Grammys 2014: Daft Punk get lucky

Emmylou Harris, Black Sabbath, Herb Alpert, Led Zeppelin. Nothing says "it's the 1970s" like the 2014 Grammy awards. Even Paul McCartney got a prize, for that Sound City project thing, which made a nice change from the bit of the ceremony which they banged on about The Beatles. Where they reunited The Beatles, or what's left of them. Oh, and The Beatles even got a prize, too. The Beatles.

Oh, sure, there's a few prizes given to Daft Punk, but really, more than ever, this year's Grammys was The Music Industry Nurtures The Artist Who Are At The Heart Of A Catalogue Business Strategy. (Effectively, a prize for Bruno Mars and Michael Buble is the same thing - if not artists who made records twenty years ago, then artists who could have made their records twenty years ago.)

Meanwhile, the long battle for the right to marry the person you love was reduced to a stunt at a music business jolly as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis wheeled in Madonna and Queen Latifah to rush through a Moonie-style mass wedding:

The weddings of 33 couples during the Grammy Awards were legally presided over by Queen Latifah. The rapper-actress-talk show host had to be sworn in as a commissioner by the state of California to perform the ceremony.
"You can call me Queen Commish for a little longer," she joked backstage Sunday night.

Latifah said she's not an ordained minister and her special powers expired at midnight.

"It was something I took very seriously," she said. "That is someone's life commitment to one another, you want to make sure you do it right. That's what sunk in for me."

Yeah. It's someone's life commitment, and how can you take that more seriously by having it squeezed in between Madonna's chorus, the network cutting to commercials and the prize for the least threatening R&B performance?

I know the intention was to be positive, and I know Macklemore and Lewis' song was at least about gender-blind marriage, but god, what a shitty, miserable little stunt; using people's love for each other to shore up an awards ceremony.

I guess we're lucky that the Grammys started a couple of years after Rosa Parks made her stand, otherwise we'd have had buses of all kinds of people being driven round and round the stage to demonstrate just how forward-thinking the horribly conservative music industry is.

Here are the winners in full from last night:

Album of the Year:
Daft Punk, Random Access Memories (Julian Casablancas, DJ Falcon, Todd Edwards, Chilly Gonzales, Giorgio Moroder, Panda Bear, Nile Rodgers, Paul Williams & Pharrell Williams, featured artists; Thomas Bangalter, Julian Casablancas, Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, DJ Falcon & Todd Edwards, producers; Peter Franco, Mick Guzauski, Florian Lagatta, Guillaume Le Braz & Daniel Lerner, engineers/mixers; Antoine "Chab" Chabert & Bob Ludwig, mastering engineers)

Record of the Year:
Daft Punk, "Get Lucky" (Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, producers; Peter Franco, Mick Guzauski, Florian Lagatta & Daniel Lerner, engineers/mixers; Antoine "Chab" Chabert & Bob Ludwig, mastering engineers)

Song of the Year:
Lorde, "Royals" (Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor, songwriters)

Best Country Album:
Kacey Musgraves, Same Trailer Different Park

Best Pop Vocal Album:
Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
Jay Z Featuring Justin Timberlake, "Holy Grail"

Best Pop Solo Performance:
Lorde, "Royals"

Best Rock Song:
Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, Krist Novoselic, and Pat Smear, "Cut Me Some Slack"

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
Daft Punk Featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, "Get Lucky"

Best New Artist:
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Best Rock Album:
Led Zeppelin, Celebration Day

Best Metal Performance:
Black Sabbath, "God Is Dead?"

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical:
Pharrell Williams

Best Alternative Music Album:
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City

Best Rock Performance:
Imagine Dragons, "Radioactive"

Best Country Song:
Kacey Musgraves, "Merry Go 'Round" (Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves and Josh Osborne)

Best Country Solo Performance:
Darius Rucker, "Wagon Wheel"

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:
the Civil Wars, "From This Valley"

Best Music Film:
Paul McCartney, Live Kisses (Jonas Åkerlund, video director; Violaine Etienne, Aron Levine and Scott Rodger, video producers)

Best Music Video:
Justin Timberlake Featuring Jay Z, "Suit and Tie" (David Fincher, video director; Timory King, video producer)

Best Blues Album:
Ben Harper With Charlie Musselwhite, Get Up!

