An Interview with Beatles fan Mick
Mick is a Beatle fan and raido DJ from Dublin.
His show is for all beatles fan and is called Beatle Bug Radio
Show and is on air every Wednesday from 4-6pm (GMT)
on www.radiomade.ie.
How many years ago did you get into the beatles?
29, way back in 1986, but I feel as if they have been a part of my life
since before birth!
How did you get into the beatles?
In June 1986 I saw a movie on TV called I Want to Hold Your
Hand, which is a fun but fictional farce about fans trying to meet
the Beatles during their first visit to New York in 1964. The music in
the film and the image of the Beatles had a deep impact on me.
I remember, soon after experiencing that first Big Beatles Bang in
my universe, seeing a clip of them come on the TV and I fell to my
knees and screamed. I needed to know more and to hear more, so
I swapped some of my pop albums with my friend's parent's original
Beatles albums (unbeknownst to the parents at the time!) and was
astonished by what I heard. Then my sister's friend (a big Beatles
fan who would tell me fascinating stories about them) made me
cassette tape copies of Sgt. Pepper; Please Please Me; Paul's Tug of
War and the John Lennon Collection. It was hard to comprehend that
one band could produce so much variety and quality in such a
short time, and that they had continued to make great music
beyond the Beatles. I discovered the Beatles Monthly Magazine
during a family holiday in Cork in August '86 and this was my
introduction to them as people. I was fascinated by their personalities
and their history. From then on, my mother would buy me every issue
of that magazine, assuming it to be "just another phase" (she
still thinks it to be "just anther phase"!). For Christmas and
birthday presents, all I wanted was Beatles albums and books, and
soon I was challenging friends at school to test my knowledge,
by picking dates from Mark Lewisohn's book, 25 Years in the Life,
and asking me what happened on such and such a date. I remember,
at scout camp in the Isle of Man in 1987, blaring from a portable stereo,
Good Morning, Good Morning and All you Need is Love as our
flag would be raised each morning. I was on a mission to spread the
gospel according to John, Paul, George and Ringo.
My first Beatles memory is of my mother gasping, "Oh, God" on
the morning of December 9th 1980 as the horrific news came over
the radio in the kitchen. It was still dark outside and I was
wondering why she had stopped buttering my toast to listen to the
news, before I went off to school. The name John Lennon stuck
with me, but that was all. I was actually a Paul fan before I knew
about the Beatles! I had bought his Spies Like Us single while
in Wales, on a day trip with a friend's family in 1985 and had liked
No More Lonely Nights a lot. My dad had died that year, quite
suddenly, so the joyful call of "I want to hold your hand" may
have, subconsciously, had something to do with the initial intense
attraction to them. I don't know.
Who is your favorite beatle?
Ringo asked Paul that on a TV show in '97, har, har!!! I deeply
love and respect the four of them. As Paul says, they were like the
four corners of a square, but Paul is my favourite. His musical
versatility and his passion to create never ceases to amaze and
impress me. I greatly admire him as a man too, beyond the
music and the 'superstar'.
What are your favorite beatles albums?
The 'White Album' and Revolver. I love the scope of variety on the
double and it sounds like no other album by any other artist. I
doubt that any band, then or now, would have the confidence or
the ability to compile such varied styles as Helter Skelter, Honey
Pie, Revolution 9, Goodnight and Happiness is A Warm Gun
onto the same album. As for Revolver, it just shimmers with the
brilliance of a group who know no boundaries in the sunshine
of their youth. Best guitar sound EVER on a record.
How many beatles albums do you own?
I have no idea. Like I said, I scored a bunch of original vinyl
albums as a kid, but have since collected most on vinyl,
including piles of solo albums. There is such a buzz to holding a
Beatles LP in your hands and placing the needle on the record.
It's akin to a religious practice. I have everything on CD
though, along with stacks of bootlegs, interviews and all sorts of
rare treasures.
You have a radio show about the beatles, so what is one song
you always want to play?
