In Episode 424 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo discuss the new “Beatles ‘64” film, which has its premiere on Disney+ on November 29. In the next episode, we’ll cover the boxed set, “The Beatles 1964 US Albums in Mono” – AND, we have a contest, in which five winners will get the six albums (everything except “The Beatles’ Story”) that are available separately. Instructions for entering are at the end of the show. [[The discussion of the film...

In Episode 423 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo speak with Elliot Mintz about his fascinating memoir of his friendship with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the 1970s. (The news segment runs from 3’30” to 16’25,” followed by the interview.) Elliot was previously a guest on Things We Said Today on Episode 268, in 2018. Here’s a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E7Rv4cFeuk&list=PLneXbnbYqxlOu6w9aLuhU6jbpxMXcFq0b&index=152 Elliot’s website,...

             In Episode 422 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo speak with the director Erik Nelson about his new documentary, “Daytime Revolution” – a film about the week in February, 1972, when John and Yoko co-hosted the Mike Douglas Show. (The news segment runs from 3’15” to 9’20,” followed by a trailer for the film, and the chat with Erik Nelson.)             As always, we welcome your thoughts about this episode of the show or any other episode. We...

             In Episode 421 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of John Lennon’s “Walls and Bridges” with Chip Madinger, the author (with Scott Raile) of the extraordinary “Lennonology.” There is also plenty of news, which begins at 6’40” and runs until 31”00, when Chip joins the discussion. (And in the spirit of bonus tracks, there’s one more news item during the outro).             As always, we welcome your...

             In Episode 420 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo discuss the limited theatrical screening of Paul McCartney’s “One Hand Clapping” (and “The Backyard”), and Ken covers Ringo Starr’s concert at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut – the second-to-last concert before Ringo cancelled the tour’s final concerts because of illness. And as always, we have the latest in Beatles-related news. (The news is at the start of the show, followed by Ken’s...

             In Episode 419 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo speak with the Canadian author and music journalist Aaron Badgley about his book “Dark Horse Records,” a detailed history of George Harrison’s post-Beatles record label. Our chat with Aaron begins after the Ken’s news segment [at 23’15”].             As always, we welcome your thoughts about this episode of the show or any other episode. We invite you to send your comments about this or any of...

            In Episode 418 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo discuss “Revival ’69,” the new(ish) film about the day-long Toronto Rock and Roll Revival show on September 13, 1969, at which the Plastic Ono Band (John & Yoko, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White) made a last-minute, show-saving appearance – a performance later released as the “Live Peace in Toronto” album). [[The intro and news segment runs until 19’50” followed by the discussion of...

            In Episode 417 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo are joined by Al Sussman, the Executive Editor of Beatlefan, and Bruce Spizer, the prolific author whose latest book is “The Beatles A Hard Days Night and More.” [[The intro and news segment runs until 17’45” followed by the discussion with Bruce and Al.]] Bruce’s website, from which his books (physical and PDF versions) can be ordered, is beatle.net             As always, we welcome your thoughts...

In Episode 416 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo discuss the new 6 CD / 2 Blu-ray archival edition of John Lennon’s “Mind Games” album with Chip Madinger, the co-author of the unfolding “Lennonology” series and “Eight Arms to Hold You.” [[The intro and news segment runs until 24’30”, followed by the discussion with Chip.]]             As always, we welcome your thoughts about this episode of the show or any other episode. We invite you to send your comments...

In Episode 415 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo speak with Evans Mirageas, the artistic director of the Cincinnati Opera, about the company’s decision to present “Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio” as a fully-staged opera during its 2024 Summer Festival. [The news segment runs from 2’12” to 9’30.” The interview with Evans follows.] The performances are July 18, 20, 21, 25 and 27, and the cast includes Andrew Owens as Shanty; Jacqueline Echols McCarley as...

In Episode 414 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo discuss Paul McCartney’s “One Hand Clapping” – why and how he made it, back in 1974, and how the newly released version stands up. [The news segment runs from 4’43” to 22’10.” That is followed by Darren’s recap of his recent visit to England, with flybys of Friar Park and Hog Hill Mill. The discussion of “One Hand Clapping” begins at 32’05.”] During the news, Ken mentioned the Blu-ray reissue of “Born to...

             In Episode 412 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo adopt the “Fab Five” idea from Ken’s videocast, which involves each choosing five “go to” albums – one by the Beatles and one solo album each from John, Paul, George and Ringo. The rules state that these are not necessarily the “best” albums, or even our favorites – just the choices we’d make if we reaching for an album right now, and why. The “Fab Five” begins after the news segment, at...