Best R&B Album:
Alicia Keys, Girl on Fire

Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Rihanna, Unapologetic

Best R&B Song:
Justin Timberlake, "Pusher Love Girl" (James Fauntleroy, Jerome Harmon, Timothy Mosley and Justin Timberlake, songwriters)

Best Traditional R&B Performance:
Gary Clark, Jr., "Please Come Home"

Best R&B Performance:
Snarky Puppy With Lalah Hathaway, "Something"

Best Pop Instrumental Album:
Herb Alpert, Steppin' Out

Best Dance Recording:
Zedd Featuring Foxes, "Clarity"

Best Dance/Electronica Album:
Daft Punk, Random Access Memories

Best Rap Performance:
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz, "Thrift Shop"

Best Rap Song:
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz, "Thrift Shop" (Ben Haggerty and Ryan Lewis, songwriters)

Best Rap Album:
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Heist

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:
Michael Bublé, to Be Loved

Best New Age Album:
Laura Sullivan, Love's River

Best Improvised Jazz Solo:
Wayne Shorter, "Orbits"

Best Jazz Vocal Album:
Gregory Porter, Liquid Spirit

Best Jazz Instrumental Album:
Terri Lyne Carrington, Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album:
Randy Brecker, Wlodek Pawlik Trio and Kalisz Philharmonic, Night in Calisia

Best Latin Jazz Album:
Paquito D'Rivera and Trio Corrente, Song for Maura

Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance:
Tasha Cobbs, Break Every Chain

Best Gospel Song:
Tye Tribbett, "If He Did It Before . . . Same God"

Best Contemporary Christian Music Song:
Mandisa, "Overcomer" (David Garcia, Ben Glover and Christopher Stevens, songwriters)

Best Gospel Album:
Tye Tribbett, Greater Than

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album:
Mandisa, Overcomer

Best Latin Pop Album:
Draco Rosa, Vida

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album:
La Santa Cecilia, Treinta Días

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano):
Mariachi Divas De Cindy Shea, A Mi Manera

Best Tropical Latin Album:
Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Pacific Mambo Orchestra

Best American Roots Song:
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, "Love Has Come for You" (Edie Brickell and Steve Martin, songwriters)

Best Americana Album:
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, Old Yellow Moon

Best Bluegrass Album:
Del McCoury Band, The Streets of Baltimore

Best Reggae Album:
Ziggy Marley, Ziggy Marley in Concert

Best World Music Album:
Gipsy Kings, Savor Flamenco (tie)

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Live: Singing for Peace Around the World (tie)

Best Folk Album:
Guy Clark, My Favorite Picture of You

Best Regional Roots Music Album:
Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience, Dockside Sessions

Best Children's Album:
Jennifer Gasoi, Throw A Penny In the Wishing Well

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books and Storytelling):
Stephen Colbert, America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't

Best Comedy Album:
Kathy Griffin, Calm Down Gurrl

Best Musical theater Album:
Kinky Boots

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media:
Sound City: Real to Reel

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media:
Skyfall, Thomas Newman, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media:
Adele, "Skyfall" (Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth, songwriters)

Best Instrumental Composition:
the Clare Fischer Orchestra, "Pensamientos for Solo Alto Saxophone and Chamber Orchestra" (Clare Fischer, composer)

Best Instrumental Arrangement:
Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, "on Green Dolphin Street" (Gordon Goodwin, arranger)

Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s):
Bobby McFerrin and Esperanza Spalding, "Swing Low" (Gil Goldstein, arranger)

Best Recording Package:
Reckless Kelly, Long Night Moon (Sarah Dodds and Shauna Dodds, art directors)

Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package:
Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings Over America (Deluxe Edition) (Simon Earith and James Musgrave, art directors)

Best Album Notes:
John Coltrane, Afro Blue Impressions (Remastered and Expanded) (Neil Tesser, album notes writer)

Best Historical Album:
the Rolling Stones, Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965 (Teri Landi, andrew Loog Oldham and Steve Rosenthal, compilation producers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer) (tie)

Bill Withers, the Complete Sussex and Columbia Albums (Leo Sacks, compilation producer; Joseph M. Palmaccio, tom Ruff and Mark Wilder, mastering engineers)

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical:
Daft Punk, Random Access Memories (Peter Franco, Mick Guzauski, Florian Lagatta and Daniel Lerner, engineers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer)

Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical:
Lana Del Rey, "Summertime Sadness (Cedric Gervais Remix) (Cedric Gervais, Remixer)

Best Surround Sound Album:
Paul McCartney, Live Kisses (Al Schmitt, surround mix engineer; tommy LiPuma, surround producer)

