Remastered Beatles Catalogue

As all hardcore Beatles fans know by now, the surviving two Beatles and the two Beatle widows finally got their act together and approved the release of the classic remastered albums due to arrive for sale September 9th. You can get a preview of the songs at Beatles.com. Apple isn't doing long suffering Beatle fans any favors though by not including any extra's on the CD's; which, you can buy separately; or, in the expensive box set. Apple could have made one box set and included the stereo and mono versions but (this is Apple we are talking about here)....you will have to buy The Stereo Box set which is listed for $207.98 at Amazon or the Mono Set for $239.99. So if you are a completist and want both sets it's going to cost you about $450.00. Well, I'd say screw Apple, I've got two ears so why do I want mono anyway? However, there are differences in the mono versions and the stereo versions.

Back when the Beatles were recording in the 60's most people had mono hi-fi sets as stereo sets were still considered for high end enthusiasts. All the hits we heard first were either on tinny AM car or transistor radio's. Stereo console systems were big pieces of furniture that my grandparents owned which is where I used to listen to my stereo albums until my parents finally bought a Magnavox in 1971. Consequently, singles and albums were mastered and engineered first for mono. Then the albums would be remixed for stereo with different final takes. Many audiophiles swear that the mono mixes are better. Not me. I want to listen in stereo even if it's in the fake stereo of putting the vocals on one channel and the instruments on the other. It would be a great reward for Beatles fans if the mono tracks were given to us as a bonus for having to listen to old crappy 1980's technology while inferior bands have had their stuff updated and remastered with state of the art technology for years. It's probably why vinyl has been trying to make a comeback.

The Beatles in the comics.

Growing up in the 60's meant that you saw the Beatles in many publications not the least of which were comic books. I'm not going to talk about comics that were one shot issues that were produced specifically to feature the Beatles. Naturally the DC and Marvel romance comics would have an issue where the Beatles were mentioned as a back drop to some soap opera plot. In fact one of the harder romance comics to find in upper grade condition is "Girls' Romances" #109 from 1965. Beatlemania was in full swing with the Fabs on the cover which is drawn by Gene Colan. Colan went on to much greater heights as a fan favorite drawing superheroes "Daredevil", "Iron Man", "Sub-Mariner", "Dracula", and"Batman", and he does a nice rendering here of the Beatles on the cover.

The Beatles also made appearances in the mainstream silver age superhero comics which were usually quite amusing. Displaying the hipness that would eventually make Stan Lee and Marvel the number one comics company, "Strange Tales" #130, feature the Beatles in a March 1965 issue. The cover shows the Thing and the Human Torch hilariously wearing Beatle wigs. The Thing and The Human Torch are taking their girl friends to see a Beatles concert but have to leave the girls to go and defeat a villain. Bummer man. Stan Lee was definitely one cool cat.

Beating Marvel to the punch though was DC which published "The Red-Headed Beatle of 1,000 B.C." in the Sept 1964 issue of Jimmy Olsen. Jimmy travels back in time and puts on a show for the ancient teenagers with a Beatle haircut and a bongo. Superman being no square himself notes that Jimmy is as popular Ringo.

Obviously, DC felt that Jimmy Olsen being a young cub reporter was able to relate to kids who read comics and were also big Beatle fans. The Beatles are referenced again in "Jimmy Olsen" #88. Superman is doing a twist like shimmy while warbling "YAH YAH YAH".

The most entertaining of all the Beatles references in Superhero comics was in "Batman" #222. This issue has a cover date of June 1970 and came out just as the group was breaking up. The story written by Frank Robbins is a take off on the "Paul is dead" hoax that was perpetrated by a Detroit disc jockey but managed to capture the world's attention. Unlike Paul McCartney who was cut off from the world on his farm in Scotland, which only helped fuel the rumor, and who was innocently unaware of the firestorm; the leader of this comic's fictional band (who were drawn to resemble the Beatles) actually and purposefully planted clues that he was dead and replaced by a doppleganger.

Paul McCartney aka The Fireman

Paul released an album at the end of 2008 but I am now just listening to it. It's Paul revisiting himself as a different artist a la The Beatles as Sgt Pepper. I guess the reason for this is that he could experiment away and he could excuse it if people hate it. Paul is never one to not make it known he should be appreciated for all the great music he's made, most of which was with our favorite band, so I never pay much attention to the substandard music he has put out for a while; mostly, out of boredom it would seem. Then it occurred to me that maybe we should just be happy he's still making music. I had heard that "Electric Arguments" was the best album he's done in decades. It may be but it will depend on how varied your taste in music is.

I have listened to "Electric Arguments" twice all the way through, and I am not as disappointed with it as I thought I would be. I'm not going to break it down song by song just simply state that there are five outstanding songs on this album: "Sing the Changes, Highway, Light From Your Lighthouse, Sun is Shining, and Dance Till We're High". These songs are the old McCartney magic and showcase his almost unparalleled strength for melodies and "hooks". "Nothing Too Much Just Out of" is a rocker and his voice is pretty impressive but it only just kinda grabs me. It always annoys the hell outta me when I read how bad Macca's voice is compared to the good old days. Well, Duh! The guy is 66 and people want him to sound the way he did at 24? Paul McCartney has influenced countless musicians and it's a testament to this that I can hear dashes of Billy Joel, Bono, and Bruce Springsteen in this album's songs. Ironic the artists that were influenced by Paul are now leaving marks on his songs.

I also have to give Paul credit for branching out a bit and experimenting with Sonic Youth. Fans of electronica, techno beats, and all that kind of spacey new agey vibe will appreciate "Electric Arguments" probably more than I did. Although you could say that the Beatles were the first group ever to experiment with electronica by way of backward tape loops, slowing down and speeding up different tracks in their 66 and 67 period of psychedelia. One very interesting song I can't quite put in as great with the five I mentioned is "Traveling Light". It's Paul embracing his Irish heritage with this very celtic sound. It's nice and it may get better with age or it could get boring. We'll find out.