Untitled Beatles Podcast

Originally aired May 22, 2021

-----

The British Rubber Soul is for the birds! OK, that might be a little aggressive. The album's a masterpiece, but T.J. and Tony make a pretty compelling argument that nobody really misses "What Goes On," and that Dave Dexter's U.S. version for Capitol Records is just a superior collection.

It's so fine.

It's sunshine.

It's PART TWO of our U.S. Rubber Soul deep dish. And along the way, we ponder:

Where does journalist Maureen Cleave fit into the lineup: Is she the fifth Beatle... or THE THIRD?

And where does Ed McMahon land? (Spoiler: the ninth Beatle.)

Which iconic songs would the guys etch into their solo Eagles Mt. Rushmores?

"Run For Your Life" may not age well, but we like to think our dumb Peter Cetera jokes will. YOU BE THE JUDGE.

 

EPISODE LINKS:

Check out our Pandora playlist!

Check out UBP's videos on  TikTok/YouTube/Facebook/Instagram!

Please support our scrappy show. Score some merch or find us on Patreon!

We want all your corrections, hot takes, conspiracy theories, and love notes! Come hang out with us on Facebook.

Help spread the worrrrrrrrrrrrrd about our show: rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen!

Originally aired May 15, 2021

-----

Hey hey! It's our birthday, and we're gonna have a good time. And amazingly, T.J. managed to do an entire year's worth of podcasts before finally cutting loose on his all-time favorite version of his all-time favorite album: the Capitol Records U.S. edition of Rubber Soul. Dave Dexter helps the Fab Four find their inner folksters, and, not to spoil the podcast or anything: TONY AND T.J. ENTHUSIASTICALLY APPROVE.

In Part 1 of their deep dish, the guys remember how they first discovered Rubber Soul, compare and contrast the U.S. and British releases, and dig into the first few tracks. But there's so much good stuff to talk about, we'll have to finish out the album in Part 2 next week. As always, we got a little distracted along the way, making sure to cover crucial tangents like:

What are our least favorite words for "excrement"?

Which Buffalo reigns supreme: Buffalo Springfield, Buffalo Stance, or Dabney Coleman's early 80s sitcom Buffalo Bill?

Where does Norwegian Wood sit among the all-time great pyromaniac songs?

Really, we can't believe we've been at this for a whole year (or that we still haven't come up with a title for the podcast). We couldn't do it without this wonderful community of Fab Four fanatics. Thanks for coming along on this long and meandering road, and here's to another trip around the sun!

 

EPISODE LINKS:

What do you want to hear in Year 2 of the Untitled Beatles Podcast? Shout at us on Facebook.

Help other Beatlegeeks find the fun: rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

Go listen to all the great music we cover! Check out this week's Pandora playlist.

Check out UBP's videos on  TikTok/YouTube/Facebook/Instagram!

Like and subscribe!

Please support our scrappy show. Score some merch or find us on Patreon!

Drop us a review on Apple Podcasts!

“Oklahoma was never like this?” Really, Sir Paul? AGAIN with the complaining about the 1999, Hugh Jackman-led revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s first banger? Oh sure, Paul - go ahead and be all Tipper Gore-y about that opening scene where Aunt Eller is churning butter like some barnyard horndog, milking every delicate inch of that up and down churn work. And don’t get me started on how Paul handled the edits to the “Farmer & The Cowman” dance break! He (allegedly) threw the London Cast Recording CD at Heather Mills!! That's a $17.99 CD, my guy!

 

Who the hell knows what Macca was talking about in his 1986 semi-hit, “Press”. But we’ll be damned if it isn’t one of the best pure pop songs of the mid 80’s. Much like the album from which it came, it’s never gotten the love it’s so obviously due. Until now, as Tony & T.J. freshly (?) assess side two of “Press To Play” with open arms (#Journey) and open eyes (#Incubus). Along the way, they ask (rather intuitively, if we do say so ourselves):

 

🧵 Is Press To Play the “Designing Women” of McCartney’s catalog, and does that make Eddie Rayner Meshach Taylor?

 

🚢 Has anyone checked on El Debarge (“The Debarge”, en ingles)? Like, will he short circuit if he doesn’t finally figure out who’s holding Donna, now?

