivers a hit Beatles song

The Beatles are about to become radio stars in a whole new way. NASA on Monday will broadcast the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star. This first-ever beaming of a radio song by the space agency directly into deep space is nostalgia-driven. It celebrates the 40th anniversary of the song, the 45th anniversary of NASA's Deep Space Network, which communicates with its distant probes, and the 50th anniversary of NASA. "Send my love to the aliens," Paul McCartney told NASA through a Beatles historian. "All the best, Paul." The song, written by McCartney...

The country plans to deliver letters of apology to the two surviving members of the group and relatives of the deceased members for cancelling the concert back in the group's heyday.   Israel said it could not afford to host the world-famous band The reason given at the time was because the Israeli government could not afford to host the world-famous band. But other sources suggest Israel was concerned it would not be able to cope with Beatle-mania and feared that it might corrupt the minds of Israeli fans. "We would like to take this opportunity to rectify a historic...

NEW YORK/LONDON (Billboard) - It's perfectly legal, but it will still seem to some listeners like the sound of someone making off with England's crown jewels. On rap collective Wu-Tang Clan's new single "The Heart Gently Weeps," a Santana-style rock guitar opening gives way to an almost celestial chorus of something very familiar. There, and throughout the track, is the unmistakable melody of George Harrison's timeless contribution to the Beatles' "White Album" from 1968: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Now, the track is accompanied by Wu-Tang's trademark, uncompromising language, rapping out a gritty street story, even as Harrison's son Dhani...

“You say you want a revolution, well you know, We all want to change the world...” – The Beatles, Revolution Ironic, if one reads all of the lyrics to The Beatles Revolution: Despite being left-leaners for their time, the tune almost sounds like something a conservative music artist might write today. Snapshot of America: For the moment, we are still “allowed” to believe and say what we wish. I am not saying this to underscore my right to say what follows, but to acknowledge the right of those with whom I vehemently disagree to believe and say what we wish....

The Zombeatles sing a Halloween song fer ya!

THINK: Donald and Melania Trump. THE DONALD COVERS YOUR ASSETS Always have a prenuptial agreement. I have seen people and businesses destroyed because there wasn't a pre-nup. I will be honest with you, if I did not have prenuptial agreements with Ivana and Marla, I would not have anything now. They attacked me rather viciously. --SNIP--Look at Paul McCartney, the poor bastard----he is worth $1.5B.......he married Heather Mills. Some people said she was a nude model in the 80s and worked for an escort service......she made his life miserable for three years, then sued him for $400M. Paul told...

• Hearing will go public in February • Heather refuses deal to stay silent Sir Paul McCartney Looking for your wallet? Sir Paul McCartney, who stepped out for a quick coffee today in London, heading towards a full-blown public divorce hearing Divorce talks between Heather Mills and Sir Paul McCartney have completely collapsed. The couple are now heading for a full-blown public divorce hearing after the breakdown of negotiations over his £825 million fortune. Sources close to the case said a date has now been set for a five-day trial, adding: “It is finished. There are no more talks planned....

Some Beatles fans in the US are angry that the 1967 Beatles hit 'All You Need Is Love' is being used in a new ad campaign for disposable nappies. “For people who feel that political connection, it comes off as kind of a callous action,” said Angela Natividad, co-editor of adrants.com, a marketing commentary site. “You’ve got the Beatles, which draws like, religious feelings, and you’ve got the war [Vietnam].”

The Beatles, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Nominated by Billy Childish, prime mover of British garage rock I had a Beatles wig Beatles guitar when I was four - so I know what I'm talking about, but Sgt Pepper signalled the death of rock'n'roll. Rock'n'roll is meant to be full of vitality and energy, and this album isn't. It sounds like it took six months to **** out. The Beatles were the victims of their success. This is middle-of-the-road rock music for plumbers. Or people who drive round in Citroens - the sort of corporate hippies who ruined rock...

London, England (LifeNews.com) -- When it comes to Hollywood, abortion isn't just a topic that comes up frequently in movies or music, it's something celebrities routinely confront. News reports on Monday indicate abortion was a topic of conversation between famous Beatles musician John Lennon and his infamous wife Yoko Ono. In an interview with the BBC, Ono recounts a story about how she considered having an abortion when pregnant with the couple's son Sean. Lennon apparently talked her out of having an abortion. The conversation came after Ono became pregnant when the couple reunited in the early 70s after an...

Earlier this week while channel surfing, I came across the end of an interview with Paul McCartney who turns 65 this year. He is promoting his new CD "Memory Almost Full". The last statement from the host was, "Is this going to be a revolution in music?" I'm thinking Rubber Soul, Sgt. Peppers and the White Album. Maybe Paul put it all together again? Yesterday I was in a book store and saw a stand filled with the new CD, right next the coffee table photo books discounted 80%. That should have been my first clue. In fact, Paul's CD...

