Without the Beatles

Des Burkinshaw

Des Burkinshaw and a selection of co-hosts including Mark Hooper and Richard Merrett, meet a variety of famous guests to discuss how the Beatles directly impacted on them and their careers.. Recorded over the past 10 years, guests include Sir Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Steve Van Zandt, Nancy Sinatra, all four members of 10cc, Barbara Dickson, Sir David Attenborough, Sir Willy Russell, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, Richie Sambora, Diane Warren and some of the last interviews done by Neil Innes, Mary Quant and Lemmy. Each episode we also feature a member of the public who also has a Beatles' story to tell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 21 HR AGO

    #15 Al Jardine (The Beach Boys)

    We're back for 2026 - with an hour-long interview with Al Jardine of The Beach Boys. In this very special chat recorded over two interviews in 2026 and 2016, Al reflects on Brian Wilson's passing, the impact the Beatles had on the Beach Boys had on each other, and talks about his current plans. Des Burkinshaw is the man with the questions. Note: A video version of this episode is available on youtube. In 2025, Al Jardine released a new 4-track EP called Island In The Sun which, in addition to the title track, includes a song called “My Plane Leaves Tomorrow (Au Revoir),” and features Neil Young on guest lead vocals. More info here: https://www.aljardine.com/music Al’s current tour is a tribute to the late Brian Wilson and in addition to performing all of the big classic Beach Boys hits like “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “Sloop John B,” “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Surfin’ USA,” Al and The Pet Sounds Band will be including radio singles and rarities from The Beach Boys’ rich 1970’s catalog from the albums The Beach Boys Love You, 15 Big Onesand The M.I.U. Album The Pet Sounds Band are Brian Wilson’s former touring band and are the same musicians who performed The Beach Boys’ masterpiece Pet Sounds for many years when Brian was on tour. Their music director is Darian Sahanaja, who was primarily responsible for helping Brian release Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE in 2004. The band also includes Matt Jardine, Al’s eldest son, who has received rave reviews for his beautiful vocals on classics like “Good Vibrations,” God Only Knows,” “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Surf’s Up.” The Pet Sounds Band currently includes: Rob Bonfiglio: guitar Michael D’Amico: drums Gary Griffin: keyboards Matt Jardine: vocals Bob Lizik: bass Jim Laspesa: percussion Darian Sahanaja: keyboards Debbie Shair: keyboards Paul Von Mertens: sax Emeen Zarookian: guitar For a complete list of tour dates, please visit: https://www.aljardine.com/shows Check out the other episodes of our podcast on Spotify or youtube, and visit our website https://www.withoutthebeatles.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 2m

  2. 12/11/2025

    #14 Sir Michael Palin (Monty Python)

    The Without the Beatles project in which famous artists and creatives discuss the direct impact the Fab Four had on their careers, started back in 2012. One of the first people we interviewed was Michael Palin. He found fame in the 60s as a TV presenter, before going on to become a performer and writer with Do Not Adjust Your Set, then Monty Python. He went on to have a stellar film career and a third career as presenter of the hugely popular travel series, Around the World... Michael was a good friend of George Harrison and benefited from George's role as the owner of Handmade Films. Here he talks about the Pythons, The Beatles, and George in particular. All our podcasts are available on YouTube too. If you enjoy this episode, please do leave a review or comment. Technical note: This interview was originally shot for a planned TV documentary. Des Burkinshaw, the interviewer was not wearing a microphone or featured on camera. Thanks to the wonders of AI we've been able to retrieve the distant sound of Des' voice from Michael's microphone and enhance it. It's not the clearest recording of his voice, but we guess most of you would rather hear Michael Palin than the interviewer in any case. We hope this does not interfere with your enjoyment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    42 min

  3. 09/11/2025

    #13 Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi)