 

🥔 Angry Chicago Guy (He’s bleeding, but in a good way): HOW COME THEY NAMED A STREET AFTER POTATO ICON ORE IDA B. WELLS BUT YOU CAN’T FIND TATER SKINS AT DOMINICKS NO MORE?
 
 

EPISODE LINKS

Check out UBP's videos on  TikTok/YouTube/Facebook/Instagram!

Like and subscribe!

Please support our scrappy show. Score some merch or find us on Patreon!

Drop us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Forgive us, dear reader, for sounding Jaded. But most real McCartney fans will admit that Aerosmith’s 2001 LP “Just Push Play” is better than literally any solo Macca; and perhaps even better than most Beatles albums. (*Does not include “Live At The Star Club Vol. 2”)

But, in turn, would there even be an Aerosmith without Macca’s 1986 offering, “Press To Play”? We’ll leave that to the rock scholars to decide. But one thing is for sure: “Press To Play” is now officially 40 years old, or, in U.S. presidential terms, at least three decades older than the girls a certain orange baboon used to regularly party with. (In fairness, it’s tough for real patriots to get too worked up about that, especially when Obama once wore a tan suit.)

T.J.’s been in love with this cassette since its release the summer of 1986. Tony’s had the opposite reaction since he was contractually obligated to listen to the album twice, in 2020 and 2026; in brave service of arguably America’s Favorite Podcast (TM).

This week, the Gab Two discuss whether “Press To Play” has aged well and warrants more respect in Macca's catalog. Does it deserve an Archive Collection reissue before or after “Ocean’s Kingdom”? Are there more remixes of “Press” than there are takes of “Not Guilty”? And what about the other pertinent Beatles questions you won’t hear on woke Newsmax, like:

👋💨 Is Phil Collins’ best release, “Hello…I Must Be Going [And He Never Returned]”? And for the answer, should somebody bring Phil Collins in?

💔🕺 Can Tony retire from his collection of mint, K-Tel Breakdancing LP’s? And is the greatest song about breakdancing Irene Cara’s “Breakdancing”?

💀🚫 Did the sad origins of the “MAHA” movement emanate directly from Mac & Jack’s Wonder Potion? #SaySaySay

 

EPISODE LINKS

Check out UBP's videos on  TikTok/YouTube/Facebook/Instagram!

Like and subscribe!

Please support our scrappy show. Score some merch or find us on Patreon!

Drop us a review on Apple Podcasts!

Listen.
Do you hear that?
Those are crickets.
Crickets at the Marriott Suites O’Hare, abandoned site of Chicago’s Fest for Beatles Fans. Unfortunately, there are no humans at this year’s festival as it has been postponed to retool. #KitO’ReToole

Some of the crickets are in ill-fitting Sgt Pepper costumes, others don obscure Beatles ephemera while wacking tambos to off-key “Yellow Submarine” singalongs, and a small number of lonely small-minded crickets are still wearing their pit-stained anti-Yoko t-shirts, repping for the original incels.

Oh and look!
There’s even an aphid who’s a Pete Best Look-A-Like and a corn weevil that’s dressed up like Freddy Krueger for reasons unknown.

As all the bugs scramble for crumbs of pre-packaged microwaveable hoagies while waiting for “Termites from Midge Ure’s Tour Bus” to perform a medley of deep cuts from Press To Play, the Goys of Dum Dum Lame, joined by Producer Casey, are here to gab sad about this year’s absence of fab community celebration. Let’s take a few questions from the crickets:

🎤 Why does Mike Love lip sync live in concert to RFK’s rendition of “Kokomo”?

🥽 With regards to the future of the festival, will there be a VR helmet to unsee “Give My Regards To Broad Street”?

🎵 Angry Drunk Chicago Cricket: HOW KUM DA KAREEOKE KARENS WON’T LET ME SING “GIVE ANT FARMS BACK TO THE ANTISH"?? WHADDOO DEY GOT AGAINST ANTS?  MY GREAT GRAMPA WUZ HALF ANT!!

Plus Producer Casey has the boys play a game and T.J. reveals how many BeatleFests he has attended in his half-century on earth. Wait. He doesn’t reveal this. Well, okay. The answer is also a number associated with a Ringo Starr #1 from “simpler times.”

 

EPISODE LINKS

Check out UBP's videos on  TikTok/YouTube/Facebook/Instagram!

Like and subscribe!

Please support our scrappy show. Score some merch or find us on Patreon!

Drop us a review on Apple Podcasts!