Beatlesobit: Fred Arnold

Really, this is just a plug for an article over at The Arkansas Times, recording the death of Fred Arnold. The story starts as an everyday tragedy - homeless man becomes the 467th person to die in a car accident in the state in 2015 - but becomes much more:

[His friend Walter Durst] said that Arnold, who often went by the nickname Billy, had once owned a set of iconic record stores in Charleston, S.C., where he had also been a radio show host and an active promoter of punk bands in the 1980s. He said he'd visited London, Cuba and Russia (that his politics "bordered on Communist") and had also briefly lived in Colorado, as he preferred a colder climate. He said that Arnold had suffered a number of strokes in recent years, exacerbating many of his other problems. The letter, though, grew stranger as it went on. Durst claimed, for instance, that Arnold had known all the members of The Beatles, and had been particularly good friends with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. That after Lennon's death, Arnold and Ono had continued to correspond and had remained close friends. "It was one of the hardest things I have ever done," he wrote, "when I had to write to Yoko to tell her of Fred's death."

Paul McCartney absolves Yoko of split responsibility

Dammit, are they going to have rehsoot the Buffy Yoko Factor episode? Paul McCartney has said you can't blame Ono for The Beatles splitting. He says so in an interview with What Is Presumably Now Just David Frost's Head In A Jar:

"She certainly didn't break the group up, the group was breaking up. When Yoko came along, part of her attraction was her avant garde side, her view of things, so she showed him another way to be, which was very attractive to him. So it was time for John to leave, he was definitely going to leave one way or another."

Actually, that doesn't quite say it wasn't down to Ono - 'she showed him there were other things in the world and so it was time for him to leave'. Perhaps you should try again, Paul:

McCartney goes on to say that without the support of Yoko Ono, he believes Lennon would not have written songs such as 'Imagine', adding: "I don't think he would have done that without Yoko, so I don't think you can blame her for anything."

Actually, if - but for Yoko - Imagine would never have been written, it sounds to me like there's something fairly massive you can blame her for. The existence of Imagine.

Paul finally gets round to blaming Alan Klein for the split. Which makes more sense. And how noble of him to only take forty years to getting round to trying to stop fans blaming Yoko.

Imagine no possessions. Now, imagine those no possesions, but limited edition no possessions

No surprise about more overpriced Lennon tat emerging - limited edition models of Lennon's Imagine guitar coming from Gibson.

What's interesting, though, is that Gibson have announced that it wasn't their idea:

Gibson Acoustic's director of sales and marketing, Robi Johns, said Yoko Ono asked the company to release a limited number of the model of guitar that her husband played.

I don't think I can recall an instance where Yoko's instigation of a tacky cash-in was quite so publicly acknowledged.

Neil McCormick is actually sort-of right

Sometimes, we point and snigger at Neil McCormick, the Telegraph's friend of Bono music writer, but he's got a point this morning, listing the churning products of the Lennon Industry:

This is the latest offering from a posthumous, multi-million-dollar Lennon industry, partly fuelled by his widow's sometimes suspect desire to keep the flame burning. It has led to such dubious tributes as a TV commercial for the Citroën DS3, a Mont Blanc fountain pen retailing at $27,000, a limited edition Gibson Imagine guitar ($10,748), alongside the usual array of Lennon-branded mugs, clothing, books, calendars, prints and even an Imagine brand of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

I suspect Neil and I would disagree over the core of his argument. Neil insists this isn't what the man himself would want, or be doing, were he alive today; my suspicion is that Lennon would just be more careful than Yoko at merchandising the idea of the rock ascetic. But the headline?

John Lennon's 70th birthday: these tacky souvenirs and adverts insult his memory

I think we can agree on that.

John Lennon time capsule to be stuck in cupboard at JMU

Together at last - the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and John Moores University, as some sort of time capsule thing will be stored at both to mark Lennon's 70th birthday.

With the co-operation of Yoko Ono Lennon, the three time capsules will each include; John Lennon’s entire body of post-Beatles recordings, newly restored art prints of his LP artwork, rare memorabilia, a newly commissioned essay on John’s career, plus additional key items to help preserve his legacy and spirit for future generations.

In addition to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio USA, the second Time Capsule storage location has now been named as the Liverpool John Moores University.

