Episodes
Live with Mark Lewisohn: 60 Years of A Hard Day’s Night - Part Two  We are concluding our May 2024 live chat with Mr Mark Lewisohn. Will A Hard Day’s Night get released? Will it be a hit? What will the reviews say? Tune in to find out… Live in Person from Dun Laoghaire, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube: tiny.cc/NIRYT Support:...
Published 07/10/24
S08 Live with Mark Lewisohn: 60 Years of A Hard Day’s Night - Part One  It’s been 60 years since A Hard Day’s Night hit the silver screen. In the intervening years, many myths have risen about how this film came together, and who better to bust those myths than Mr Mark Lewisohn. Live in Person from Dun Laoghaire, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube:...
Published 07/07/24
Nothing Is Real Live 2023 - The Q&A Sessions At each of the Nothing Is Real live shows in 2023 we had a Q&A session. As a taster for the whole event, here are the sessions for Belfast on October 23rd (Before Now & Then) and Dublin on November 9th (After Now & Then). Live in Person from Belfast & Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon:...
Published 03/08/24
S08 Bonus: The Beatles Last Tour NIR Live 2023 Part Two When The Beatles landed for their North American tour in August 1966 only the innermost of inner circles knew that the last gig was nigh.  What was the environment that the group was performing in, and was it really the end? Live in Person from London, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube:...
Published 03/01/24
The Beatles First Tour (NIR Live 2023 Part One) NIR went on tour in 2023, so it seems fitting to tell the story of The Beatles’ first and last tours. In the beginning there was Johnny Gentle, a singing star with enough capital to play venues in the rural highlands of Scotland with the untested Beatles. What could possibly go right? Live in Person from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon:...
Published 02/16/24
Review of 2023 You boy! What day is it? Ending the year in the NIR log cabin looking back at 2023 - our fifth annual review. Did anything to do with the Beatles happen this year? That’s right, the third anniversary of McCartney III. Oh, and a little tune called Now & Then. Includes a special Christmas guest!  Live on tape from Lapland, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram:...
Published 12/25/23
Bonus blurb.  16 Songs of 1966: No.17: Pantomime Everywhere It’s Christmas In 1966 there was a 17th song - the only thing heard from the Beatles between Revolver and Strawberry Fields Forever. For their annual Christmas fan club disc instead of the usual thank yous, they produced a collection of music and sketches. Like Revolver and Strawberry Fields, it showed where they’d been, and where they were going.   Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website:...
Published 12/22/23
The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame 1988 was an unusual time: The biggest Beatle was George, rock stars were dealing with the unthinkable (their forties), people were paying attention to Mike Love, and the rebellion of rock & roll had been replaced by a gentlemen’s club.   Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube:...
Published 12/20/23
Live at the Roundhouse - Part Two In December 1968, Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed a TV special where the kings of British rock gathered to play their new material.  Unfortunately, it was with the Rolling Stones. Whither The Roundhouse? What happened next and what could have happened? Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram:...
Published 12/13/23
Live at the Roundhouse - Part One After filming the Hey Jude promo, and in the midst of recording the White Album, somehow The Beatles decide to eye up a return to the stage in the heart of London. So where should that be, and how will they pull it off? Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube:...
Published 12/06/23
In 1991, when so many acts from the 60s were lucratively touring, George Harrison decided to dip his toes in the water. Why? Money. Where? Japan. Who? Clapton. What…could possibly go wrong? Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube: tiny.cc/NIRYT Support: tiny.cc/NIRsupport Support this show...
Published 11/29/23
The plan for a quick live-in-the-studio album gradually morphs into something more 80s, more produced. Hello to Hugh Padgham. Warning: Contains Spies Like Us.  Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube: tiny.cc/NIRYT Support: tiny.cc/NIRsupport Support this show...
Published 11/22/23
Or…. Press to Play After the huge success* of Give My Regards to Broad Street, Paul McCartney wants to get back to basics. Kicking back in a small band with Eric (not that one) this is a broth that attracts many cooks… Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube: tiny.cc/NIRYT Support: tiny.cc/NIRsupport Support this...
