Dear Beatles Fans,

You're suckers.

But let's face it... We're all suckers.

We're going to go out there and buy those records and those box sets and watch the television specials and pretty much anything that says "Beatles" on it.

It's Beatlemania all over again.

[O]n Amazon’s list of top sellers, “Abbey Road” from 1969 is edging out “The Beatles,” which is followed by “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” “Revolver” and “Rubber Soul.”
[LA Times]

And the box sets are selling like hot cakes too!

Don't look now, Beatles Fans, but keep spending that hard-earned cash and you might see The Beatles kick-start this sluggish economy. (Wishful thinking).

Now before you go off and do something rash, here are some tips:

Be sure to buy the mono box set which is the way God George Martin and The Beatles intended. And then individually buy the ones that were done in stereo: "Yellow Submarine," "Abbey Road," and "Let It Be."

Then pick up the Past Masters (it combines both volumes!).

And then you're pretty much set.


Well, almost set. You definitely gotta get A Hard Day's Night and Help! on DVD, then The Beatles Anthology (book and DVD set). Then maybe you wanna pick up The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz. Then maybe Larry Kane's awesome books on The Beatles. Then posters, old magazines, Beatles gear books, books on the chords and structures of the songs, chord books, Rickenbackers, solo albums. And the inevitable Beatles iPod that will come out when Beatles songs are finally sold on iTunes.

And while we're at it, where are The Rutles remasters??

Jeez. All of this is like heroin.

But the good kind of heroin where you don't die when you use a lot then build a tolerance and use more until you overdose.

Y'know, the heroin that says "Beatleroin" on it.


Regards,
Everyone

Dear thenewno2

Allow me to quickly chart the progression of a full-fledged Beatles obsession:

1. You start casually enough by slowly accumulating and purchasing all The Beatles records.
2. Then you realize that songs like "Hey Jude" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand" were just singles and not on the official UK album releases so you buy the Past Masters series.
3. Naturally you progress to wondering about the recording process so you buy all three Anthology sets (in addition to the documentary, of course).
4. You get pretty disappointed about the break-up of The Beatles and wax poetic about Abbey Road and buy into all that mumbo-jumbo about how the love you make is equal to the love you take, so you decide to go with the solo records.
5. After practically memorizing all the Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and, yes, even the Ringo solo records, you're thirsting for more.
6. That's when the obsession reaches its lowest point: buying the records of the Beatles children.

Now we're sitting here thinking, boy, we got burned by Julian and Sean Lennon. We've heard some of James McCartney's work on his dad's records but nothing from his solo stuff. And Zak Starkey remains just a hair out of the spotlight while he does some amazing drum work for The Who and Oasis.

And that brings us to you, thenewno2.



Thankfully we're not disappointed one bit! You offer a level of creativity and musicianship that has been lacking in the records from other Beatle-Children. In fact, the music stands up alone quite well.

There's a little Radiohead in there, there's some Pink Floyd, a little rock 'n' roll, some nice synth work. There's a nice dreamy quality to the production.

We're looking forward to more of your work!



Regards,
Everyone

Knowlege:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thenewno2

And let's be honest here, we actually like Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon stuff too. No matter how cheesey (Jules) or too-artsy (Sean) it can be.