Best Engineered Album, Classical:
Dawn Upshaw, Maria Schneider, Australian Chamber Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Winter Morning Walks (David Frost, Brian Losch and Tim Martyn, engineers; Tim Martyn, mastering engineer)

Producer of the Year, Classical:
David Frost

Best Orchestral Performance:
Minnesota Orchestra, Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 (Osmo Vänskä, conductor)

Best Opera Recording:
the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; the Metropolitan Opera Chorus, Adès: the Tempest (Thomas Adès, conductor; Simon Keenlyside, Isabel Leonard, Audrey Luna and Alan Oke; Luisa Bricetti and Victoria Warivonchick, producers)

Best Choral Performance:
Tui Hirv and Rainer Vilu; Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir; Sinfonietta Riga and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra; Latvian Radio Choir and Vox Clamantis, Pärt: Adam's Lament (Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor)

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance:
Brad Wells and Roomful of Teeth, Roomful Of Teeth

Best Classical Instrumental Solo:
Albany Symphony, Corigliano: Conjurer - Concerto for Percussionist and String Orchestra (Evelyn Glennie; David Alan Miller, conductor)

Best Classical Vocal Solo:
Maria Schneider; Jay anderson, Frank Kimbrough and Scott Robinson; Australian Chamber Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Winter Morning Walks (Dawn Upshaw)

Best Classical Compendium:
Hindemith: Violinkonzert; Symphonic Metamorphosis; Konzertmusik, Christoph Eschenbach, conductor

Best Contemporary Classical Composition:
Schneider, Maria: Winter Morning Walks, Maria Schneider, composer (Dawn Upshaw, Jay anderson, Frank Kimbrough, Scott Robinson and Australian Chamber Orchestra)

Still, at least Stephen Colbert won.

Grant Shapps sets aside funds to destroy Ringo's house after saving it

Oh, pity the politician who would save Ringo Starr's first home. You'll recall our old friend Flo Clucas who announced she'd preserved the house for the ages, only to mumble quietly when asked how that was going.

Then last year, Grant Shapps popped up to call a halt to the demolition, or rather to indicate he might not be unhappy if it didn't get knocked down. And this year, Shapps popped again to garner a bit of good publicity by announcing the previously-announced policy all over again.

Trouble is, he's mannaged to bugger things up and even while he was waving for the cameras, his department was busily releasing the funds to, erm, knock down the estate.

Grant Shapps saving Ringo's house. Not pictured: Grant Shapps signing off on destroying Ringo's house. Image: DOSaCDCLG CC-BY-ND

The Telegraph reported on the resulting court case earlier this week:

Grant Shapps, the former Housing Minister, accidentally signed off a regeneration project without realising it would demolish the house in which Ringo Starr was born, a court heard today.

Nine Madryn Street, in Dingle, was set to be knocked down by Liverpool City Council as part of regeneration plans for the Welsh Streets area of the city.

But a court heard the Conservative Party Chairman had not been informed that house would be bulldozed alongside 5,000 terraced homes as part of a £35.5 million regeneration project.

Perhaps it was one of Shapp's alter-egos who'd signed off on the deal? Or maybe he'd left his ministerial computer unattended, with a password of 1234 and a person or persons unknown "hacked" into the system?

The whole thing is now heading for judicial review, and at least Shapps is now simply chair of the Tory party, where if he makes a similar blunder he won't be damaging anything important to the nation.

Starr's house saved again

After all these years, it looks like a combination of Joe Anderson and Grant Shapps have done what Flo Clucas never could, and saved Ringo Starr's first home.

And actually saved this time, not merely issued some half-asses promise about it being taken down and rebuilt in some ill-defined museum somewhere. It's actually part of a plan to save some of the Victorian terraces in the city which had been due to be demolished, so it goes beyond Beatleabilia in its significance.

Assuming, of course, that this time the promises are genuine and not merely a cheap photo op that won't actually deliver. But, hey, what sort of politician would pull a stunt like that?

Ringo still hoping everyone's moved on

Having tried in May to get beyond having told Jonathan Ross he doesn't miss anything about Liverpool, Ringo's tried again today:

Speaking after a performance ahead of a European tour - which includes a date in Liverpool - he said: “There’s lots I miss, of course.

“I did that joke with Jonathan Ross and I’m still paying for it, it seems - where three people from the Wirral complained.

“But of course I love Liverpool"

It's a sign of just how much he loves the city that he's only just got round to popping back now, and so finds himself belatedly fighting a fire from a TV appearance he made three years ago.

