John and George Toppermost of the poppermost

The girl is theirs

This is a duet with Paul McCartney. Jackson and McCartney were good friends until 1995, when Jackson bought the publishing rights to most of The Beatles' songs. McCartney had given Jackson advice on acquiring publishing rights, which is where lots of money is made. Jackson felt it was "just business."

This was the first single released off the Thriller album. Although it was one of the weakest songs, it was released first because it was guaranteed airplay because of McCartney's contribution. At the time, many big albums contained a song with a prominent guest vocalist to attract attention. Released ahead of the album, this song gave no indication that Thriller would become the best-selling album of all time.

The lyrics are mostly friendly banter about who has dibs on the girl. The song was a very safe choice as first single, since it was very conventional and easy to understand. Jackson was afraid that if he released an edgy song like "Billie Jean" or "Beat It" first, people wouldn't give the album a chance.

This was released a month before the album came out. The next 6 singles all came after the album, and were all Top-10 hits.

Michael Jackson ( transcribed from audio files at HIStory Museum): "One of my favorite songs to record of all of my recordings as a solo artist is probably The Girl Is Mine because working with Paul McCartney was pretty exciting and we just literally had fun. It was like lots of kibitzing and playing and throwing stuff at each other and making jokes." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)

According to a 1982 Interview with producer Quincy Jones, this song was fun. It seemed tailor-made for Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. (thanks, Annabelle - Eugene, OR)

Michael Jackson re-recorded Thriller in 2008 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the record. He enlisted a variety of musical stars, plus had tracks from it re-mixed. For "The Girl Is Mine 2008," he recruited Will.I.Am of Black Eyed Peas, to reprise the role initially performed by Sir Paul McCartney.

We tried to telephone, they said you were not home

click at picture for larger size.

...that's a lie... but this is the facts about the song 'No Reply'. The tracks that opened the album 'Beatles For Sale' in 1964.

1. This was one of John Lennon's first songs to tell a complete story. The boy knocks on his girl's door, knows she is home because he sees her in the window, but she does not answer. Lennon wrote the song when he was inspired by the song "Silhouettes." He said, "I had that image of walking down the street and seeing her silhouetted in the window and not answering the phone." Music publisher Dick James told Lennon that it was the first "complete" song that John had ever written: It had a beginning and an end. (Thanks to our Beatles expert Pattie Noah - check her out at luvmedeux.com.)


2. This starts with a vocal, which was rare for the time.


3. Lennon's original intent for this song was for it to be a waltz. The demo The Beatles recorded at the last session for A Hard Day's Night is performed in this style. (thanks, Adrian - Wilmington, DE)

Beatles Haircut

By Bill Harry

read the full story here

Moptops? What do you mean!

I never noticed anything particular about John, George, Paul, Pete or Stuart's hairstyles in the early days -- apart from the fact that initially some of them sported the traditional Tony Curtis style that was popular in Liverpool in the late fifties. It was a style referred to as a d.a. (duck's arse, because of the way the hair curled at the rear).

I had mine done at Max the Mad Russian's, near the Majestic Cinema in town.
Nor did I notice anything specific about their hair when they returned back from Germany. Looking at the photos of the time, taken by Astrid and by Mersey Beat photographers, I couldn't see anything that was radically different from the style most Liverpool youngsters and group members sported.

Then, when Brian Epstein took them over, I noticed that not only did he spruce them up in mohair suits made by his tailor Beno Dorn in Birkenhead, but he took them to Horne Brothers at the corner of Lord Street and had lots of publicity photographs taken of them enjoying a new coiffeur by the unknown barber there. I say unknown, because no one these days could quote the name of the barber who gave them the style, on the instruction of Brian Epstein, when he took them to the fashionable barbers in April 1963. Dezo Hoffmann photographed them having their hair cut and was to comment, "The hairdresser was a friend of theirs who liked Astrid Kirchherr's idea of longer hair for the Beatles. He would groom and discipline their hair for them every week."

Despite Brian and his Horne Brothers publicity pictures to herald a new Beatles image (he took them to the Empire Theatre to watch the Shadows, in their mohair suits, and pointed out how they bowed to the audience at the end of their act. John and Pete didn't like to abandon their leather gear, but they were outvoted. Once suited in mohair, with tidy shirts and tie, John again tried to rebel by unfastened the top button of his shirt when they went on stage, but Paul always stepped forward to fasten it again. Brian gave them neatly typed sheets instructing them not to swear or smoke on stage - paving the way for the Rolling Stones to adopt the image of 'the savage young Beatles', that Brian had carefully smoothed away), their hair style began to change initially in Hamburg.

The Hug

Thank you, security guard. BTW from his face (and his strange acting lips) George didn't seem to mind at all. Oh how I miss the good old days.

The Beatles Anthology (sample)

Yes, I got this book. And this entry's going to show some pages of it. One by one. Here's the first two.:)

Fab Four Live

Nothing but a great fabs live in colors. Click to see in a larger size.