You've got to love that co-operation of Yoko, as if it's awfully hard to get her to agree to something to keep her lucrative brand afloat.

So it sounds like it's a box set with a couple of knobs on. Quite how this will differ from anything on the shelves of the nearby HMV isn't clear. Apart from everyone planning it still to be there in 2040, of course.

[E]ach of [the three capsules] will be re-opened in a world-wide ceremony on October 9th, 2040, the 100th anniversary of John Lennon’s birth.

One will be locked up in Cleveland; the location of the third box is still up for whoever wants it.

Now, of course, a box of just records that you can find anywhere is hardly likely to get the post-apocalypse kids excited, so will there be anything else in the box?

The general public are invited to contribute to the John Lennon Time Capsule by submitting birthday wishes, commentaries, musical performances and personal thoughts online, at www.BoxOfVision.com/TimeCapsule. After the closing date of October 1st, the fan contributions will be collated and included in the 3 Time Capsules

You've got to love that "general public" - could that be any more condescending? Maybe the original draft had "schmucks" in but they decided to soften it.

Is anyone actually clearing their diaries to turn up to see a bunch of mawkish fan mail and a tape of Imagine There's No Heaven being opened in 2040?

It's a long way off. Given the way the current government is destroying the public sector, maybe there's as much hope of Liverpool JMU being around as there is of HMV.

Yoko Ono suggests charity promotes the Lennon brand

Pepsi are currently running a charity campaign in the US. Causes looking for funding can bid, encourage people to vote for them, and if they're at the top of the poll at the end of the month, the charity gets the cash.

It's perhaps a bit unfortunate that Pepsi decide to turn their generosity into a gameshow, but for small charities, it's an extra avenue of potential funds so it isn't all bad.

But hang about: what's this?

YOKO ONO is urging JOHN LENNON fans to celebrate the late BEATLES star's 70th birthday by voting for his Educational Tour Bus to win a $250,000 (£156,250) charity grant.

The mobile recording and multimedia studio enables youngsters in the U.S. to record their own music, with sound engineers on hand to help students produce projects.

Ono wants to take the initiative global to coincide with what would have been Lennon's 70th birthday in October - and she's eyeing a cash sum from the latest Pepsi Refresh Celebrity Challenge.

So this bus - splattered with the Lennon brand, you'll notice - needs less than £200,000 to get on the road.

Couldn't Ono write a cheque for that without even breaking a sweat, instead of throwing the bus into a battle for a limited pot of cash against other groups who can't draw on the name of a dead pop star to push their cause? It's a bit like staging a Beatles gig in the same village at the same time as the fete to raise funds for the new Church roof, surely?

[If you want to vote for someone, why not vote for Denver's splendid Center For Hearing, Speech and Language's literacy project?]

Yoko Ono tells world "you go on ahead without us"

Seemingly convinced anyone really cares, Yoko Ono has given an update on how negotiations between Apple and The Beatles are going:

"Steve Jobs has his own idea and he's a brilliant guy," Ono, the 77-year-old widow of John Lennon, told Reuters. "There's just an element that we're not very happy about, as people. We are holding out.

"Don't hold your breath ... for anything," she said with a laugh.

I suspect Steve Jobs' brilliant idea might be that they get the tracks onto iTunes and start making some money while there are still two people who might want digital Beatles who haven't already ripped a copy or torrented them down.

Sean Lennon denies Yoko selling out his Dad for money

Oh, sure, Yoko Ono might have pocketed a bunch of cash for letting Citreon chop John Lennon into an advert. But Sean Lennon is keen to defend his mother - it's not about the money at all:

Writing on micro-blogging site Twitter, Sean Lennon said the ad was "not for money" but was intended to keep his father "out there in the world".

"Having just seen [the] ad I realize why people are mad," he wrote. "But [the] intention was not financial."

Yes. That'd be it. Given that it's about a full ten minutes since The Beatles were all over the media with the computer game and the re-releases, it's quite possible that people might have forgotten Lennon ever existed.

But... hang on: why would you need to make a car advert to promote Lennon?

[Lennon] defended his mother, saying she was merely "hoping to keep dad in [the] public consciousness".

The ad, he said, meant "exposure to [the] young". "Not many things as effective as TV," he continued.

