Paul McCartney is a man who incites very different reactions in people. You either love him or you hate him. Or like me, you respect him for being a former Beatle but don’t like his output since then or particularly like him as a man. So I wonder what his son James is like?

We’ll soon get to find out as James McCartney is about to embark on his first full tour as a singer songwriter. He played a number of secret gigs late last year under the guise of Light. But he’s now truly revealing himself.

There’s a stereotype that all Scots are brash, vocal misanthropes who will call a spade a spade even if it’s a trowel. And Alan McGee is unfortunately doing nothing to change that stereotype.

OK, so I’m quite opinionated, something which has cost me many friends over the years, and on Brit Music Scene I’ve even criticized some artists for their musical output or life choices. U2, mainly, but still, I have nothing on Mr. McGee.

I haven’t liked much of Paul McCartney’s output since The Beatles split. In fact, I don’t particularly like the man. However, the fact that he was in The Beatles means I have a reverence towards him that is bordering on religious. Because The Beatles were, in fact, bigger than Jesus.

McCartney has recently given a couple of interviews with some interesting revelations in. And that’s the thing – love him or hate him, McCartney is a man who was in the biggest pop group ever, is one of the richest entertainers in the world, and is famous absolutely everywhere. Which means …read more

The Beatles are, for more, the best pop group ever to have lived. I love their early stuff, their late stuff, and even those Ringo Starr songs that appear on every album. In short, I don’t think they’ll ever be beaten in terms of a back catalog of songs and albums that remain timeless.

However, Paul McCartney doesn’t actually think The Beatles were any good. At least when they started out. He’s clearly referring to the very early days, even before they departed for Hamburg where he thinks they truly learned their craft.

An American-based Web site caused controversy when it started selling the whole of The Beatles back catalog last week. BlueBeat allowed free streaming of all the tracks and albums and sold all the tracks and albums for a pittance of what they’d actually be worth through iTunes or a similar service.

The real kicker of course is that The Beatles through Apple Corps, and EMI, which owns the recordings, have never agreed to sell any of the band’s tracks online. The nearest they’ve come is licensing the tracks for use in The Beatles: Rock Band.

The UK music charts may mean less now than they used to but they’re still an indicator of what’s hot on the popular British music scene right now. This week’s Top 10 singles and Top 10 albums are listed below.

The singles chart sees Pixie Lott hit the top spot with Boys and Girls, giving her two consecutive number ones. Last week’s number one, Run This Town by Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West, falls to number three. Mika’s We Are Golden debuts at number 4, while Muse make the top 10 with Uprising. Not bad for an albums band.
The albums …read more

One of the biggest injustices in the British music scene right now is that The Beatles back catalog isn’t available to download or stream from legal sources. There are other bands who have also insisted their music remains exclusive to physical formats but The Beatles are the biggest name to have insisted on it.

It’s been rumored that The Beatles would be coming to iTunes soon for the last two years or so, ever since Apple (makers of the Mac and iPhone) and Apple Corps. (the company set up by The Beatles in the 1960s) settled a legal dispute over their …read more

This week is a big one for The Beatles, with the re-release of all 12 of their studio albums plus Magical Mystery Tour, and the release of The Beatles: Rock Band. It’s fair to say that The Beatles are back in a big way, hopefully being discovered by a new generation as a result.

There is, however, one thing missing from this resurgence of The Beatles: a way of legally downloading their back catalog. The Beatles have so far refused all requests to put their albums online, rejecting selling them on Apple iTunes, and streaming them on services such as Spotify.

This past weekend saw the 40th anniversary of the day the classic cover of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album was shot. The occasion was commemorated by hundreds of fans who converged on the zebra crossing in order to recreate the famous pose and pay their respects to the greatest band the world has ever seen.

Rather unsurprisingly, the zebra crossing is located next to the Abbey Road studios in north London where The Beatles recorded the LP which would end up being their penultimate album. It’s a very ordinary street in a very ordinary part of London, but its place in …read more

I doubt there’s a man, woman, or child not shocked by the sudden and unexpected death of Michael Jackson at the tender age of 50. Whether you loved him or hated him, thought he was a freak or just an eccentric, believed all the many stories told about him or not, you cannot argue that he wasn’t a musical genius. He entertained and enlightened many people from all walks of life and it’s a sad loss to the world.

Paul McCartney worked with Michael Jackson on a number of different occasions, including duets Say Say Say (embedded below) and The …read more