The Beatles and their loved ones

This video says more than words:

The Rubettes

The Rubettes were an English pop band of the 1970s. As a trademark, they were wearing on stage white suits and cloth caps. Their first release, "Sugar Baby Love", was an instant hit remaining at number one in the UK for four weeks in May 1974 and remains their best-known record. The album "Sugar Baby Love" was sold in around 500,000 copies in the UK and three million copies globally. Two million copies were sold in France alone, an achievement matched by no other British group! Maybe their French style caps contributed a little bit :)

In 2008, "Sugar Baby Love" was declared to be the most successful oldie of all times by the German television station RTL!

They also had other hits, but none of them reached the success of "Sugar baby Love".

Here are two that I particularly like: "Juke Box Jive" and "Tonight" :)

Source: wikipedia.org

The Ronettes - a family business :)

The Ronettes were a 1960s girl group from New York City: singer Veronica Bennett, her sister, Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They reached the peak of their success after releasing "Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica" in 1964.

They began singing together as teenagers in Washington Heights, Manhattan. The sisters grew up listening to rock and pop and their grandmother encouraged them to harmonize. Their grandmother was the one that entered them into a talent show at the Apollo Theatre in 1959 as The Darling Sisters, which they subsequently won. Phillip Halikus, who was to become their manager, saw their potential and promoted the group's early appearances at hops and charity shows.

The group's first four singles had little success. They released their first single, "I Want A Boy", during the summer of 1961, under their new name, Ronnie and the Relatives. :)

In 1963 they came to the attention of producer Phil Spector. He loved Veronica's voice and style and wanted to sign her as a solo artist, but the three girls refused to be broken up. As Spector's new protégées, they assumed the image of the first “bad girls of rock and roll,” with beehive hairdos, heavy eyeliner and tight skirts. Their songs were addressed directly to their subjects, giving them a more seductive manner, using lyrics such as “I love you” instead of “I love him.” :)

And the rest is history: hits like "Be My Baby" or "Baby, I Love You" and opening the 1966 Beatles' tour.

The saddest thing is that, in 1968, Ronnie Bennett married Phil Spector and retired from performance for several years under his oppressive control. In 1988, the original Ronettes sued Spector for nonpayment of royalties. In 2001, a New York court announced a verdict in favor of The Ronettes, ordering Spector to pay nearly three million dollars in back royalties.

The Ronettes' influence on music was significant: Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen have both cited Veronica Bennett as an influence.

Source: wikipedia.org

Aerosmith in Bucharest

Not so oldies, but certainly goldies, Aerosmith made my dream come true! (June, 18th 2010)

Diana's copyright :)

Like father, like son! - The Beatles

Take a look :)

Sean / John Lennon

Dhani/ George Harrison

James / Paul McCartney

Ringo Starr/ Zak

What do George Harrison and Eric Clapton have in common? Pattie Boyd!

Pattie Boyd is an English model and photographer and the former wife of both George Harrison (1966 - 1974) and Eric Clapton (1979 - 1989). She was the inspiration for love songs written by both musicians, Harrison's, "Something", "For You Blue" and "Isn't It a Pity", and Clapton's "Layla", "Wonderful Tonight" and "Bell Bottom Blues".

She remembers her relationship with George:

"I had met George six years previously, in 1964, when he was filming A Hard Day's Night. Britain and most of Europe was in the grip of Beatlemania. On first impressions, John seemed more cynical and brash than the others, Ringo the most endearing, Paul was cute and George, with velvet-brown eyes and dark chestnut hair, was the best-looking man I had ever seen. At a break for lunch I found myself sitting next to him. Being close to him was electrifying.

Almost the first thing he said to me was: 'Will you marry me?' He was joking but there was a hint of seriousness. We got together soon after that and married two years later on January 21, 1966. I was 21, he was 22. I was so happy and so much in love. I thought we would be together and happy for ever.

Three years later, in 1969, George wrote a song called Something. He told me in a matter-of-fact way that he had written it for me. I thought it was beautiful and it turned out to be the most successful song he ever wrote, with more than 150 cover versions. Frank Sinatra said he thought it was the best love song ever written. George's favourite version was the one by James Brown. Mine was the one by George Harrison, which he played to me in our kitchen.

But, in fact, by then our relationship was in trouble. Since a trip to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in India in 1968, George had become obsessive about meditation. He was also sometimes withdrawn and depressed.

And there were other women, which really hurt me. George was fascinated by the god Krishna who was always surrounded by young maidens. He came back from India wanting to be some kind of Krishna figure, a spiritual being with lots of concubines. He actually said so.

It was around this time that Eric began to come over to our house. He and George had become close friends, writing and recording music together. Eric's guitar playing was held in awe by his fellow musicians. He was an incredibly exciting performer to watch. He looked wonderful on stage, very sexy.