    In 2010 we kicked off the multi-decade Without the Beatles project, and were privileged to be invited out to LA, to Richie Sambora's home, for this interview.  A few years later, in 2013, Richie quit Bon Jovi because of the pressures of touring. He said at the time that he couldn't cope with 18 month world tours, but in this interview he is still very much in the band and says he can never imagine leaving. In this insight into Richie's artistic life, he details how the Beatles affected everything - from his first memory to being the first thing he plays every time he picks up the guitar. This is the unedited interview tape - there's not too much in the way of hellos and goodbyes because they were done when the camera wasn't rolling, but we hope this format gives you a real insight into the man. All our podcasts are up as videos on YouTube too. Please subscribe if you can - the more people who subscribe, the more likely it is that YouTube will show the videos to other people. Youi're not just supporting our work but also supporting the artist in the video through publicity. You can find us in all the usual places. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    50 min

  4. 08/11/2025

    #12 Andy Partridge (XTC)

    It was such a pleasure to interview Andy Partridge of XTC for Without the Beatles - the documentary back in 2012 - when the world was a very different place. Unfortunately, because of an error on my part the documentary never saw the light of day, but now that podcasts are a thing - ours in particular - it's worth putting out Andy's interview. As usual, Andy is a great interviewee. He cites the Beatles as one of the reasons for that - he developed his sense of humour and eclecticism to their early influence on him. Of course, they impacted his music, but most importantly, like so many others, their story and personalities shaped his story and personality. Some context. I realised some time ago, that if it weren't for a combo of Hitler and The Beatles, I wouldn't even be here. Once I was here, the Beatles shaped my outlook and made me a musician. I thought it would be easy to find well known people who had a similar story, and so it proved. I shot 40-50 interviews exploring a few themes that emerged, but by then no-one would commission us because we had done so much upfront. Yes, the BBC were interested in licensing it, but that wouldn't even have covered the legal costs. From 2013 to 2020, the interviews sat on a hard drive, a testament to bad planning. As an ex-BBC producer, I should have known the hole I'd dug for myself, but was still happy to have met all those interviewees and other things came from it, so I didn't mind too much. During covid, I relished every episode of Chris Shaw's masterful, I am the Eggpod podcast, and realised that documentary interviews are really just conversations - ie unintentional podcasts. I was too missing until late 2023 to act on this, but 2024 finally saw the Without the Beatles podcast launch. As we approach our millionth watch/download a year later, we have found plenty of new people to interview. The archive was in danger of being sidelined again, but now we've decided to just put out some of those archive interviews anyway. Yes, some of the topical references don't work anymore - when this was recorded Ken Dodd and Prince Philip were both still alive - but the essence of what Andy says about the Beatles is as relevant as ever. So here it is - 13 years late - but a full unedited interview with Andy. We hope you enjoy this and the other archive interviews to come, including Richie Sambora, Nancy Sinatra, Al Jardine of the Beach Boys, filmmaker Tony Palmer, and many others. All our podcasts are also available on YouTube @withoutthebeatles. Please hit like and subscribe. We only put out 1 or 2 episodes/videos per month, so you won't get spammed. If you would like to support us via Patreon, you can. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    44 min

  5. 08/11/2025

    #11 Chris White (The Zombies)

    The Beatles famously paved the way for the British Invasion of America after their success in 1964. One of the bands that followed in their wake was The Zombies. Although they hit in the UK too, America has always been the place they did best, and they are still thought of more highly there to this day. Chris White was the bassist and, with Rod Argent, wrote all the band's material, including This Will be Our Year, taken from the classic psychedelic pop album, Odysey and Oracle. Recently, Chris and singer, Colin Blunstone, came to Without the Beatles' hometown of Hackney in East London to launch a newly remixed mono version of that classic album. Earlier this year, the band also celebrated the release of the first documentary about the Zombies, Hung Up on a Dream. What better time to reflect on their early American success - and what part the Beatles played in their story. Richard Merrett and Des Burkinshaw are your hosts. A video version of this episode, like all the other episodes, can be found on youtube @withoutthebeatles Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 6m

  6. 09/09/2025

    #10 Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy)

    Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy popped into our studio to discuss his love of The Beatles, working in Abbey Road, and to reflect on a career that includes 13 solo albums, 2 Duckworth Lewis Method collaborations, the soundtrack to Wonka, and many film and TV Themes including Father Ted and the IT Crowd. Mark Hooper was on summer holidays, so friend of the podcast, Richard Merrett, joins Des Burkinshaw for the chat. The new album is really excellent, and we wouldn't just say that, so do go check it out. We both agree The Man Who Turned into a Chair is one of Neil's strongest songs full stop. And be honest - you're going to listen to Mar-a-Lago by the Sea as soon as it comes out, right? The album - Rainy Sunday Afternoon - is out on September 19th but you can hear Achilles, The Last Time I Saw the Old Man and Invisible Thread right now on all streaming platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 14m