Yes. That's what you think of when someone mentions John Lennon, isn't it? "He's that guy who was on the Ed Sullivan Show a while back, wasn't he?"

Sean could say "look, my Dad loved money as much as anyone and Yoko's just worked out that he's reached a point where he's more valuable as a cash-cow than a pretend hippie. If he hadn't been shot, Lennon would be doing Nespresso adverts and writing start-up jingles for Microsoft." Trying to pretend that flogging cars is simply a way of keeping a philosopher's flame alive just makes everyone look silly as well as grubby.

Yoko Ono suggests she might want to sell copies of her memoirs

You don't say, Ms Ono:

Yoko Ono has hinted that she may write about life with The Beatles and her late husband John Lennon in her memoirs.

Well, yes. Assuming she wants to be given a cheque by a publisher in return for writing them, you rather think she would.

Yoko has high hopes for The Beatles game

The Beatles computer game isn't all about making more money for The Beatles and their estates, you know.

Oh, no; it's going to usher in a new era of world peace, says Yoko:

She explained: "I think game is the second revolution. In the beginning they made a splash with their music; with the video game we're going to create a planet of music and art.

"Music and art are both very interesting healing vibrations, and with that vibration we can create the world we've always wanted, a world of peace."

You only have to look at the love and peace that's broken out over on the other franchise, where Kurt Cobain channels Bon Jovi, to see just how right Ono is.

Briefly Beatles: Sky News announce iTunes, retract

For a short period earlier this week, Sky News was apparently reporting an announcement by Yoko Ono of The Beatles coming to iTunes:

The story kicked off with the headline:

“The whole of the Beatles back catalogue will be made available to buy on iTunes, Yoko Ono has told Sky News.”

But almost immediately after publishing the story Sky News killed it, leaving nothing but a blank page in its wake. Google News had a cache of it for a brief time, but that too has apparently disappeared in record time.

Techcrunch speculated this might have spoiled the big surprise that Steve Jobs had yet to unveil, and that Apple heavies had forced Sky News to recant.

(Oh, as if - for, as James Murdoch has made expressly clear, Sky News is run to make money, and profit guarantees independence from such machinations, right?)

It turns out, though, that Yoko was speaking out of turn and Sky News pulled the story in interests of not being totally inaccurate.

[Thanks to Michael M]

Gordon in the morning: Mercury rising

Yesterday, readers of Gordon's column were sent to the bookies almost certain of a Mercury win for Florence And The Machine, mainly - admittedly - on the strength of 'giving Gordon an excuse to print a sexy picture':

FLORENCE WELCH is the front-runner to scoop glory at tonight's Mercury Music Awards.

And if she does bag the 20 grand prize for 2009's best album, I suspect that by the end of the evening she could be pulling a similar pose to this - crawling around London's Grosvenor House Hotel.

So, this morning Sun readers must be... apparently not at all surprised at the outcome:

The Sun's Something For The Weekend section said last week that Speech was the "most deserving" nominee.

Still, regardless of Speech's win, Gordon knows where the moral victory is, and marks the occasion with a large, sexy photo of Florence Welch in a short leather skirt.

Elsewhere, Yoko Ono popped up at the GQ "man of the year" awards. You can calibrate how well-judged these prizes are by considering that they believe Guy Ritchie to be filmmaker of the year and George Osbourne to be politician of the year (a view which even David Cameron would double-take.) Yoko's appearance was yet another part of the grinding publicity for the Beatles Game ("was quite a coup for the magazine publishers"), but she ended up being asked to talk about Take That:

Beaming Yoko said: "I love Shine. I know most of their greatest hits. They're a great British band."

It might sound like faint praise to you, but she didn't have to write any of the names on her hand, and she didn't go "that one from the adverts with Alan Hansen in - that's one of theirs, isn't it?"

Gordon, though, senses high praise:

And the feeling's mutual.

Mark said: "It's amazing that Yoko thinks that about our music. It is an honour to accept an award from her."

"I quite like some of their greatest hits" and "it's nice that Yoko quite likes our greatest hits". Mutual love-in, isn't it?