Still, having a pop at Wirralites will unite the Scousers behind him, right? Although, to be fair, people from the Wirral go to Liverpool more often than bloody ex-Beatles manage.

According to one of the comments on the Echo article, the Empire has a lot of seats left at all prices for Ringo's date. That's not strictly true - there's only one seat in the stalls left. But over 350 upstairs left untaken. You'd suspect this is less down to anything Ringo might have said, and more down to the getting on for seventy quid for a ticket.

Ringo says "sorry", sort-of

Back in 2008, Ringo Starr upset Liverpool by telling Jonathan Ross (remember him?) that there was nothing he missed about the city. Now, having had a chance to think about it - by which, we mean "having booked a gig in the city" - Starr has clarified his comments:

Starr, 70, said: "I apologise to those people (who were offended), as long as they live in Liverpool, not outside.

"No real Scouser took offence, only I believe people from the outside.

"I was brought up there, I went to school there, all my childhood, my youth was there.

"It's silly that whoever took offence, took offence."

This is, perhaps, the most brilliant empty apology in recorded history. Starr says sorry to anyone, providing they live in Liverpool, and then says that nobody who lives in Liverpool could possibly be offended.

Starr's suggestion that only people who still live in Liverpool are "proper" Scousers is also a bit bemusing - especially as he also seems to be claiming that he is a proper Scouser on the grounds that he lived there until he earned enough money to move somewhere else.

Still, how has his apology-of-sorts been received? Let's check the comments section on that ClickLiverpool article:

Ringo made a gaff and has apologised. Now lets rock with him at the Empire Theatre. Welcome back Ringo!

Ah, that's great then. Which part of Liverpool did that warm, open welcome come from?

Eddie M, Manchester

Oh.

Ringo: The Beatles were lucky to have me

Even with the benefit of hindsight, Ringo is insisting it was the other three who got lucky:

"Within Liverpool, I was a lot more well know than them. Rory and the Hurricanes were big shots in the city. We had the suits. That was our claim to fame. The Beatles were lucky to get me. It wasn't just that I was a big shot; I was a cool drummer."

This is all in an interview with Live magazine, and to be fair, Starr sounds like he was attempting to be playful. But, oh, it falls flat on the page:

We're the only two remaining Beatles, although he likes to think he's the only one. I actually think it's people on the outside who perceive Paul as thinking he's the only member left, when actually it's me. I am the last remaining Beatle.

You know he must have been grinning when he said this, and yet written down it's impossible to imagine anything other than Starr clambering up the side of the Cunard Building, chest exposed, bellowing "I AM BEATLE".

Liverpool City Council really want to bulldoze Ringo's house

Following Grant Shapps' intervention, Liverpool City Council are demanding they be left alone to pull down the street Ringo first lived on:

Cllr Anderson is writing to housing minister Grant Shapps, who demanded a re-think over plans to knock down Ringo’s former home – 9 Madryn Street – and hundreds of others in Toxteth’s Welsh Streets.

The council leader insists demolition and redevelopment of the Welsh Streets remains the best option for the area.

The council said bulldozing 295 homes would cost only £800,000 compared to the estimated bill of £75,000 per property to refurbish the houses.

In his letter Cllr Anderson wrote: “It is doubtful that any developer would consider this a good return on the extensive investment they would have to make in order to bring all the properties up to an acceptable standard, particularly as the risk of ensuring sustainable future occupancy would be high, given the experience of the last 30 years of decline."

A large part of the 30 years of decline has been because of the decade of uncertainty as the council has tried to free up the land for development, so that's a bit of red herring; Liverpool City Council has a habit of pissing on its chips and then saying "nobody will eat these, they smell of piss".

And you've got to love Anderson comparing the cost of flattening the houses with the relatively tiny investment required to make the homes habitable again - surely it'd be more honest to compare the cost of demolition and rebuild rather than just the demolition alone?

Perhaps rather than saying "it's doubtful" that a developer would want to do this, why doesn't Anderson ask them? Is it because he's afraid that - as in some other Northern towns - many developers would love to have the chance to revitalise gorgeous Victorian terraces?

Grant Shapps tries to save Ringo's house

Determined to step in where Liverpool councillor Flo Clucas failed, housing minister Grant Shapps has decided to save Ringo's house in the Dingle.

