Hello all;
This comes to you on a most auspicious day in Beatles history: sixty-two years ago tonight, the New World got rocked and rolled by something that few suspected in advance would be a watershed moment in the culture. Now for years, the number “73 million” has entered the discourse as the count of the population that was tuned in. (Whether it was 73 million individual pairs of eyeballs or 73 million households - because how would anyone know how many people were watching in each house? - is unclear.) As noted here, I attended the inaugural Everything Fab Four conference in November 2025, and while there, I took in a presentation by Wally Podrazik and Harry Castleman. If the names aren’t completely familiar, let me clarify: Harry and Walter penned a series of scholarly (in terms of serious research) but eminently readable volumes on The Beatles starting back in the 1970s: All Together Now - The Beatles Again? - The End of The Beatles?. Each of these represented groundbreaking studies of their discographies, including foreign releases and “Dutch imports.”
Walter and Harry, November 2025 in Asbury Park
But more importantly, Beatles wasn’t their only thing: Harry and Walter also produced Watching TV (currently in its 4th edition), a single volume but encyclopedic study of the medium. (There’s also the fun Harry and Walter’s Favorite TV Shows, a collection of entertaining opinions - a nice read if your pockets are deep enough.) The point being, these guys know Beatles and they know TV history. So the presentation they did featured a number of fascinating facets melding the two areas of study together, but my biggest take-away was something they discussed that had never occurred to me to question previously: that number, 73 million. It had been presented as an established, accepted fact in so many places that I just presumed that at some point somebody unimpeachable had verified this. But according to Harry and Walter, no it wasn’t - in fact their study strongly suggests that it was a number pulled out of the air and accepted without question. So whatever the actual number of viewers was, perhaps the more important fact is that yes, without question, that evening represented a bona fide moment when millions of lives were changed, undoubtedly for the better. In that, I’m confident we can all agree.
Or, Chicagoans could’ve tuned into Vince Guaraldi, a year before Peanuts rocked HIS world.
NEWS
I thought this was pretty cool: the British Film Institute announced the re-discovery of a 1967 film - Memory - that stands as a sort of alternate universe promo film for “Penny Lane.” It was directed by Ian McMillan - I know what you’re thinking - not “Iain MacMillan,” the photographer who gave us the Abbey Road album cover, nor this guy either, but instead someone who ended up - wait for it! - as cinematographer on Give My Regards To Broad Street (!) in 1984. The 1967 film doesn’t feature any Beatles in it, but is instead a charming interpretation of the lyrics, apparently shot on location (someone will clarify either way). McMillan’s credits include Violent Playground and A Night To Remember (both 1958), as well as Oh! What A Lovely War (1969), Yessongs (1975) and Event Horizon (1997), plus as a number of short subjects and commercials. Exactly why this film was produced or where it may have been broadcast (if anywhere) is unclear, but it goes to show that Beatles artifacts continue to show up all the time. (Most online reports blocked accessing the actual video in the US, but because we are all friends, here.)
Record Store Day 2026 releases are being announced - you can check out the official UK site here. It comes on April 18 around the world; so far, there are two Harrison titles announced (zoetrope editions of Dark Horse and Extra Texture) and one Lennon (“meditation mixes” of “Love,” spread out over 3 discs). Additionally, the 2010 remaster of Badfinger’s No Dice (the one with “No Matter What” and “Without You”) arrives on vinyl for the first time, in this case orange. Surprisingly, no McCartney and/or Wings or Ringo releases for RSD have been announced yet but I’ll keep you posted.
But a non-RSD Paul release was announced on Friday: a soundtrack to the Man on the Run film, featuring three “previously unreleased” tracks. Not to be confused with last year’s Wings collection, this is something else entirely, featuring solo as well as Wings tracks, plus oddities like “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance” from the 1973 James Paul McCartney TV special. On Sir Paul’s website, a limited “New York Taxi” yellow vinyl edition was announced; I believe it’s sold out already, no surprise. (Maybe that leaves those who missed it with the “London Taxi” edition, pressed in evocative black vinyl.)
On the subject of the Man on the Run film, there will be a global one-night-only screening on February 19th, details here. It’s due to stream on Amazon Prime starting on February 27th.
May Pang announced that her documentary , The Lost Weekend: A Love Story, is coming to (or is on) Tubi for free, for those who have access. Highly recommended!
And then there is the Mark Lewisohn film, drawn from his recent lecture series, Evolver ‘62. It was announced as being available in February 2026. To anyone interested: watch this space…
PASSINGS NOTED
The big one this past week was Chuck Negron, the mustachioed singer from the Three Dog Night trio. His loss makes Danny Hutton the surviving singer (Cory Wells passed in 2015.) Chuck’s story was fascinating (and harrowing); he told all in his memoir, Three Dog Nightmare. But you can glean plenty to know about the act that scored an astonishing 18 US top twenty hits in a five-year period in this interview. Just as an interesting aside: though TDN never tackled a “Beatles” song per se, they did cover this Lennon-McCartney original , originally penned in 1964 for Cilla Black, on their 1968 debut album, revealing their strength in recording material largely overlooked by the masses (as well as reinventing it from the ground up).
And then there was Vic Garbarini. As far as someone in Beatles world goes, this journalist/writer/editor should be a familiar name. First there was his role as editor at Musician magazine. For me personally, it was a go-to journal for many years, for its wonderful interviews and articles as well as reviews. Now most fans are surely familiar with this book, published not long after John’s murder. Vic was the credited co-writer, and for a quickie book, it’s a keeper.
But perhaps most importantly, there was the interview Vic conducted with Paul, also in 1980. It ran in Musician magazine, catching him in that period post-Japan and around the release of McCartney II. Arguably it was his most significant post-Beatles conversation to that point, and while not as incendiary as Lennon Remembers, it was rich enough to warrant a life beyond the printed page: not in book form but as a limited edition vinyl album. (You can hear the conversation here.)
They also served:
LaMonte McLemore of the Fifth Dimension
Fred Smith of Television
Greg Brown of Cake
Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down
HISTORY
I know I mentioned this a year ago this week but for those joining the SATB Newsletter (already in progress), February 11 is one of those days in Beatles history just loaded with events:
1963: The recording of the Please Please Me album
1964: The first US concert, held in Washington DC
1965: Ringo married Maureen
1966: Peter and Gordon's "Woman" single released, written by Paul under a pseudonym
1968: "Hey Bulldog" was tracked in EMI's studio three on a day when they gathered simply to produce footage to use for a "Lady Madonna" promo
1970: John tapes a promotional appearance for Top of the Pops for "Instant Karma"
2025: Ribbons of Rust Volume 1 published.
SATB
The new episode, my conversation with Sam Popkin, “Our Guitarist George,” is out now. Coming next: something no one saw coming. Also coming soon: a re-design of the SATB website.
To all Illustrated Record show folks - the response was massive and I am working up a schedule, so hang in there!
And speaking of Olympics, Cat Stevens has made the grade.
All best,
RR
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