The Ramones song “Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?” mentions John Lennon in the line “Will you remember Jerry Lee, John Lennon, T. Rex and OI Moulty?.” Also mentioned in the lyrics are Ed Sullivan, Murray the K, and Alan Freed.
The song came out during the last year of John Lennon’s lifetime. It was recorded in 1979, and released on the Ramones’ End of the Century album on February 4, 1980. Like a few of Lennon’s albums, End of the Century was produced by Phil Spector.
With the lyrics; “We need change and we need it fast, before rock’s just part of the past, ’cause lately it all sounds the same to me”, the song claims that rock and roll needs change if it’s to survive.
Ringo Starr was the drummer for Rory Storm and The Hurricanes before joining The Beatles in August 1962. Starr’s first concert with The Hurricanes was in March 1959. It was during his tenure with the band that he changed his name to Ringo. Up until then he had been known as Ritchie. With the Hurricanes, Ringo had a solo spot called “Starr-time” and he was the vocalist on songs such as “Boys” by The Shirelles.
In October 1960, while Rory Storm and The Hurricanes were performing in Hamburg, Ringo met The Beatles who were playing there also. Promoter Allan Williams had arranged a recording session for Lu Walters (of The Hurricanes) for October 18, 1960, at the Akoustik Studio. He had asked John, Paul, and George from The Beatles to play and sing harmonies on the session. Beatles drummer Pete Best wasn’t available, so Ringo was asked to fill in. This was the first time that the future famous line-up of The Beatles played and recorded together.
Back in the UK, Starr sat in for Best as The Beatles’ drummer on several occasions. The first time he played with them live on stage was February 5, 1962, when Best fell ill and The Beatles had two performances scheduled for that date. Ringo would permanently replace Pete when he was fired from The Beatles on August 16, 1962.
During their existence, The Hurricanes were one of the most popular music acts on the Liverpool and Hamburg club scenes, but their attempt at a recording career never took off.
Cilla Black’s debut single was “Love of the Loved”, a Lennon-McCartney composition mainly written by Paul McCartney. Black (born Priscilla White) was contracted with manager Brian Epstein as his only female client. George Martin, who signed Cilla to Parlophone Records, produced her recording of the song. Released September 27, 1963, the single peaked at a modest number 35 on the UK Singles Chart, and was not to be one of her bigger hits.
“Love of the Loved” was one of Paul McCartney’s earliest compositions and the Beatles performed it in their live act in their early years. The band recorded the song during their 1962 audition for Decca Records, but it has never been included in any of their official releases. It was even left off of 1995′s Anthology 1 (compilation CDs that covered 1958-1964), supposedly vetoed from inclusion by McCartney.
In 1969, Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin had a hit with the Paul McCartney penned “Goodbye” (credited to Lennon/McCartney). The track reached #13 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and #2 in the UK Singles Chart, where the Beatles’ single “Get Back” kept it from #1.
Hopkin was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles’ Apple record label. Her 1968 single “Those Were The Days”, produced by Paul McCartney, was a Top 10 hit single in both the UK and the U.S. Her debut album, Postcard, released in February 1969, was also produced by McCartney.
“Goodbye” has never been officially released by the Beatles, although there is a demo version performed by McCartney that appears on some of the Beatles’ bootlegs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t included on the Anthology CD sets. In Paul’s version, he sings it from a female perspective, using “him” instead of “her” when singing “calls me to his side” and “I must go to his side.”
Jimmy Nicol temporarily replaced Ringo Starr after he collapsed and was hospitalized with tonsillitis on June 3, 1964. It was the eve of The Beatles’ 1964 Australasian tour. Rather than cancel part of the tour, manager Brian Epstein and producer George Martin decided to use a stand-in drummer to take Ringo’s place. Martin suggested Nicol because he had recently drummed on a Tommy Quickly session. Also, Jimmy was familiar with the Beatles’ songs as he had drummed on an album of Beatle covers called “Beatlemania”. With a last-minute phone call from George Martin, Nicol rushed over to Abbey Road Studios, where he and The Beatles did a quick rehearsal of six songs from their tour repertoire. The next day he would be playing live with them in Copenhagen, Denmark.
On stage, Jimmy wore Ringo’s suit after some alterations. From June 4-13, 1964, Nicol played ten shows in six locations with The Beatles in Denmark, Holland, Hong Kong, and Australia. On June 14, Starr returned to the band in Melbourne, Australia. Nicol said he was “praying he [Starr] would get well at the same time I was hoping he would not want to come back.” For his efforts, Brian Epstein presented him with a check and a gold Eternamatic wrist watch inscribed: “From The Beatles and Brian Epstein to Jimmy – with appreciation and gratitude.”
In later years, it was rumored that Jimmy Nicol had died in 1988, but a 2005 report by the Daily Mail confirmed that he was actually still alive and living as a recluse in London.