Published 11/15/23
November 63 - Part Two As the Beatles move through the month, beyond the Royal Variety Performance they continue to pack houses up and down the UK. What recordings are waiting in the wings? I Want To Hold Your Hand and With The Beatles. Not too shabby.  Live on tape from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube: tiny.cc/NIRYT Support:...
Published 11/08/23
Between October 31st and December 1st 1963, the Beatles pushed the envelope from being the biggest pop group in the country to something even… bigger. In a year when they just kept getting more extraordinary, by the end of November 63, the world was theirs for the taking.  Live on tape from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube:...
Published 11/01/23
Harrison/Starkey George and Ringo always had a special bond.  As the sixties became the seventies, was there an opportunity for the Beatles to give the world a second magnificent song-writing partnership? Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube: tiny.cc/NIRYT Support: tiny.cc/NIRsupport Support this show...
Published 10/24/23
Bonus Episode! Talking Mal Evans with Ken Womack Kenneth Womack is a writer, historian, and critic, who has written some of the best books about The Beatles and their inner circle.  To this list, he is about to add Living The Beatles Legend, The Untold Story of Mal Evans, the first of two books about big Mal, which comes out in November 2023.   Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast & New Jersey, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group:...
Published 10/20/23
Mal Evans Mal Evans had a front-row seat to the entire Beatles experience, and the Beatles were happy to have him there. Whether it was as an extra in A Hard Day’s Night or co-writing a song on the Ringo album, he remains an indelible part of their landscape. Contains anvils.  Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram:...
Published 10/17/23
Bigger Than Jesus - Part Two Four months passed between John Lennon free-associating about Christianity to a trusted journalist, and touching down in the US for a North American tour. The “Bigger Than Jesus” controversy hung over the tour, but was it really that big of a deal?  Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: http://www.nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram:...
Published 10/10/23
Bigger Than Jesus - Part One John Lennon never actually said that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus”, but that wasn’t the point. When you’re free-associating to a trusted journalist, what’s to stop your words being lost in translation as they cross the Atlantic?  Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: nothingisrealpod.com/ X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram: instagram.com/beatlespod/ YouTube:...
Published 10/03/23
Welcome to Season Eight Full steam ahead for the eighth(!) season of Nothing is Real. We need to tell you about live shows, the new season, the world’s most difficult Beatles quiz, and ask the burning question of “Where’s that new Beatles single?” Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: http://www.nothingisrealpod.com X: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: http://tiny.cc/NIRFBG Mastodon: @[email protected] Instagram:...
Published 09/26/23
S07 Bonus: STINYC Live Jam Jason Mix The Fillmore tapes have been remixed and repurposed, so in telling the tale, let’s do some remixing and repurposing… Live on tape from Dublin, Belfast, The Fillmore, and The Lyceum, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: http://www.nothingisrealpod.com Twitter: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: http://tiny.cc/NIRFBG YouTube: http://tiny.cc/NIRYT  Support: http://tiny.cc/NIRsupport Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/nothing-is-real-a-beatles-podcast. Become a...
Published 09/08/23
Stuart Sutcliffe - Part Two As a group, the Beatles were changed by Hamburg.  Individually each Beatle got something different from their time in the city and it would shape the rest of their lives …and for Stuart it was Astrid and art.  Live on tape from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: http://www.nothingisrealpod.com Twitter: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: http://tiny.cc/NIRFBG YouTube: http://tiny.cc/NIRYT  Support: http://tiny.cc/NIRsupport Support this show...
Published 03/22/23
Stuart Sutcliffe - Part One Stuart Sutcliffe was the star pupil at the Liverpool College of Art, and also John Lennon’s flatmate. By becoming a Beatle, he demonstrated that the band was a state of mind. To be a Beatle was to be something…other. Then they got the call up for Hamburg. Live on tape from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real.  Website: http://www.nothingisrealpod.com Twitter: @BeatlesPod Facebook Group: http://tiny.cc/NIRFBG YouTube: http://tiny.cc/NIRYT  Support:...
Published 03/15/23