Beatlemania is alive and well! In the auction houses, anyway. On Wednesday night, Christie’s brought in $361,938 for 46 previously unreleased photographs documenting The Beatles’ first US visit, well-surpassing a collective estimate of $100,000 and shocking photographer Mike Mitchell, who was just 18 when he took the pictures. “I wasn’t expecting this, when I took Read More
Jim Marshall, known for his iconic photographs of sixties rock stars, died last night at age 74.
He was a favored photographer of Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin, and he was the only photographer allowed backstage at the Beatles' last concert, in San Francisco in 1966. He was also the Read More
"I have to tell you," Yoko Ono said to her audience at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Tuesday night, a few days before her 77th birthday, "you have a long life ahead of you, and it’s going to be beautiful." Her Brooklyn Academy of Music show--half concert, half tribute--was filled with all kinds Read More
In 1969, when he was 14 years old, Jerry Levitan sauntered past a row of reporters lined outside John Lennon's Toronto hotel room, knocked on the door, and convinced his favorite Beatle to give him a short interview. Mr. Lennon was about to swaddle himself in bedsheets and conduct his Montreal Bed-In for Peace with Read More
Forty-five years ago, Beatlemania was semiofficially diagnosed when the Beatles performed to an audience of millions on The Ed Sullivan Show.
A year later, they performed the very first concert ever held at Shea Stadium.
This week, Paul McCartney is back to christen that arena’s replacement, Citi Field. And while in town, he’ll be Read More
All you need is love… and a plastic guitar. Yes, the Beatles are coming to a video game near you. In a conference call this morning, billboard.com learned that MTV and Harmonix (the folks behind Rock Band) have teamed up with Apple Corps to create an interactive video game that will take players on Read More
There are two people's voices I can impersonate well: that of Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt and Project Runway frontman Tim Gunn. It seems Merritt is forever impersonating as well, or perhaps just exploring the many forms of his beloved pop and rock songcraft. (Alas, Mr. Gunn specializes in another kind of craft, one that Read More
Paying $100 million for Damien Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull seemed, to us, outrageous until this afternoon. That’s because someone just bought a lock of John Lennon’s hair—of all things—for $48,000 from the Beatles’ onetime hairdresser, Betty Glasgow. The anonymous, winning bid came into London’s Gorringes auction house over the phone. Preliminary estimates for Read More
It looks like Resident Evil: Extinction (#1) will not be following its own advice. After a $24 million dollar opening weekend, the Sony franchise based on a video game looks like it is here to stay. And it appears New Yorkers are just fine with that: the movie grossed a very respectable $337,000 at 9 Read More
WHICH TABLOID reported a false rental price for an ex-Beatle's ex? Today's Page Six reports: Heather Mills can thank her ultra-rich Hollywood pals for her quality time in the Hamptons this past weekend--she had the use of a stunning oceanfront home in Amagansett and didn't pay a dime for it, Page Six has learned. Earlier Read More
There are performers you can’t enjoy unless you learn to ignore or tolerate some aspect of their music. If the challenge is worth it, what seemed at first annoying or bewildering later seems essential. In the case of Destroyer, the obstacle is the voice of singer and songwriter Dan Bejar. A native of Vancouver, Mr. Read More
It’s easy to forget that in the early 1960’s, when the Beatles and their Brit-pop clones were invading this country, the real story was the enormous changes being wrought on British culture by postwar America. After 15 years of rebuilding, the English were finally entering a period of economic expansion, one of international optimism and Read More
Up at SEIU Local 1199's auditorium on West 43rd Street, a packed auditorium of union healthcare workers hollered and danced to an upbeat soundtrack of funk and salsa, played so loud the bass vibrated in my teeth and the most placid of press photographers were tapping their feet. "Is 1199 in the house?" yelled Read More
Paul McCartney is rumored to have at least 800 rubber ducks. Though his official spokesman denies this, the story persists on Beatles Web sites. "I've seen the collection-or at least part of it," writes Robert B. on Beatlefan.com. "Most of the ducks are quite small, but one is the size of a desk."
"Paul-who, remember, is Read MoreI have played the part of a screaming fan girl only twice in my 54 years.
The first time, I was a quivering 14-year-old chaperoned by my father at a Beatles concert in 1964. A dog-eared photo taken by a friend caught me at the height of my reverie as tears fell onto the Peter Pan Read More