            In Episode 412 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo have a chat with Sir Michael Lindsay-Hogg about “Let It Be” – the original film as well as the newly remastered version. Since we did a show just last week, the News segment is fairly short; the interview begins at 9’05”.             As always, we welcome your thoughts about this episode of the show or any other episode. We invite you to send your comments about this or any of our other shows to...

In Episode 411 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo discuss the newly restored version of Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 “Let It Be,” and how it got its bad reputation, and how it looks now; the just announced “Mind Games” archival release, due in July, and Ringo Starr’s virtual press conference on May 15. [For listeners looking for specific topics, the first part of the show is devoted to the News, with “Let It Be” discussion starting at 33 minutes, the overview...

            In Episode 410 of Things We Said Today, Darren Devivo, Ken Michaels and Allan Kozinn discuss the Beatles’ song intros, each selecting the 10 (or so) that grab them most, and explaining why they work so well. But the news section includes some discussion as well – an overview of Ringo Starr’s new EP, “Crooked Boy” and some other Record Store Day releases, as well as information about Paul’s “One Hand Clapping” release. For listeners looking for specific topics, the News section...

            In Episode 409 of Things We Said Today, Darren Devivo, Ken Michaels and Allan Kozinn have a chat with Dana Klosner about her book “Beatlemania Lives On – Superfans in the 21st Century,” a fun read about the current state of Beatle fandom, based on interviews with everyone from Peter Asher and Laurence Juber to fans who have turned their onstage autographs into tattoos, with authors, DJs (Darren was among her interviewees) and Beatles tribute band musicians. For those who prefer to...

            A number of correspondents have asked why the Beatles “Red” and “Blue” album reissues were not covered on Things We Said Today, so in episode 408, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo catch up with those releases, as well as the more recent “Underdubbed” version of Paul McCartney’s “Band on the Run.” (Allan also offers a preview of the new HMC bootleg release with earlier versions of the “Band on the Run” tracks.) For those who want to listen selectively, the news segment...

            This was the Things We Said Today panel at the Fest for Beatles Fans at the TWA Hotel, February 10, 2024. Ken Michaels, Darren Devivo and Allan Kozinn were joined by Allan’s McCartney Legacy co-author, Adrian Sinclair, to discuss Paul’s penchant in the mid-70s (i.e., the period covered in The McCartney Legacy Vols. 1 & 2) for recording outside London.  [Thanks to Andy Nicholes of the Two Legs podcast for taping the session. Apologies for any sound issues - this was a live...

            During our hiatus we missed a few relatively eventful weeks of news, so in Episode 406, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo catch up with all that, and discuss some recent news events and releases.             As always, we welcome your thoughts about this episode of the show or any other episode. We invite you to send your comments about this or any of our other shows to our email address [email protected], join our "Things We Said Today Beatles Fans"...

            In Episode 405, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo welcome author Bruce Spizer and Beatlefan Executive Editor Al Sussman for a discussion of our time at the recent Fest for Beatles Fans at the TWA Hotel at Kennedy Airport [11:00 to 49:50] and our memories of the start of Beatlemania in the United States, 60 years ago this month [starting at 49:50]. Along the way, we challenge a few of the standard myths about the time and the Beatles’ visit. For fans of the news segment,...

            Episode 404 is our last Things We Said Today for 2023, and it’s a long one – and something different. Catching up with the news of the last few weeks, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo pay tribute to the late Denny Laine [04:00-33:00], followed by plenty more news [33:00-50:00], But for the main part of the show [at 50:00] we welcome the faculty of the RPM School – Walter Everett, author of the extraordinary “The Beatles As Musicians” two-volume set, Jack Petruzzelli,...

In episode 403 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo speak with the author Kenneth Womack about his excellent new book, “Living the Beatles Legend – The Untold Story of Mal Evans,” and to Mal’s son, Gary Evans.             During the news segment, Ken noted the streaming version of the concert presented at the Troubadour to raise money for Denny Laine’s medical treatment. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPigWiKgyf8             As always, we...

  In episode 402 of Things We Said Today, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo (Ken Michaels is taking a week off) speak with the author in impresario Vivek Tiwary about the 10th anniversary expanded reissue of “The Fifth Beatle,” his graphic (in the graphic novel sense) biography of Brian Epstein. We last spoke with Vivek in episode 241 (back in the audio-only days).             As always, we welcome your thoughts about this episode of the show or any other episode. We invite you to send your...

In episode 401 of Things We Said Today, Ken Michaels, Allan Kozinn and Darren Devivo have another lengthy and enlightening discussion with the great director Peter Jackson about the “Now and Then” video – his debut as a music clip director – as well as an extraordinary demonstration of his MAL system and how it has been used to de-mix Beatles recordings to allow stereo (and Atmos) remixes with far more flexibility in placing instruments and voices in a stereo soundstage than has ever been...