By the time this has been processed for an article teaser, it comes out as this:

Yoko Ono: TT are new Fab 4

JOHN Lennon’s widow is a big fan of the man band – naming Shine as her favourite track

Or at least the one that somebody whispered in her ear before she went on stage.

The Beatles: Now a bit like Sonic The Hedgehog

The appearance of The Beatles on Rock Band - uniting the world's most over-rated band with one of the most perplexing toys - is about to unleash its hypewave over us, starting with a massive chunk of Wired reporting on the process of turning The Beatles songs into games:

At the end of the video presentation, the two surviving flesh-and-blood band members, Ringo Starr, 69, and Paul McCartney, 67, take the stage for a surprise appearance. Standing side by side, the pair look slightly befuddled by the moment. For these been-there, done-that rockers, flogging a videogame is a first. "We love the game, it's fantastic," McCartney says. "Who would've ever thought we'd end up as androids?" No one, perhaps, except a few ambitious executives at MTV.

The constant suggestion is that The Beatles doing anything related to commerce is unusual - ooh, you persuaded The Beatles to make even more money; how cunning. It does, though, fly in the face of the evidence of Beatles tea towels and shoelaces that shows that the question is never about the idea of a deal, just a debate over how much cash we're talking about.

Still, at least the MTV team who made the game really understand The Beatles, don't they?

[A]lthough Martin and Rigopulos had figured out how to marry the Beatles' music to the Rock Band format, the developers still had a long way to go. The original Rock Band let players assume the role of a generic rocker and gradually gain experience and a bigger repertoire, thus accessing more fans, cooler clothes, bigger venues, a larger entourage, and all the other accoutrements of rock-and-roll stardom. "Right away, we realized this wouldn't work for the Beatles," Rigopulos says. "They had all that stuff—fans, money, stardom—almost from the beginning.

Eh? Right from the beginning? Well, I suppose if you ignore the bit between 1957 and the back end of 1962, they did.

Still, at least there is something realistic in the game's make-up: it's been buggered about by Yoko Ono:

By spring, the Harmonix crew had completed a rough build of the entire game. Yoko Ono, whose involvement up to then had been minimal, decided to fly to Boston to provide her own distinct brand of input. "She gave the designers hell," DeGooyer says.

"She's an artist," Rigopulos adds, "so she was very concerned with the look of the game. She really held our feet to the fire." Ono made specific suggestions, like proposing that the game's final scene—the Beatles' infamous rooftop concert on the Apple Corps building in Knightsbridge — look windier.

Her criticism sent Harmonix scurrying to improve the graphics. At that point, the E3 conference and the game's debut was just three months away. "We were like, oh, gee. Thanks," Rigopulos says. "It would have been nice to know that six months ago, but yes, thank you very much."

They did hold fast in the face of her proposals that the digital version of John Lennon should actually quit the digital version of the band and instead make songs about how it's terrible having money from the top of a massive pile of money.

Still, the fans will surely be falling over each other in order to get what they believe is the finest body of recorded work from the finest band which ever lived, in order to see how much better it would have been if they'd played bass and Larry's girl from over the road was on drums instead.

Mojo woo-hoos Yoko Ono

The Mojo awards for 2009 or whenever have rolled around again, building the publicity on a lifetime achievement award for Yoko Ono:

Mojo chief editor Phil Alexander, who hosted the event, praised Ono, 76, as "a huge influence on modern music".

"She may have been married to one of the most famous men in the world, but she also helped change music as we know it in her own right," he added.

"First, by introducing avant-garde sensibilities to her husband but, just as significantly, by continuing to push the boundaries of what was deemed the norm way after that."

And she broke up The Beatles. Don't forget she broke up The Beatles.

Actually, she probably deserves an award for having had to put up with people blaming her for breaking up The Beatles for the last four decades. Especially since people make it sound like that would have been a bad thing to do.

Sorry, did I say "award"? I meant honour, of course. These are the Mojo Honours, which - according to the magazine - "salutes the timeless, the ineffable". Duffy did well last year. So unutterable as well, then.