Yes, it's been 40 years exactly since Sgt. Pepper, having labored the previous 20 years teaching his band to play, arranged for its debut in full psychedelic regalia. He leveraged a little help from his friends, notably... A hundred years from now, musicologists say, Beatles songs will be so well known that every child will learn them as nursery rhymes, and most people won't know who wrote them... Skillful composers play with these expectations, alternately meeting and violating them in interesting ways. In my laboratory, we've found that listening to a familiar song that you like activates the same parts...

It was 40 years ago today. Ah, you knew the story would start like that. What other way to begin? June 1, 1967. That's when "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" hit the streets in the United Kingdom, a day later in the United States, and hit the consciousness of the pop world like a dose of something strange in the Kool-Aid. It was the eighth (British) Beatles album but also the beginning of a new chapter for the band and for a popular culture entering into the Summer of Love and a period of heightened experimentation with music, fashion,...

LONDON (AP) - Record company EMI Group PLC said Sunday it planned to unveil "an exciting new digital offering" with computer company Apple Inc. (AAPL), raising expectations that The Beatles' music catalog is about to be made available through Apple's iTunes online music store. EMI said it would hold a news conference Monday at its London headquarters with its chief executive, Eric Nicoli, and Apple boss Steve Jobs "and a special live performance." The company gave no further details. EMI has been The Beatles' record label since the early 1960s. The Beatles have so far been the most prominent holdout...

I can report today that Jackson will lose his hold on the Beatles catalog and Sony/ATV Music Publishing on May 31, 2008. That date, revealed here for the first time, is known as the "Liquidation Sale" among insiders. [Snip] Selling his half of Sony-ATV back to Sony won’t be so easy for Jackson or so lucrative. According to testimony in various Prescient depositions, Jackson could be charged as much as $250 million “off the top” by Sony for expenses they’ve incurred while running the partnership. That would whittle down his potential $600 million windfall almost by half. A further subtraction...

The following list - the Definitive 200 - was developed by NARM, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers in celebration of the art form of the record album. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is pleased to recognize this varied collection of some of history’s most influencial and popular albums, many of which are Hall of Fame Inductees.

Apple Press Release verbatim: CUPERTINO, California and LONDON—Apple Inc. and The Beatles’ company Apple Corps Ltd. are pleased to announce the parties have entered into a new agreement concerning the use of the name “Apple” and apple logos which replaces their 1991 Agreement. Under this new agreement, Apple Inc. will own all of the trademarks related to “Apple” and will license certain of those trademarks back to Apple Corps for their continued use. In addition, the ongoing trademark lawsuit between the companies will end, with each party bearing its own legal costs, and Apple Inc. will continue using its name...

If there was a danger to the dark side that welled in music in the 1960s, it was perhaps best represented by what happened to one of its icons, Beatle John Lennon.  His was a life that symbolized, and took to an extreme, the spiritual struggles -- and confusion -- of a generation.  As previously reported [click here for story], after years of casting about -- swerving as a youth from Christianity to agnosticism to atheism and then all the way to Eastern meditation -- the famed songwriter settled, in the end, on the occult, as sort of a harbinger...

Carl Howe (Blackfriars Communications) submits: I've speculated previously that Apple's (AAPL) introduction of the iPhone at last week's MacWord was just the start of many announcements to come this year. AppleInsider observes that Apple has picked up rights to air a Super Bowl commercial on February 4.. The rumor is that they'll use that commercial to announce an three-month exclusive deal to electronically distribute some Beatles music via the iTunes Store. Now wearing my marketing hat, this raises a question: Does this ad buy make sense from an ROI point of view? Current Super Bowl ad rates are about $2.6...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A woman who once broke into former Beatles guitarist George Harrison's Hawaii home has been found dead in California, the victim of a murder-suicide, a police officer said on Sunday. Cristin Keleher, 34, made headlines in December 1999 by entering Harrison's Maui estate and then cooking herself a frozen pizza and helping herself to a root beer. After she did her laundry and called her mother, she was found by the security staff and charged with burglary. She had apparently been stalking Harrison for months. On December 19 of this year police in Truckee near California's...

Secret John Lennon Files Released By FBI Documents Conclude Former Beatle Wasn't Serious ThreatPOSTED: 7:35 am EST December 20, 2006 LOS ANGELES -- The FBI has released its final surveillance documents on John Lennon to a university historian who has waged a 25-year legal battle to obtain the secret files. The 10 pages contain new details about Lennon's ties to leftist and anti-war groups in London in the early 1970s, but nothing indicating government officials considered the former Beatle a serious threat, historian Jon Wiener told the Los Angeles Times in Wednesday's editions. The FBI had unsuccessfully argued that an...

It's a smashup!!! Paul, Ringo, Olivia and Yoko gave the Martins free reign to create a very unique compilation of Beatle's music. I'm enjoying the lads as I pen this message.

LONDON (AFP) - Fans have rushed to buy the first "new" Beatles album for a generation -- a radical remixing of some of the group's most famous songs -- more than 35 years after the break-up of the iconic band. "Love", which has the backing of surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, comprises 26 of the Fab Four's hit songs, but many of them mixed together using previously unheard material from the studio. "I hope this will help people to hear Beatles music again," said Giles Martin, son of the group's original producer Sir George Martin who is often...