  7. 27/07/2025

    #9 Jacob Jeffries (Vulfpeck)

    We always ask this question: can you imagine your life without the Beatles? Today's guest definitely can't. Jacob Jeffries is a member of Vulfpeck, Jack Stratton's collaborator in Vulfmon, and is about to release a solo album in September, made at Theo Katzman's cabin studio. As co-writer and performer on many of the above projects, he's right at the heart of one of the most powerful musical networks of the century so far. And it's fair to say, he's also a bit of a Beatles' fan. Des Burkinshaw and Mark Hooper discuss all these projects, as well as musical theatre and inter-generational influence with Jacob. We'd like nothing more than to have included a few snippets of music in the programme to illustrate everything, but then we'd have gotten copyright strikes etc, a good example of how the record companies, publishers and even platforms, are ruining the experience for fans. Instead, tediously, when you have finished listening to this fascinating interview, come back here and explore this fantastic world of music through these links. Don't forget to visit our website, withoutthebeatles.com for all the usual stuff. The audio version of this goes out on all the usual networks. Here's our favourite collaboration between Jack Stratton and Jacob. https://youtu.be/Akaa9xHaw7E?si=iUqj7f6NwsNI4BDd Here's Jacob with Vulfpeck singing his song, Big Dipper. https://youtu.be/QEah75Oyv8c?si=gtIvsvQwrOd5E-55 You'll love this. Red Cardinal from Jacob's new album, You Got The Right Idea. https://youtu.be/q-j1DMrPRUU?si=k2gQDtOiek2iSw0T Here's Jacob, Jack Stratton and Harrison Whitford, channelling their inner Beatles and Byrds. https://youtu.be/1aQpedzFOHA?si=1FRVRfdQ-chf9Rov Mark mentions Jacob's cover of I am the Walrus. https://youtu.be/7xGKx09S524?si=VQpOj_95LQtwczRb Both Des and Mark discovered this whole world during Covid watching the Vulfpeck Live at Madison Square Gardens footage. Neither of us knew who Vulfpeck were, but both of us watched the whole thing anyway. It's that entertaining. https://youtu.be/rv4wf7bzfFE?si=zpw4VE-NBcbWtUy1 Jacob's album isn't out until September, but here's another track from it, Steady. Nick Nagurka Holden's mic choices paying off here. So warm. https://youtu.be/SP3_qq2sP9Y?si=RMhEeFeI4PutrIKh We have pushed you down the rabbit hole. Now off you go to Wonderland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    55 min

  8. 26/06/2025

    #8 Brian Wilson/James Warren (The Korgis/Stackridge)

    James Warren wrote and sang The Korgis' classic, Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime. As a member of Stackridge, he not only was the first act on at the first ever Glastonbury, but Stackridge were produced by George Martin, engineered by Geoff Emerick. He's famous for his song, There's Something About the Beatles, but in this episode Mark Hooper and Des Burkinshaw discuss the equally big impact of Brian Wilson who died on June 11, aged 82. Des and Mark both met Brian and they share some of their stories too. Check out Season 1 of the podcast which features interviews with Steve Van Zandt, Jona Lewie, Lol Creme, Terry Gilliam, Lemmy and Mary Quant, Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1h 1m
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5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

Des Burkinshaw and a selection of co-hosts including Mark Hooper and Richard Merrett, meet a variety of famous guests to discuss how the Beatles directly impacted on them and their careers.. Recorded over the past 10 years, guests include Sir Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Steve Van Zandt, Nancy Sinatra, all four members of 10cc, Barbara Dickson, Sir David Attenborough, Sir Willy Russell, Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, Richie Sambora, Diane Warren and some of the last interviews done by Neil Innes, Mary Quant and Lemmy. Each episode we also feature a member of the public who also has a Beatles' story to tell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Des Burkinshaw
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    15
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © magnificent!
  • Show Website
    Without the Beatles

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