The Beatles Unveil Own ‘Rock Band’ Game At E3 2009
June 1, 2009 by Dave Parrack
Anyone who plays video games on a regular basis will be aware of the Guitar Hero/Rock Band phenomenon. Who would have thought that picking up little plastic instruments and pretending you’re a real musician could be so fun? But it is, immensely so, which is why the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises are so huge.
But as cool as Rock Band is, there is a way to make it better - make a special edition featuring The Beatles and only The Beatles. Which is exactly what is happening. The new video game, ingeniously titled The Beatles: Rock Band, features 45 Beatles tracks and is coming out for the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii later this year.
Today saw the start of E3 2009, the biggest video games show in the world. The Beatles were the star attraction on day one, with the surviving members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, unveiling the game, showing off an exclusive new demo, and revealing more details as to the track listing for the game.
Paul McCartney Plays Coachella - Mentions John Lennon, George Harrison, and Linda
April 18, 2009 by Dave Parrack
Paul McCartney may now be 66 but he can still rock out with the best of them. Which is why he was booked to close the first night of the 2009 Coachella Festival. He played a set in excess of two hours and remembered all those people in his life who have passed away.
McCartney’s set on Friday night spanned the whole of his career, with song from his days in The Beatles and Wings sitting comfortably alongside those from his later solo career and his alter-ego The Fireman.
McCartney played alongside his four-piece band for the duration although did sing alone with an acoustic guitar for part of the set. He played both the guitar and the piano, and gave the crowd all the songs they wanted to hear.
It Was 40 Years Ago Today… That The Beatles Played On Top Of Apple Building
January 30, 2009 by Dave Parrack
40 years ago today, the four members of The Beatles, plus guest keyboardist Billy Preston, played a concert on the roof of the Apple building in Saville Row, London. Although it was cut short, it’s still regarded as a momentous moment in music history.
By this time in their career, The Beatles weren’t getting on, with tensions producing some of the band’s best music in the studio, but putting paid to the notion of performing in public. This therefore ended up being the last gig the four played in public together.
The gig on the roof is now an iconic moment, but it wasn’t popular with the authorities at the time. The Metropolitan police stopped the show, first by pulling out the leads from George Harrison’s amps and then finally cutting power to the building altogether.
Paul McCartney Unhappy With McDonalds After Liverpool Restaurant Uses His Portrait
October 8, 2008 by Dave Parrack
When he was in The Beatles, Paul ‘Macca’ McCartney was a gem. As part of the best song writing duo who have ever lived, he and John Lennon created some of the best songs ever released, ones that still stand up to scrutiny today.
So what has happened since then to turn him in to one of the least friendly and humourless celebrities around?
Let’s not beat around the bush here, Paul McCartney’s solo stuff is crap. No seriously, even the big hits aren’t a patch on what he wrote and released when he was The Beatles.
How he has still got a career is beyond me. Here is a man definitely living on his past glories.
And it’s not just in his professional life that he annoys me. Sure, Heather Mills is (allegedly) a money-grabbing spawn of Satan, but McCartney himself was hardly innocent in the whole thing. He’s worth a fortune yet he tried to get out of giving his ex-wife any of it.
Then there was the recent concert in Israel, which although not a bad thing, was clearly just as much staged as a publicity stunt as it was for any kind of peace protest. And now McCartney has truly revealed his humourless and dour outlook on life by complaining that McDonald’s in Liverpool have a portrait of him on the wall.
Neil Aspinall - The Beatles Manager and Confidant Takes Secrets To The Grave
March 25, 2008 by Dave Parrack
Neil Aspinall, The Beatles manager and confidant died on Sunday night at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in Manhattan. He was there receiving treatment for lung cancer, and was only 66 when he passed away.
Aspinall was often referred to as “The Fifth Beatle”, a title which George Harrison himself gave to the man with probably the longest association with the band expect for Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Ringo Starr.
He was involved with the band from its earliest days, hanging flyers advertising their performances around Liverpool, England, as far back as 1961. He eventually became the head of Apple Corps., the company set up to manage all of The Beatles affairs.
He was also loyal to the end, refusing to write memoirs detailing his life with The Beatles, and any lurid secrets he may have had about the band’s tenure as the biggest group in the world, or any of its members goes with him to the grave.
Beatles Back Catalogue Of Songs Available For Commercials | 259 Songs & Counting
January 10, 2008 by Dave Parrack
Sony/ATV Music Publishing has opened up The Beatles back catalogue, making 259 songs available to advertisers for use in commercials.
Although open for commercial licensing, the tracks will however, have to be re-recorded by other artists, rather than the Beatles originals used in adverts.
This is the first time that Beatles songs have been available for use in commercials, and the music giant is quite protective over the material. Sony Chief executive Martin Bandier said only select brand partnerships would be considered for the deal, rather than all and sundry being allowed to latch on to the songs.
He also insisted he had a moral obligation to discuss any deals with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono and the family of George Harrison.