Heather Mills is accusing her estranged husband Paul McCartney of repeated violence against her. Explosive court papers lodged by her lawyers in their £1billion divorce battle portray him as a 'vindictive' man who once tried to choke her and even attacked her while she was pregnant. Last night, Sir Paul's spokesman refused to comment on the allegations, but it is understood he denies them and that they will be fiercely contested in court. In an extraordinary escalation of their dispute, Miss Mills claims in the documents that the ex-Beatle: Subjected her to four violent attacks, including one in which he...

Three years after John Lennon was assassinated, Morrison & Foerster partner Dan Marmalefsky launched a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation to uncover the Nixon administration's plan to deport the famous Beatle. Twenty-three years later, he's still digging. A white-collar defense attorney in Los Angeles, Marmalefsky leads a team of three lawyers, pro bono, that represents a University of California, Irvine history professor, who, since 1983, has sought the release of FBI documents related to its surveillance of Lennon in the early 1970s. What started out as a compelling freedom-of-information challenge for a young Yale Law School graduate more...

London, Oct 5 (ANI): Designer Stella McCartney is reportedly taking a swipe at dad Sir Paul McCartney's estranged wife Heather Mills in her very own limited edition Little Miss storybook. And apart from the fact that the designer is now trying her hand at story books, what also has people buzzing is that the character of Little Miss Nobody in the book, who turns into a somebody after Little Miss Stella takes pity on her and makes her an outfit, has a lot in common with Heather Mills. Pals of the designer insisted that though McCartney did not write in...

Former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney won the Man of the Year title at the GQ magazine awards held in London. Sir Paul was honoured for his latest album and his successful US tour. "Paul McCartney is not only one of our greatest living legends, he's also probably the most dignified," said GQ editor Dylan Jones. Other winners included Extras creator Ricky Gervais, presenter Jonathan Ross and singer Rod Stewart - who was given the outstanding achievement award. Embraced By PublicTop Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson won TV personality of the year, and received his award from Stewart's fiancee Penny Lancaster. GQ...

We live, as the pundits say, in the United States of Amnesia. Even so, did the makers of "The U.S. vs. John Lennon," an inquiry into our government's bizarre attempt to neutralize the perceived political juice of that famed English singer-songwriter, really need to spend half the movie explaining the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement to viewers? If things are really that bad, then perhaps the filmmakers should explain who John Lennon is. After all, the Beatles date back over 40 years. For those who do remember or are aware of the zeitgeist of the counterculture, this lengthy regurgitation...

COLONIE, N.Y. -- As the live beat of Beatles classics begins bouncing off the walls of the Elks Lodge, a man with a gray mustache stands before his drum set and speaks up in a Liverpool lilt. "Let's take you back," he tells the crowd, "to the days when I used to play with a bunch of guys by the names of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison." Ringo Starr's playing the Elks club? No. Meet Pete Best, the drummer booted from the band just before Beatlemania exploded. John, Paul, George and new guy Ringo went on to become voices...

LONDON - "When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now," sang Paul McCartney on "When I'm Sixty-Four," a jaunty tune from The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" album. A spokesman would not say how McCartney planned to spend the day, but he could be excused for skipping a party. It has been a traumatic year, in which the former Beatle split from his wife of four years, Heather Mills McCartney, amid lurid headlines about their relationship and her past. "People seem to be interested in him as a celebrity, but not as a musician," said Beatles historian Peter Doggett...

Heather Mills a 'working girl' June 12, 2006 A FRESH torrent of sex claims has emerged about Sir Paul McCartney's estranged wife, Heather Mills, as the fallout from their breakup continues. The allegations, including that Mills was once a high-class prostitute who specialised in lesbian and group sex, appeared in yesterday's British newspapers. News of the World said it had compiled a dossier detailing years of vice, including callgirl sessions Mills had with an arms dealer and an Arab prince for fees as high as $12,500 a session. The paper quoted a former prostitute who claimed to have had a...

Who is David Cloud, one may ask? He is the visible leader of Way of Life Ministries, a literature and (ostensibly) preaching ministry for Independent, Fundamental, KJV-only Baptists. OK, so that's not very important, but my relationship with David Cloud is long and complex. The reason I'm bothering to address him at all might not be readily apparent to any thinking individual, since he's mostly irrelevant to almost everybody on the face of the earth, but it will become apparent as I continue. Allow me to recount my history with David Cloud. When I first became a Christian, way back...

LONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - Apple Computer is not liable for trademark infringement against Apple Corps, the music company owned by the Beatles, a judge in London's High Court ruled on Monday. Apple Corps, owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison, argued the computer company has violated a 1991 trademark agreement by moving into the music business through its market-leading iTunes online store. Apple Computer argued in court hearings in London earlier this year that iTunes was primarily a data transmission service, permitted by the agreement. The 1991 out-of-court...