How the Beatles invented pop video and acts we love who always sound the same Word In Your Ear

Nutritious items on the rock and roll tasting menu this week include …
 
… the curious life of Tom Verlaine, his grocery cart and his 50,000 books.  
 
… was March 9 1984 the worst week ever for the British album charts?
 
… what all great records have in common.
 
… Yesterday’s news today! ‘Soundies’ at the cinema and the Scopitone colour video jukebox.
 
… why A Hard Day’s Night was the greatest advert for the magical qualities of the Beatles and the scene that was the blueprint for the pop promotional clip.
 
… comforting acts with a narrow range – JJ Cale, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, U2 (“like getting into your parents’ car after a school trip”). And what made JJ Cale’s recordings so mesmerising.   
 
… did Johnny Marr ever play a guitar solo?
 
… “I work in advertising but tell my mother I play piano in a brothel”.
 
… the link between JJ Cale’s Call Me The Breeze and Family Affair by Sly & the Family Stone.
 
Mentioned in despatches … Cab Calloway and the Hondells, The Hoodoo Gurus, the Style Council, Jimmy Reed and the Inkspots.
 
Tom Verlaine’s 50,000 books …
https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/march/at-the-tom-verlaine-book-sale?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20240306blog&utm_content=20240306blog+CID_6b4a1bd19ed9ca733f5ffca04056ca8b&utm_source=LRB%20email&utm_term=Read%20more
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