Actually, I say "where Flo failed", but in terms of making a large, eye-catching statement that turns out to not be pledge to protect the building at all, it's something of a success:

Mr Shapps said the house was considered by many as a "culturally important building".

"That is why, before a single bulldozer rumbles along Madryn Street, I want to ensure that every option has been considered," he said.

"In particular I want local community groups to have the opportunity to put forward viable proposals to preserve this historic house."

Of course he's going to do bugger all to actually save the building - he's a Tory, and we know how close they are to a pound note these days - but, hey, if the Big Society wants to do something, he's happy to issue a couple of press releases and sign a couple of letters.

You might wonder if Shapps' time might be better spent writing to Liverpool City Council about the scandalous neglect of the areas around Anfield, where people live, but maybe that wouldn't make it into all the papers.

Still, at least Grant has resisted the temptation to cram in a Beatles pun, right?

Oh... hang on...

He added: "It is right that the people of Liverpool themselves decide whether they want Ringo Starr's house to be demolished or to Let It Be."

It could be, he hopes, a building which would put an Octopuses' garden into the shade.

Somewhat surprisingly, while Shapps is talking about simply saving the house, Liverpool City Council react as if he wants to stop the entire redevelopment (which, actually, he should have been trying to do):

A spokesman said the council would consider the minister's request, but said: "Grant Shapps may not be aware of the fact that we have consulted extensively with local residents over these plans and the overwhelming majority are in favour of them.

"Residents have been fully involved in developing the proposals and have shown they want decent homes to replace houses which have long passed their lifespan.

"They are telling us that they are absolutely sick of the delays and the conditions they have to live in. They want the city council to demolish these properties as soon as possible so that they can get on with their lives."

The spokesman added: "It is vital for local people that this scheme goes ahead. We have not been helped by the massive cuts, but we are determined to get on with this work to improve the lives of local residents.

Of course, had the City Council simply improved the properties - which was all that was needed - the good people of Dingle would have been getting on with their lives a decade ago, and not living in area which is being allowed to slowly rot.

None of which, really, has anything to do with Ringo's first home. Nor does being Housing Minister really have much to do with Ringo Starr's home - surely that's Jeremy The Hunt's remit, isn't it?

Liverpool City Council's Ringo Starr nightmare continues

The botched handling of the destruction of Victorian homes in the Dingle - including the first home of Ringo Starr - has opened a new chapter, as souvenier hunters have started to pinch bricks from the building.

Liverpool City Council has now had to spend a fortune putting security grilles on the building to stop people taking bricks from a house it doesn't even want to be there any more.

Apparently there's a danger the place might fall down. Obviously, that would really interfere with the plans to knock the place down.

Judging from the Echo's report, nobody is even pretending the house is going to be saved any more. Clearly, it's been decided that it has no value. Except to the people who are taking the bricks.

It's almost as if Ringo is being erased from history

With Liverpool City Council happily bulldozing his first house, now the first club Ringo Starr played in has burned down.

(The Kingsway Club in Southport, had it not burned down, was due to be demolished anyway.)

Rallying for Ringo's

With the promised saving of Ringo Starr's first home reneged upon by Liverpool City Council, a campaign is gearing up to save Madryn Street. Max Frudd is leading the group:

Mr Frudd is a keen drummer who tours round the country impersonating Ringo as well as playing his own music.

Unlike Ringo, who toured round the country impersonating a drummer.

(I know, I know, thejokesaboutRingobeingabaddrummerareunfairhewasactuallyprettygood)

It might be coming too late, almost as if the idea all along was to pretend the house had been saved to close down opposition to the lucrative building scheme.

Ringo Starr's house is coming down

You know, I might have given the impression over the last few years that I believed the "saving" of Ringo Starr's house by Flo Clucas wasn't really ever going to happen.

To be honest, the thought occurred to me more than once that the "decision" to rebuild Ringo's house in a museum was little more than a way of getting the Beatles fans battling to save the houses in Madryn Street to shut up and let the council get on with the demolition. After all, there were plenty of people who were saying the buildings didn't really need to come down. There were underwater rivers which caused damp problems, but those same rivers ran beneath more expensive properties in Aigburth and, strangely, they were solved there without the destruction of those houses. And Urban Splash were demonstrating elsewhere that Victorian terraces were so well built, you could turn them into modern homes with less financial investment and a much greener approach. Having a Beatles house in the mix, too, might scupper the bid to flatten an area and hand it over to developers. So saying 'oh, we'll save the house' was an easy way to head off any international campaign to stop a lucrative but wasteful destruction of 427 buildings. And then you just quietly knock the house down anyway. That thought. That's the one that had occurred to me.