One main attraction of presenting the Beatle Bug radio show, aside
from a love of the medium of radio, is that I can basically play
anything by the Beatles or solo Beatles or anything related to them,
but I never have time to fit in all that I want to! There are a few
different segments during each show which provide for different
styles of music, such as the Chillaxifier's Chillaxathon, which is
ten minutes of the most chilled out, relaxing tracks that I can think
of, week after week. That's a lot of fun, as anything goes. The
Beatle Bug Bop is a string of songs to dance to, so there is a
never-ending reservoir of boogie woogie gems to choose from for
that segment every week, but it tends to flow organically once the
dance floor is open for business. I like taking requests from listeners
during this part of the show. The Beatle Bug also features a
particular album, subject or interview each week, which can
incorporate anything, but to answer your question... any rare
track that you wouldn't usually hear on mainstream radio,
but I like to balance the overall mix of each show to try
and give all listeners something to get happy about.
If you could go on tour with one beatle who would it be and why?
On a tour of fantasy land it would be John, as I would like to get
to know him better and to have a laugh with him, but sadly
that can not be. Being a musician, I would give two kidneys
and my two Ringo autographs away to tour with Paul. I have
performed a lot of the songs in his current set list on the
Beatle Bug and at the Beatle Week festival in Liverpool over
the past four years. It was a dream come true to be singing
on the stage of the Cavern Club to the tribe, but to perform
with Paul? WAAAAHH!!! I doubt that I could handle the thrill...
Maybe I could... No, I couldn't... You arrange it and I'll
show up! I'd like to encourage him to play some songs which
he has never performed live before, such as Pipes of
Peace, Back Seat of My Car and Why Don't We Do It In the Road.
How have the beatles shaped your life?
That's a whopper of a question.
Well, firstly, I'm a musician because of the Beatles. As a kid
I had desperately wanted to figure out how these incredible
songs had been structured and performed, so I learned to
play guitar when I was fourteen. The first song I tried to
learn was A Day in the Life and I'm still trying to learn it
properly! I started writing songs before I could play guitar.
The first hundred or so were all rip-offs of Beatles tunes!
So, this profession has taken me to a lot of amazing places on
the planet. I first visited New York in 2000 to visit an Irish friend
living there, but also to see the Dakota, the Plaza and all else
related to the Beatles. I ended up living in NYC for five years,
performing music (lots of Beatles) in the bars and clubs for a
living. I met Ringo in Manhattan and Paul gave me two
thumbs up as I stood, like a trembling Wilbury, right in
front of his car as he popped out and into a book store
to do a signing.
Another thing which springs to mind is that I took note,
at an early age, of their views on organised religion
and on more spiritual paths available to explore, which I
have explored and still continue to get lost along, but Paul says it's
okay to get lost, so I stumble on into the light!
The Beatles (John in particular) have also given me the
conviction to speak up about political dirty deeds, but
also to champion the triumphs of political leaders who do
good deeds for the people and for the world. Also,
presenting a Beatles radio show is such a treat and a
treasured part of my week, but the coolest part about their
whole influence on a life, for me, is that I have made
many cool and cherished friends because of the Beatles.
What in your opinion was the best beatle era
the mop tops, sgt pepper and so on?
I love them from start to finish. The best era for me is from
Ringo's birth to infinity, but if I had to choose
one time frame, I would think that they were really
cooking up magic from 65 - 67.
You went to Paul's Out There concert?
What was that like?
Like watching a father figure show a child how to ride a
bike again. I had been through a heavy and traumatic
few months previous to May 23rd. My mother had suffered
a stroke, while at the same time someone seemingly
close to me had deserted me without the decency of a word
of explanation. So, there had been little joy in my heart before
that night, but when Paul took to that stage my soul lit up
again and I roared with a passion for life, for our community,
for a love of music and for a Temporary Secretary!
I bopped and yelled and BEAMED for three glorious
hours, sometimes sitting and weeping in awe and reflection,
but all the time buzzing and being amazed that
Paul was singing so well. I noticed everyone around me also
shaking off their woes as we all joined together to make some
noise in the name of what is good for us all - Paul
makes us all feel better and younger, while we appear to
make him better and younger. Everyone there that night
was so moved and rocked by his incredible performance.
We all have our stories related to the Beatles, but
Paul united us all together that night, in his story,
under a blinding red sunset at the end of The End and it
felt very comforting indeed.
Wonderful interview!!
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