"A Hard Day's Night" not a classic?

So the other day, we picked up this book because we love old movies. More than 5,000 entries, the cover says. So we're looking through the book and all the ones you'd expect are there. "Casablanca." "Gone With the Wind." "Ben-Hur." "King Kong." "The Godfather." Not everything in the book is on the list of best movies, but many are, as they should be. But some of the worst were there, too, like "Plan 9 From Outer Space." 

So, as we often do with books, we go looking for Beatle mentions. Like "A Hard Day's Night." Turn the pages to the H's. Not there.  Huh? And no "Help!," "Magical Mystery Tour," "Yellow Submarine" or "Let It Be." Hmm... Curiously, though, the Monkees' "Head" is listed. As is the Dave Clark Five's "Having a Wild Weekend." So is "Jimi Hendrix." "Jailhouse Rock." "Rock, Rock, Rock." "Go, Johnny, Go!" "Beach Blanket Bingo." "Beach Party." 

Tucked in the back are checklists of directors' films. It is there (and only there) we found AHDN, plus "How I Won the War" and the McCartney tour film "Get Back" listed. In tiny print.

The key seems to be the mention in the Editor's Note that the book excludes ("painfully," it says) British films, except for early Hitchcock films and also James Bond movies, but makes an exception for films that "feature predominately Hollywood-associated casts or directors." So presumably, then, John Boorman, who is British, incidentally, and his direction of "Having a Wild Weekend" makes it, but the films of Richard Lester, an American, do not?

By the way, this is not a recent book, but came out in 1999. I have to admit I like the book otherwise because I love reading about classic movies. But this was a huge error and there's no excuse for it. 

(For all the best Beatles news, please subscribe to our Beatles Examiner, Paul McCartney Examiner, George Harrison Examiner and Ringo Starr Examiner columns. And don't miss the weekly Beatles radio show "Things We Said Today" we co-host with Allan Kozinn, Al Sussman and Ken Michaels.) We would very much appreciate you.) 

Another preview from the Ringo Starr "A Lifetime of Peace and Love" CD

Photo by Steve Marinucci

Here's Ben Folds singing "Oh My My." The CD will be released Dec. 4 digitally only. You can hear another track on our Ringo Starr Examiner column.



And here's Ringo singing "Boys" from the TV broadcast of the show.

Fifty years ago: 'The Beatle Cracker Suite'

Fifty years ago in November, 1965, Billboard reported that an EP with seven Lennon and McCartney songs played in the style of classical composer Tchaikovsky would be released and the costs for it would be shared by the Beatles' publishing company Northern Songs Ltd. The EP was to be titled "Beatle Cracker Suite," and was eventually issued by the Arthur Wilkinson Orchestra on EMI Records. The EP was to be issued throughout the world and was to be followed by an album if it did well enough, but it appears there was none.

The seven songs were "From Me To You," "Help!," "It's For You" (written for Cilla Black), "Can't Buy Me Love," "She Loves You," "Ticket To Ride" and "All My Loving." The last song is available on Amazon digitally.

The full vinyl EP is offered by several sellers on eBay.

How to see the ITV Beatles special outside the UK

Wikipedia

Since our article published Sunday on Beatles Examiner about last week's UK ITV “The Nation's Favourite Beatles Number 1” TV special that had some things people outside of the UK would love to see, there have been several inquiries from people wanting to know if there were any options to see it streamed. 

Well, actually, there is, but only if you live on certain continents. ITV has a pay-per-view site for Europe called ITV Essentials that allows you to watch their shows in Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Gibraltar, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain. The cost is 4.99 Euros. You can either subscribe month-to-month or get a 30-day pass for the same price.  A similar service, called ITV Choice, is available for over 100 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. 

But unfortunately, there's nothing similar for the U.S. As a viewer services rep. from the channel told us today:

"ITV is a UK broadcaster and the rights for many of our programmes dictate that they can be screened in the UK only. We do not have a licence to transmit our domestic family of ITV channels (ITV, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, ITVBe, ITV Encore and CITV) outside the UK and we do not seek to promote these services elsewhere. 

"The ITV channels on satellite are designed to reach all corners of the United Kingdom for domestic viewers watching via Sky and Freesat using a small satellite dish. The channels listed above are not aimed at other European countries or farther afield. 

"As part of the satellite operator's on-going renewal programme, our domestic services have transferred to new satellites with a tighter beam. The satellite footprints have been designed to meet the requirements of broadcasters who distribute their channels in the UK and hold broadcasting rights for the UK but not for other countries. As a result of the transfer, viewers outside the UK may no longer be able to receive some channels via satellite." 

She did, however, make a suggestion that U.S. viewers can do.  "If your region isn’t listed in the links above you may like to contact the local broadcasters in your area to let them know about the programmes you would like to see."

The full show hasn't yet been posted on YouTube, though a short clip has. 







Be sure to check out our That's What I Want Beatles Store (U.S) and That's What I Want Beatles Store UK. 

Beatles "1" DVD release day around the world, part 4

Photos from HMV Liverpool (Thanks to Paul Dean)