Especially a couple of years later, when it turned out when Flo Clucas was telling the press about the plans to save the house that she wasn't really talking as a councillor.

Imagine our surprise, then, to discover that the thought wasn't a million miles wrong:

When asked if he thought there was any merit to saving Starr’s house, Liverpool council leader Cllr Joe Anderson said: “My own personal view is no.

“If it was next door to Paul McCartney’s house or something you could make the argument, but given that it’s stuck in the middle of a block of terraces that have to be demolished, that has to be taken into account.”

A Museums Liverpool spokesman said discussions about saving the house “were some time ago, and we are unaware of any current plans for the house.”

That's funny, that. I hate to keep banging on about the email Clucas sent to us in January 2006, but it's worth repeating:

The exisiting houses, according to English Heritage, are of no historical significance and we have been asked to supply only photographs of the properties before demolition. Number 9 Madryn Street does , however, have a cultural significance, Although that the house where Ringo spent most of his life in Liverpool is only a few minutes distance from Madryn Street, is still occupied and will remain so for many years yet, we have endeavoured to find a new home for this, his early years home. This has been done.

That was sent from her council account, as an official response to my questions about Starr's house.

Clearly, the finding of a new home for 9 Madryn Street has been done - it's going to be in a pile of bricks in a skip next to Madryn Street. Well done, everybody.

What's puzzling, though, is what has happened to reverse the council's position (again) from the house being of cultural significance to being of none?

None of this should come as a surprise, though, from the Liverpool Town Hall team, who have spent the last few years trying to remove the last few bits of the city that Thatcher and Hatton had left intact. It's only a couple of months since they ripped up the cobbles at a World Heritage Site to make room for some tarmac.

Anyone who has walked around Anfield in the last couple of years knows that there's no respect for the built environment in the city of Liverpool. It's a miracle they're not knocking down Lennon's house to make way for a road.

[Thanks to James M for the tip]

Ringo blames money-grabbers for his withdrawal from autographs

A couple of years ago, Ringo Starr made himself look a bit of a soft lad by taking to YouTube to tell fans he wouldn't sign anything any more.

In his original video, he told the world he was too busy, but - having had over a year to come up with a better line - he's now insisting he was just trying to stop himself being taken for a ride:

Now he has told BBC Radio 2 that the move was due to people selling on his signiatures.

"I was signing and then they were on eBay the next day," he said. "So I just decided, 'I think I've done my share. That's it'."

Odd he didn't think to mention that at the time, isn't it?

He added: "I honestly didn't think it was going to be world news – BBC and CNN," he laughed.

Clearly, Starr hasn't seen the lengths 24 rolling news leads some stations to go to in order to fill the hours.

Where is Beatles house?

A swift response from Flo Clucas on her proposal for a Beatles walk and news of Ringo's house:

Sorry, but the Beatles tourism brief is not with me. The proposal is a personal one, rather than a poirtfolio matter.
However, I will find out about Ringo's house for you. It is some 5 years since I was responsible for the housing portfolio. I will ask the Executive Director what the Museum's situation is, as the fit out for the new building has not yet taken place.

Thanks to Flo for the quick response.

Go on a Beatles ramble

An email from James M points out that those who suggest that Liverpool has little to offer beyond an endless regurgitation of its past should eat their words: Why, they're about to promote some new, young talent:

A BEATLES trail through Liverpool, taking in some of the most iconic locations connected to the Fab Four, is to be debated by city leaders.

What would you call such an invention?

Ideas for the trail – dubbed ‘The Long and Winding Road’ after the Let It Be track – include plotting the fateful route taken from the NEMS record store in Whitechapel to the Cavern on Mathew Street.

Really? That's going to be a bit of a stretch, given how the city council have allowed the city to be knocked about over the last fifty years.

Who's behind the idea, then? It turns out to be an old friend of No Rock And Roll Fun:

The motion was put forward by deputy city leader Cllr Flo Clucas and is to be debated at the meeting of the full council on Wednesday.

Flo, of course, can see the upside in cherishing The Beatles' heritage:

While in the run up to the Capital of Culture year, some were keen to stress that Liverpool has more to offer than just the Beatles, Cllr Clucas said she believed there was more to be made of Liverpool’s Beatles history.

She added: “From my point of view, firstly, the Beatles are big business, whatever you think about their music – which I happen to love.

