RIFLE RANGE BOY

Beatles '64 (Documentary, 2024) Director: David Tedeschi. I suppose the world will never have enough of the Fab Four. In 1995, when Apple Corps released the Beatles Anthology 1, the world went wild. It was marketed as a collection of long-lost recordings yet to be released. The band had not put out an album since their breakup in 1970 and had not performed together since the 'Let It Be' rooftop concert, so the audience was eager for some classic tunes. The first anthology was undeniably nostalgic. It featured the Beatles' unfinished track, 'Free as a Bird.' By then, two of the four members had passed away, and their voices were electronically blended. The result was a spark in the eyes of every Beatles fan. The music video showcased numerous old black-and-white photographs from their time in Liverpool as young lads. The other songs were reworks of their earlier hits, showcasing their playful moments in the studio and experiments with alternative tempos and arran...

Communism, Hypnotism and the Beatles (1965) Rev. David A. Noebel An Analysis of the Communist use of music - the Communist Master Plan. This book predates John Lennon's infamous press statement in 1966, in which he was quoted as saying that the Beatles were , at that time, 'more popular than Jesus'. To his defence, the baby boomers were, in fact, losing interest in what the church had to say.  In 1956, during a visit to Poland, Nikita Khrushchev was thought to have told the West that he would 'bury them'. Some say it was something that came out after being lost in translation. Again, during his state visit to the US, he may have said (again disputed) that he predicted the adoption of communism and the gradual creation of a 'socialist stare' in the US.  David Noebel is said to be a fiery Christian evangelist who argues his claims with dubious scientific evidence. In this booklet, he used many Pavlovian animal behavioural study models to convince his congregat...

The Beatles: Get Back (Docuseries; 2021) Disney Plus Imagine working around Saville Row, London, on 31st January 1969. You step out for lunch and hear a loud commotion with music emanating from atop one of the roofs. Upon enquiring, you find out that the Beatles were performing live. It was destined to be their last public performance before the group disbanded. A year previously, they had come out with the eponymous 'White Album' to soaring success. The White Album, their ninth album, a double album, was named simply because of the colour of the album's jacket. The White Album was a phenomenal hit, but it was rumoured that the four members had serious creative differences that most of the time, they had to record separately. It is said Yoko Ono's persistent presence in the studio was their sore point, together with Paul McCartney's domineering attitude.  Partly encouraged by the skyrocketing sales of the 'White Album', they were coaxed to get together for a...

Yesterday (2019) Director: Danny Boyle Growing up in the late 70s and 80s, popular music formed like soundtrack music of our lives. It was always in the background as we, my schoolmates and I, went on living and doing stuff we needed to as we ventured into adulthood. Of course, there was a time and place to listen to music. Technology had not developed for us to enjoy it on the go. Listening to neighbours blaring their cassette player is not counted.  Then there was the excitement of listening to new songs on the radio and recording them on cassette tapes as the music played. Once a week, the newspapers would display the Top 10 songs and albums in different cities. The slightly affluent ones amongst us would get their fix of the latest songs recorded at record shops for a fee. Of course, it was not legal, but what the heck, we were and still are in a third world country.  Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever essentially filled up most of our pubescent lives. Sporadic input came f...

I wanna hold your hand (1978) Director: Robert Zemeckis (debut) I remember growing up watching many of Zemeckis directed movies. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this film which was set in 1964 New York when the Beatles visited New York to appear at the Ed Sullivan's Show. At one look, it appears like the director is trying to recreate the atmosphere and the mania associated with the arrival of the Liverpool lads at the Big Apple. Looking at the bigger picture, he seems to be ridiculing the younger generation's eccentricity, if not fetishism to pop culture. It tells the tale of a group of youngsters who make a trip to New York to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four. Each of them has a different agenda; to watch the Ed Sullivan Show, to snap pictures of Beatles, to partake in anti-Beatles' rally, to impress a girl and so on. In no way was the film a groundbreaking feat. All you throughout the offering are screaming and shrieking bevvy of girls before...