This year's other winn... sorry, honorees:
The Les Paul Trophy: Billy Gibbons
Classic songwriter: Johnny Marr
Best live band: Fleet Foxes
Some sort of medal in honour of his label having lasted fifty years, despite having put out Cranberries records: Chris Blackwell
Inspiration: Blur
Best album: Paul Weller - 22 Dreams
Song Of The Year: Elbow - A Day Like This
Hall Of Fame: Mott The Hoople
Breakthrough act: White Lies
Compilation Of The Year - Take Me To The River: A Southern Soul Story
Vision Award - Joy Division
Catalogue Award - Miles Davis (Kind Of Blue 50th Anniversary Edition)
Classic Album Award - The Zombies (Odessey And Oracle)
Maverick Award - Manic Street Preachers
Hero Award - The Pretty Things
Outstanding Contribution To Music - Joe Brown
Roots Awards - Topic Records
Icon Award - Phil Lynott

It's probably fair to say that this is the most eclectic set of award winners - and probably the most interesting Mojo prizewinners list, but it still doesn't really feel like anything beyond an attempt to remind the world that Mojo is still publishing.

Gordon in the morning: Confusing victory with bungling

Back when Alex James was running a record label with Joe Strummer and Damien Hirst, he had a look at Coldplay, and decided not to sign them. That makes sense. Not to Gordon, though, who confuses this with an error:

THERE are dozens of ex-music bosses around the country drowning their sorrows in the boozer over how they “almost” signed a huge band.
[...]
Now ALEX JAMES from BLUR has revealed he is in the bungling music bigwig’s club for failing to sign COLDPLAY when he had a record label for a short time in the late Nineties.
[...]
If he had signed Coldplay, Alex would now be basking in the glory of being a member of one of the country’s best Britpop bands AND finding their replacement.

You can see the problem here - Gordon has seen that Blur sold lots of records, and Coldplay sell lots of records, and so they're pretty much the same sort of thing.

A more appropriate way of looking at it would be that Alex James came dangerously close to churning out soulless-but-pleasant records, but luckily avoided it.

He saw Coldplay, he saw nothing special. I don't see any bungling.

By the way: Yes, he did run a label with Hirst and Strummer - and, of course, Keith Allen. Keith was keen for the label, Turtleneck, to sign Lily. They didn't do that, either, in the end. Let's hope Gordon doesn't find out about that one, eh?

Meanwhile, Gordon has a chat with Lady GaGa:

LADY GAGA rang Bizarre yesterday to stake her claim as the figurehead for a new generation of Girl Power.

Really? Lady GaGa is comparing herself to the Spice Girls, is she?

She said: “When JOHN LENNON was talking about YOKO ONO he used to say that women possessed a wisdom that no man could have.
[...]
“[Madonna] not a bad comparison but I want to be respected as an artist in my own right.

“BOWIE, PRINCE and GRACE JONES were all famous for their style and fashion, so I think it’s a tradition pop stars should maintain.”

The one act she clearly isn't comparing herself to is The Spice Girls.

Fifth Beatle only Beatle at own funeral

Given that he was so central to guiding their business for so many years, how touching that, erm, neither Ringo nor Macca appear to have gone to Neil Aspinall's funeral.

Yoko and, erm, Stella McCartney managed to make it to Twickenham.

Ms Ono goes to Liverpool

One of the attractions of Liverpool's year as one of Europe's two capitals of culture was a visit from Yoko Ono.

Well, we say "attractions", it was certainly on the diary.

Yoko loves Liverpool so much, she often pops back. Sometimes twice in a decade. This time, she was thrilled:

“I’m sure John would have been totally proud of it and I am too.

“I hope it will be a contribution to Capital of Culture in the sense that I wanted to give some love and encouragement and inspiration to people while doing this.

“I think Capital of Culture is so grand and just the thing to make the next generation very different.”

Although since the supposed point of the Capital of Culture is to celebrate the cultural contribution of a place, shouldn't the aim be for the next generation to be exactly the same (as in, equally creative and that.)

We love the contention that Lennon woulde be "totally proud" - given that he hardly set foot in the place after Love Me Do came out, it's hard to see exactly what he'd be proud of.

Talking of former Beatles, Ono attempted to defend Ringo's reputation after he laughed at the very idea of the place on Jonathan Ross' programme:

“Ringo loves Liverpool. If someone said anything bad about Liverpool he would punch them.

“I suppose he just didn’t want to say the predictable, you know, when people are asked if they love their mother and of course they say yes. It’s his sense of humour.”