Look at the classic performers, like Elvis, and Graceland, his home in Memphis – their home towns exploit it to the full.”

Exactly, Flo. Spot on.

You should have a word with your colleagues, though - if memory serves, one of the takes a totally opposing view - even encouraging the demolition of those very iconic landmarks which attract visitors in their hundreds, like Ringo Starr's first home:

Flo Clucas, executive member for housing, said: "Ringo Starr lived in the Madryn Street house for about three months before he moved to Admiral Grove, where he lived for about 20 years.

"John Lennon and Paul McCartney's childhood homes were preserved because they spent a significant part of their lives in them.

"The house on Madryn Street has no historical significance."

Of course, Flo did change her mind when people noticed what she was doing, and - to be fair - Ringo's house was standing in the way of a project to demolish perfectly serviceable Victorian homes to free up land for developers to build upon. Clucas then announced that the house would be saved for a grateful nation - although she wasn't very keen on sharing any of the details when we asked about them; eventually she told us it wasn't part of her remit any more and never replied when we asked her who was looking after the bricks.

Still, now she's back as chief Beatles champion on the city council, presumably she'll be able to help us out. We've dropped her a note to find out what happened to Ringo's house.

Beatles: No explanation as to why

Hey, here's a funny coincidence - Paul McCartney and Ringo Aviva sharing a stage together just a couple of days before the announcement of another round of Beatles remasters. A crazy, crazy coincidence.

EMI and Apple Corps are very excited indeed:

London, England - April 7, 2009 - Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music are delighted to announce the release of the original Beatles catalogue, which has been digitally re-mastered for the first time, for worldwide CD release on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 (9-9-09), the same date as the release of the widely anticipated "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game. Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. On the same date, two new Beatles boxed CD collections will also be released.

How does one embed a CD, however briefly? Do they mean that the first run of the CDs will also have a movie file on them?

The albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release.

Surely if they started this in 2005, the state of the art equipment they were using is now going to be as out of date as John Lennon's driving licence? Is that why it's taken so long, then - every time they just got finished, they discovered that technology had improved and had to start all over again?

Let's not even start to unpick how you can digitally remaster something as if it was the original analogue version. Frankly, the only people who are interested in rebuying the Beatles records are going to be at a stage in life where their hearing would probably not notice if the tracks on the new CDs were recorded off a poorly-tuned-in FM radio onto an elderly and slightly stretched C90 tape.

This will mark the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc.

No, really. EMI & Apple simply haven't bothered before.

Within each CD's new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. With the exception of the 'Past Masters' set, newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere.

I suppose the choice of Apple's video format might have been a wry joke on the part of the project team.

It's hard to believe that there's any useful Beatles studio chat that hasn't already been exposed to the public ear, so god alone knows what they'll be dredging up for these.

A second boxed set has been created with the collector in mind.

Because, of course, 'buying all the Beatles albums on CD - again' isn't a collector impulse in its own right. There is a large market of people, I'm sure, who don't already own all the tracks in sixteen manifestations who have just been waiting forty years for a digitally remastered edition to make the commitment.

Still, digital remastering; computer games. It might have taken decades to get to this point, but at least Apple Corps is catching up with the times, right?

Discussions regarding the digital distribution of the catalogue will continue. There is no further information available at this time.

Oh. Sometime mid-2015 for the Limited Edition Zune, then?

25,000

This, then, is the 25,000th No Rock And Roll Fun post. Which, first, gives me a pause in the general flow of things to thank everyone who reads, and special thanks to commenters and those of you who send me tips and hints about stories you think I'll be interested in.

And, to celebrate this landmark, what better than some music, and a more-personal-than-usual post? Here are five musical landmarks from my life (and, if you're keen, feel free to share your landmarks through the comments section).

The first song I remember
I've got several really strong memories of songs from when I was not that much smaller but a whole heap blonder: Standing on the pouffe, singing along with The Carpenter's Yesterday Once More, creating a moment for future nostalgia out of a song that was, in itself, about nostalgia. Pilot's January, which made a massive connection in my head when I heard it while looking at a calendar displaying a January page. But, really, the first soundtracked memory I have, has this tune on it. Ringo Bloody Starr, and his you-wouldn't-get-away-with-that-now classic, You're 16, You're Beautiful, And You're Mine:



The memory itself is as underwhelming as the song, to be honest: getting up, on a dark winter's morning, to the sound of Ringo downstairs. He was on the radio. He wasn't a friend of the family.

