Beatles News Briefs

On this show, veteran Beatles news reporter Steve Marinucci interviews filmmaker Simon Weitzman ("Miss O'Dell"), director of the new film "A Love Letter To the Beatles," which will come out the first week of October. The cast includes Pete Best, The Quarrymen, Laurence Juber and Billy J. Kramer. Simon also talks about his other upcoming film projects with Mark Lewisohn, Beatles artist Shannon MacDonald and the Cavern Club/International Beatles Week celebration in Liverpool. Also, for those who didn't catch the video-only podcast of Ringo's September 9th press conference we posted on YouTube as show #100 we have portions of the audio here with Ringo, the All-Starrs and friends talking about the band and their tour and Ringo discussing his new book, art exhibit and next album. And we also have some late-breaking Beatles news. Thanks for listening. If you like the show, we'd encourage you to subscribe so you don't miss any of our future shows. And please pass the word to your friends. Thanks again for listening. We very much appreciate you. (Note: We've numbered this podcast as #100-#101 because of the Ringo video of show #100 that we included only on YouTube. This renumbering fills the gap in the show numbers. )

A compact show filled with Beatles news and information (getting a plug in for my Facebook Beatles group .... come join us!) We start off with the news about the Beatles Anthology 4 set, then discuss the upcoming release of the John Lennon/Yoko Ono "Power To the People" box set and end it with a full review of the Alan G. Parker film "Borrowed Time: Lennon's Last Decade" which has yet to be seen or released in America. Want to see it? We'll tell you how. Be sure to give us a great review wherever you get your podcasts and please spread the word about our show. Thanks for listening. (Photos courtesy Apple Corps Ltd., the John Lennon Estate and Kaleidoscope Film Distribution.)

A revealing look at the film and the book "Miss O'Dell" with the book's author, Chris O'Dell, and the director of the film, Simon Weitzman.  In the first part of the show, we go one-to-one with "Miss O'Dell" as she talks candidly about her adventurous life working for the Beatles at Apple and what led to the book becoming a movie. Then, in part 2, we'll bring in the director of "Miss O'Dell," Simon Weitzman, for a revealing look at how the movie was made and stories from Chris and Simon on the production of the film. You'll also hear more tales from Chris on working for The Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Queen and others. We'll close out the show with a brief Beatles news roundup. And we thank you for listening!

In her years of radio work, Laurie Kaye has talked to such rock luminaries as Paul McCartney (with wife Linda), George Harrison, Beatles producer George Martin, Little Richard, Mick Jagger, Bob Weir, The Ramones, Talking Heads and more. But it was her interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono on Dec. 8, 1980, the night he was murdered, that is the focus of her book "Confessions of a Rock 'n' Roll Name Dropper: My Life Leading Up to John Lennon's Last Interview." She talks about the Lennon interview, her Beatles interviews (with excerpts from each of her vintage Beatles interviews featured in this show) and more in this episode. We hope you enjoy the show! (Photos on YouTube: Book by Laurie Kaye/RKO Radio Team).

An in-depth look at Yoko Ono the person with insights from author Madeline Bocaro ("In Your Mind: The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono") plus a revealing interview with Yoko Ono herself done in October, 1987, in which she talks candidly about meeting John Lennon, the Beatles' breakup (and chances of a reunion), making the "Double Fantasy" album and the plans John and Yoko had made after "Double Fantasy" which didn't happen. We'll also review the movie "Midas Man." Please subscribe to us and give us a (hopefully) good review. We also love hearing your thoughts at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!!

On this episode, we feature a very (very!) entertaining and lively discussion about the history of The Beatles on Vee-Jay Records with Beatles historian and author Bruce Spizer ("The Beatles On Vee-Jay Records") and Michele Marotta, daughter of Randy Wood, who was head of Vee-Jay Records at the time The Beatles were on the label. In the main part of the discussion, we'll talk about the unique albums released by Vee-Jay, which was pretty much an all-in-the-family operation when The Beatles were on it. But we'll also cover some other things as well that you'll want to hear. 

We'll also review the film "Daytime Revolution" and compare it to "One To One: John and Yoko," give you two more responses to the questions surrounding the Canadian Decca tapes mystery and we'll finish with some Beatles News Briefs to close out the program. Thanks very much for tuning in and we hope (we know) you'll enjoy the show. 

On this show, we review the new film "One To One: John & Yoko" heading to theaters on April 11 before being streamed on MAX later on. We also cover a breaking news story from the last few days. If you like us, please follow us and subscribe. Send questions or comments to [email protected]. Be sure to catch episode #93 with our interviews with John Lennon Series author Jude Southerland Kessler and Jack Herschorn, who adds a chapter to the Canada Decca tapes story. And thanks for listening!!

We have two great guests for you in our latest Beatles News Briefs podcast. First is a talk with distinguished author Jude Southerland Kessler on her new John Lennon Series book, "Some Forever: Shades Of Life, Volume 2," about the momentous year of 1965 for Lennon and the Beatles, including the great concert at Shea Stadium and how Lennon's personal life was beginning to fray.

Next, following up on our show #91 about the recently surfaced Canadian Decca tapes, we go a little deeper into it and talk with Jack Herschorn, the man who actually first had the tape for many years. He tells how he came into possession of it and what he thought about it. We also include some news, including one late headline that broke while we were doing final editing of the show. If you don't subscribe, please do, and we would also appreciate a rating (good one, we hope) because Google loves nice ratings and reviews. You can find us at your favorite podcast supplier and on YouTube. You can go back and hear any of our shows at By Steve Marinucci. 

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy the show. (Let us know, will you!!) Send feedback or questions to [email protected].

Beatles News Briefs EXTRA SPECIAL - We talk to Susan Ryan LIVE from day 3 (Sunday) of The Fest For Beatles Fans NY Metro Fest 2025 at the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City, N.J. Susan, the owner of Fab4 NYC Walking Tours (website: Fab4NYCtours.weebly.com), is a devoted attendee of both the New York and Chicago Fests and is working as a moderator of panels at the NY Metro Fest this weekend. She tells us how things look with the attendance and the spirit of the event, plus Susan and Steve trade stories about memories of Fests they have attended. 

Plus we read some of the responses we got to the question of which Beatles album (or single) made you a Beatles fan. 

If you don't already, please subscribe and if you are a subscriber, leave us a good (we hope) review. (Google loves them!). You can write the show at [email protected]. Steve Marinucci is reachable at that address or you can join him online at his Beatles News and Information page on Facebook. 

And BRAND NEW! -- You can listen to any of our Beatles News Briefs shows for free at beatlesnewsbriefs.blogspot.com. 

The news that a high quality copy of the Beatles 1/1/62 Decca Tapes Audition had surfaced in Canada started a lot of commentary and speculation among fans, social media and radio DJs on just what had been discovered. This episode of Beatles News Briefs does a deep dive and investigates this story by going to the source with interviews of the three men who found and have listened to the tape - Rob Frith of Neptoon Records, Larry Hennessey of Reel To Reel To Digital.com and Doug Shober, host of the music blog Noise From the Cranium -- who describe the tape and tells what they have. We also have statements from three renowned Beatles experts - Bruce Spizer, Piers Hemmingsen and Mark Lewisohn - on what the Canadian tape might be. And yours truly gives his comments to one of the songs on the tape which we heard in its entirety. It's the first real answers to the question of what this tape is and what this all means. And we would love to hear your comments. Send them to [email protected]. And please subscribe and review our show. You can contact Steve at that email address or join him on Facebook on his Beatles News and Information page, with all the latest Beatles News and information, as the title says. Be seeing you.