-Late one 1970s night, I walked across London in the rain, coming home from a screening of Let It Be, the Beatles film about making the album of the same name. I had enough money for the film, but not the train home. I got back to my off-Baker Street digs saturated and miserable. How could this great musical adventure have ended as the film seemed to portray it? Four "fab" friends as enemies, sniping and storming out, apparently distressed by the presence of John's new partner.
Film director Peter Jackson got access to all the original material - hundreds of hours of film and audio - and found an entirely different story. Four young men who still loved making music together, bringing each other's ideas to life. They were as close, still, as four people could be, their partnership strengthened by every new wave of fandom and hysteria. But they'd been together a long time, Things, and times, were changing, and they were beginning to imagine, perhaps crave, life as four solo performers. Peter Jackson's epic Get Back documentary brings all this to life in beautifully restored film and sound. You go to work with the Beatles as they go about making hit records. That is not, by any means, an exciting job - it's slow, repetitive, frustrating, elusive. In that, the many hours of Get Back gets it very right. But it's not for everyone. Many have criticised its length, and it goes way deeper than many fans would want. But it is a beautifully made and faithful account of The Beatles at work in 1969, getting near the end, making the last album they would release. I recommend it.
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Listen to the Marvelettes story
Motown Records was founded by Berry Gordy in 1959, a bold adventure that very quickly became the sound of young America. Motown had the best and brightest black American talent, an extraordinary team of songwriters, and the legendary Funk Brothers house band.
But what was Motown's first number one hit? You win big at music trivia if your answer is Please Mister Postman, by the Marvelettes, released in August 1961. Wanda Young sang on that record at age 18, the oldest group member at the time. Wanda eventually took over as lead singer, with the great Smokey Robinson writing songs specifically for her voice and style. Wanda died in December - she was 78. Tune in to the story of Wanda Young, the Marvelettes and Please Mister Postman, the song that was heard all around the world.
Listen to songs that inspired dance crazes
For centuries, there's been a fascinating relationship between music and dance. Music inspires new dances, and then dances inspire new songs.
In the recorded music era, we began to see dance crazes. The Lindy, the Jitterbug, the Twist. The 60s was full of them, and more recently, there was Walk Like An Egyptian, the Macarena and more. Put on your red shoes and get dancing. |
AuthorRichard is a writer, podcaster, radio and TV broadcaster, an editor, and a lover of music. He tells the stories of how great songs are made, and of the people who make them. Archives
March 2022
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