The 'more than wallpaper' song
On Peeling Back The Years, Radio One's indulgent four-parter where John Walters explored John Peel's musical life, he posed a question "when was the first time you heard a song and thought 'this is more than wallpaper, this means something to me'?" Which is a tricky question to answer - I was already a smitten pop fan before hearing the next song, but it did something alchemical to me. This was the record where I realised that this was it; that the rest of my life would be spent trying to find records which gave me this sort of feeling of plunging deep into the heart of the sound; of that moment when the music and the lyrics and the performance resonates.

It was Blasphemous Rumours. Oh, yes, for a time, Depeche Mode were the group that defined me:



The song that changed my life
They defined me, but didn't reshape me in the way that Ride did. This came on Snub TV when I was at university, and I mentioned in a letter to a penfriend (a thing we did before the internet, young people) that I'd found my first great new band of the year. "They're playing here in Oxford next weekend, come down" she replied. So I did, kick-starting a couple of years of following bands, meeting people, growing up, sleeping in the open, falling to pieces and pulling back together. This isn't the first time Chelsea Girl has been posted on No Rock, but it can never be heard enough:



The song that sings of love
The first dance at my wedding. We're still dancing. I wouldn't be without her.



Mazzy Star's Fade Into You. If you have to have a Starr, then you need a Star to balance them out.

The greatest new song I've heard today
I hadn't heard much of the new PJ Harvey - John Parrish stuff before today, when I caught up with their live session on George Lamb's programme from earlier in the week. Sublime, as ever, making the switch from the music to the honking, the canned applause, and the provincial cabaret patter even more galling. Here's Black Hearted Love the way it's intended to be:



Music. It's bloody brilliant, isn't it?

Now, then, back to the cynical poking of people who try and ruin it...

Ringo Starr: Now I'm confused

In the first batch of weak ads marking the rebranding of Norwich Union to Snickers, Ringo Starr was featured, muttering that it was only by changing his name that he was able to unleash the power of fame. Or words to that effect. "Would any of this have happened", he asked, "if I was still Richard Starkey?"

In the new batch of even weaker ads, Ringo pops up, looking grim-faced, insisting that he doesn't want to be called by his stage name.

Eh? So he rebranded successfully to Ringo, and yet doesn't want to be known as Ringo, believing that his actual name is still Richard Starkey? So if his name is Richard, then his question in the original advert, 'would this have happened if I was called Richard' would be answered 'yes, because I am.'

And if he's Richard sometimes, and Ringo at others, isn't the message from this that you can be flexible with your name according to circumstances? And doesn't that mean that, actually, Norwich Union could still be Norwich Union when it's drumming for the Beatles, and Aviva when it's at home?

Or... did nobody really think the adverts through at all?

We are the world: 2008 World Music Awards

Back when all it did was fill a slot between two ITN Night Network news bulletins, the World Music Awards were just a little silly. Now, though, with barely a week passing between launches of yet-more-tenuous music prizes, they're starting to look like the elder statesmen of the awards worlds. Obviously not a Bevan or a Kennedy, but a Ramsay MacDonald, perhaps.

In theory.

They're still just as weak and pointless in practice, though. With all the world to choose from, the winners were:

Best rock band: Coldplay
Best selling act: Coldplay
Best female pop: Leona Lewis
Best male pop: Kid Rock
Best female pop/rock: Amy Winehouse
Best male pop/rock: Kid Rock
Best R&B: Alicia Keys
Best hip-hop: Lil Wayne

This lot almost reads like a form being completed by someone who merely wants to enter a prize draw and writing down the first names they've thought of. What has Winehouse done this year to make her the best female in any field? In the last twelve months? Exactly?

And Kid Rock? You know, it's possible to enjoy a puppet show without having to tell the glove puppet it's the Larry Olivier of its generation.

The haunting air of 'can you name a band' hangs over the diamond award, which is given each year to, oh, anyone who'll turn up. This year it went to Ringo Starr, for being in The Beatles. Ringo! Even the MTV European Awards managed to persuade McCartney to turn up. What was plan B if Ringo wouldn't show? Pete Best or Bill Wyman?

Good enough? Mathew fills Ringo's hole

With Ringo's deadline for signing stuff looming, thank god Dodgy have arranged a bail-out. Two-time Ringo in a Beatles tribute band, Mathew Priest is offering to sign on Ringo's behalf. Only from the 21st, mind:



[Thanks to Mike E for the tip]