We've rubbed our eyes a couple of times reading this: Is she suggesting that a hollow laugh when asked what you miss about the city is a joshing response? And since when did Starr ever try to avoid doing the predictable?

The Yoko Factor

Yoko Ono has found the time to put a sympathetic hand on Heather Mills' shoulder:

Ono has urged Mills to 'stay strong'. She says, "It's not very easy for a woman to be associated with the Beatles. I think all the wives did suffer but suffer quietly and endured." Yoko also says the mother-of-one "needs to do her very best and try to survive."

Ono's "quiet suffering" includes lawsuits against EMI, cutting deals with Nike to use Instant Karma on adverts for plimsoles, flogging Lennon's artwork to create a range of baby clothing and signing off on using his face to promote Speke Airport. The suffering mostly involves having to look at the large cash sums in your pocketbook without whooping out loud.

Let's hope Mills can somehow figure out a way to "survive" on twenty five million, eh?

It might seem odd that Ono - who has always portrayed herself as a diligent widow tending the flame of the her husband's legacy - might offer so much support to Heather, although 'pursuing a vendetta with Paul McCartney' might suggest an element of common cause.

[Thanks to Michael M for the link]

Yoko is all over the internet

Yoko Ono is busily sending messages out to the internet to try and quash the claims that she's suing Lennon Murphy to stop her using the name. Her defence has popped up on Idolator and Boing Boing already:

Dear Friends

A musician named Lennon Murphy is claiming that Yoko Ono has sued her and that Yoko is seeking to stop Lennon Murphy from performing under her name, Lennon Murphy. Both of these claims are untrue.

Several years ago, Lennon Murphy sought Yoko's permission to do her performances under her name, Lennon Murphy. Yoko, of course, did not object to her request. Subsequently, without Yoko's knowledge, Lennon Murphy filed an application in the United States trademark Office requesting the exclusive right to utilize the name "Lennon" for musical performances. Yoko's attorneys asked Lennon Murphy's attorneys and manager to withdraw her registration of exclusivity to the name LENNON for the trademark. Yoko also offered to cover all costs Lennon Murphy had incurred in filing for the trademark. But Lennon Murphy went ahead to register.

Yoko did not sue Lennon Murphy, but sought to stop her from getting the exclusive right to the name Lennon for performance purposes. For that, Yoko's attorneys, simply notified the Trademark office that Yoko did not believe it was fair that Ms. Murphy be granted the exclusive right to the "Lennon" trademark in relation to musical and entertainment services. As you can see, this is a very important issue for Yoko and the Lennon family.

Yoko says: "I am really hurt if people thought that I told a young artist to not use her own name in her performances and had sought to sue her. I did no such thing. I hope this allegation will be cleared."

Thank you for your kind attention,

Yoko

As Karl T pointed out when he drew our attention to this, "Yoko" appears to have an interesting way of approaching talking about herself - not only talking about herself in the third person, like "George is getting upset", but also quoting herself. Oddly, though, when Yoko quotes herself, she suddenly starts to talk about herself in the first person again.

The odd thing, though, is the original source of the story - a letter from Lennon Murphy claiming she was being sued, posted on Julian Lennon's MySpace with the introduction:

Sad but True & interesting........... I feel for her & know the situation well

So, then, rather than Yoko's word against Murphy's, it seems almost as if you're having to choose if you believe the widow or the first born. Curious.

Ono sues Lennon

Wandering the streets of Liverpool - especially in the 1980s - you'd often hear mothers screeching "Lennon!" as they called their kids in for their tea. Oddly, McCartney never took off in the same way as a first name.

The Beatley-inspired naming, though, is now causing problems: Yoko Ono is trying to stop Lennon Murphy for singing under her own name.

Apparently it was stopping Yoko imagining all the world living in large houses peace or something.

Lennon Murphy had asked Yoko if it was alright for her to appear under the Lennon name - which was something of courtesy, as it's got nothing to do with Ono - but Yoko flipped when she found out that Murphy had registered her name as a trademark. Apparently Ono considers this a "tarnishment" - whereas, of course, a mean-spirited, money-grabbing legal campaign against a person using their own name throws nothing but glorious light on John Lennon PLC and its CEO.