The Beatles Lyrics, Hunter Davies (2014) I guess we will never have enough of the Beatles. This time around a book to analyse the lyrical content of each song composed by them album by album from 1962 (Love me do/PS I love you) to 1969 (Abbey Road). The obvious loophole in these type of publications is that they may be guilty of over analysing and interpreting things as the author wants to see it. The author, however, claims to have spent enough time to know what goes through the Beatles' minds. Roughly, I would divide the songs onto 3 eras- the early years, the studio years and the beginning of the end... I realised from the outset that the best way to appreciate this book is to simultaneously search the songs on Youtube as the authors analyses song by song, album by album over the years. Invariably, the lyrics of the songs are reflective of things that happen around their daily lives. The early post-Hamburg stage was the time they would do (write) anything just to be noti...

22 Sayings To Remember The Beatles Frontman 34 Years After His Assassination    Natalie Roterman  |  Dec 08 2014, 01:26PM EST A manuscript written by John Lennon entitled 'Henry and Harry' is seen at Sotheby's, London March 21, 2014. Reuters/Paul Hackett It was 34 years ago that one of the biggest musical sensations lost one of theirs. While The Beatles had split a little over 10 years prior, on December 8 they lost a member as John Lennon was shot outside his New York apartment. Fellow Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney remembers the state if shock he was left in when he heard the news: "I was at home and I got a phone call. It was early in the morning... It was just so horrific, you couldn't take it in and I couldn't take it in. No less, the world became a sadder, less love-filled place when Lennon was gone, but luckily we were left with enormous amounts of wisdom and eye opening quotes from the genius. This is how we remember him: “Life is what happens while...

Living in the Material World (Documentary, 2011) Director:Martin Scorsese No, this documentary has nothing to do with Madonna and her living in a material world.   Yes, we do not seem to have enough of the Beatles. The Beatles can never die. Scores of decades from now, we will still be talking about these four lads from Liverpool and their ability to transform the world music scene.   Well, this documentary is not about the Fab Four per se but was the product of his widow's perspective on the quiet Beatle. It starts with a look at his humble beginnings in the Beatles as the go-along non-assertive guy. The decisions in the band were made primarily by Lennon and McCartney. He was always composing songs in the background, only to have his compositions steamrolled by the domineering duo.   I suppose after maturing along the way, he demanded recognition and walked out of the Beatles even before the final break-up. A good proportion of the 3hour 2-part show is devoted to hi...

The Illustrated Biography: John Lennon 200 classic, rare & unseen photographs by Daily Mail Even 40 years after the break up of The Beatles and 30 after his assassination, John Lennon still manages to draw a crowd every single time something is written or said about him. There is nothing new in this book that we did not already know about this sometimes eccentric music maestro. That he started of with a gig in Hamburg, about how Dacca records rejected them saying that guitar music was on the way out, about his famous line "...those in the cheap seats clap your hands, the rest of you can just rattle your jewelry" in Prince of Wales Theatre in London, about the Beatles being more famous than Jesus and the subsequent decadence into drugs, spiritualism, Yoko (Oh, no!) and the dissolution of Beatles to retirement from music to starting over and death at the hands of a deranged fan (or mastermind power play of the CIA, if you believe the conspiracy theorists). It is a sort...

Nowhere Boy 2009 If you expecting another of those Beatles glorifying films, you are in for a disappointment. It is actually an emotional drama of John Lennon's early days as a confused teenager who has deal with his estranged biological mother, Julia, who left him at the age of 5 to stay with her sister, Mimi. He grows up to be a troubled teenage always getting into the wrong side of the school - the trouble side. This is a biography of a teenager John Lennon was told by his principal that he is going nowhere (in his future) - hence the title but also his later song, Nowhere Man. He grows up with Auntie Mimi and Uncle George since five. John is very attached to his uncle but he, however, dies early. With his friend Stan, he secretly goes to visit his biological mother Julia, a shallow, inappropriately behaviouring promiscuous young at heart (for her age) lady who is married with two kids. John finds himself able to open up better than with Aunt Mimi but he still cannot get ov...