But when I met him he didn't behave like a rock star - he was surprisingly shy and reticent. I was aware that Eric found me attractive and I enjoyed the attention he paid me. It was hard not to be flattered when I caught him staring at me or when he chose to sit beside me. He complimented me on what I was wearing and the food I had cooked, and he said things he knew would make me laugh. Those were all things that George no longer did."

So, she begins to see Eric Clapton:

"We met secretly at a flat in South Kensington. Eric Clapton had asked me to come because he wanted me to listen to a new number he had written. He switched on the tape machine, turned up the volume and played me the most powerful, moving song I had ever heard. It was Layla, about a man who falls hopelessly in love with a woman who loves him but is unavailable.

I was married to Eric's close friend, George Harrison, but Eric had been making his desire for me clear for months. I felt uncomfortable that he was pushing me in a direction in which I wasn't certain I wanted to go. But with the realisation that I had inspired such passion and creativity, the song got the better of me. I could resist no longer."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-473174/Pattie-Boyd-My-hellish-love-triangle-George-Eric--Part-One.html

About her book, "Worderful Today": http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0755316428/ref=sib_rdr_dp

Herman's Hermits

Herman's Hermits were an English rock band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's management and producer, Mickie Most (who controlled the band's output), emphasized a simple, non-threatening and clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers. This helped Herman's Hermits become hugely successful in the mid-1960s.

Their first hit was "I'm Into Something Good", which reached No. 1 in the UK and No. 13 in the US in 1964. They never topped the British charts again, but had two US No. 1's with "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and "I'm Henry the Eighth, I Am".

My favourite song is "No Milk Today" :). It says the story of a boy who broke up with his girlfriend. So, he wrote a note ("No milk today") to the milkman, telling him not to leave any more bottles at his door, because he will have no one to drink with :(

This song was extensively used in a 2009 commercial campaign for the Norwegian milk company Tine. It was also used for a commercial of the Dutch milk company Coberco in the '90s. :)

Official website: www.hermanshermits.com

Source: wikipedia.org

The story of Jude

"Hey Jude" is a song Paul McCartney wrote to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce.

"Hey Jude" was released in August 1968 as the first single from The Beatles' record label Apple Records. More than seven minutes in length, "Hey Jude" was, at the time, the longest single ever to top the British charts.

It also spent nine weeks as number one in the United States—the longest run at the top of the American charts for a Beatles single. The single has sold approximately eight million copies and is frequently included on professional lists of the all-time best songs.

In 1968, John Lennon and his wife Cynthia Lennon separated due to John's affair with Yoko Ono. Soon afterwards, Paul McCartney drove out to visit Cynthia and Julian, her son with Lennon. "We'd been very good friends for millions of years and I thought it was a bit much for them suddenly to be personae non gratae and out of my life," McCartney said. Cynthia Lennon recalled, "I was truly surprised when, one afternoon, Paul arrived on his own. I was touched by his obvious concern for our welfare.... On the journey down he composed 'Hey Jude' in the car. I will never forget Paul's gesture of care and concern in coming to see us."

The song's original title was "Hey Jules", and it was intended to comfort Julian Lennon from the stress of his parents' divorce. McCartney said, "I started with the idea 'Hey Jules', which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces ... I had the idea by the time I got there. I changed it to 'Jude' because I thought that sounded a bit better."

Julian Lennon discovered the song had been written for him almost twenty years later. He remembered being closer to McCartney than to his father: "Paul and I used to hang about quite a bit—more than Dad and I did. We had a great friendship going and there seems to be far more pictures of me and Paul playing together at that age than there are pictures of me and my dad."

Although McCartney originally wrote the song for Julian Lennon, John Lennon thought it had actually been written for him: "But I always heard it as a song to me. If you think about it... Yoko's just come into the picture. He's saying. 'Hey, Jude—Hey, John.' I know I'm sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me ... Subconsciously, he was saying, Go ahead, leave me. On a conscious level, he didn't want me to go ahead."

Source: wikipedia.org

Who are the women in Beatles' songs?

Here is a list of the most famous women that were mentioned in Beatles' lyrics:

- Michelle, ma belle...
- Anna: if you remember the song: "Anna, you come and ask me girl/ To set you free, girl/ You say he loves you more than me/ So I will set you free/ Go with him, go with him"
- Dear Yoko
- Long Tall Sally
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy
- Eleanor Rigby
- Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (or LSD, as some people say)
- Lovely Rita
- Lady Madonna
- Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da: Molly is a singer in a band
- Penny (Lane) is not a girl :), it's the name of the street where John Lennon lived.