It' Johnnie's Birthday, His 70th

John Lennon would have turned 70 today. I have said that The Beatles were the closest thing that I ever got close to as a religion, and that John has always been my hero. The Beatles were not just another rock group, from Rubber Soul through Let It Be, The Beatles explained their thoughts on life, love, politics and philosophy while being the most innovative rock band of all time.

I did a philosophy project in college on The Beatles. I received an A+ from my philosophy professor at Emerson College. The project was on the psycological influence of The Beatles' lyrics on a generation we now call Boomers. Emerson is a premiere arts college with broadcasting, theater and speech as its specialty. I will share just one nugget of what will be a book that I am bound to write.


The Gospel according to St. John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was good.

On The Beatles' song The Word John sang:

In the beginning I misunderstood but now I've got it, the word is good. Spread the word and you'll be free. Spread the word and be like me. Spread the worda I'm thinking of, have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, It's sunshine, It's the word, love.

From that point of the word love became sunshine with The Beatles. From Good Day Sunshine through Here Comes the Sun, the word “sun” became the word love.

I never met John Lennon. But he was my friend and mentor. So, I will just say “Happy Birthday, John.” Thank you for coming along and touching our lives. You taught us a great deal. We learned to Imagine.

A Day In The Life

We got to do a meme. The Rules? Pick out one of your favorite songs. Go to Song Facts and tell us about the song's history. I picked A Day in the Life from The Beatles. This is lifted completely from Song Facts: A 41 piece orchestra played on this song. The musicians were told to attend the session dressed formally. When they got there, they were presented with party novelties (false noses, party hats, gorilla-paw glove) to wear, which made it clear this was not going to be a typical session. The orchestra was conducted by Paul McCartney, who told them to start with the lowest note of their instruments and gradually play to the highest. (thanks, Jes - Mason City, IA) The beginning of this song was based on 2 stories John Lennon read in the Daily Mail newspaper: Guinness heir Tara Browne dying when he smashed his lotus into a parked van, and an article in the UK Daily Express in early 1967 which told of how the Blackburn Roads Surveyor had counted 4000 holes in the roads of Blackburn and commented that the volume of material needed to fill them in was enough to fill the Albert Hall. Lennon took some liberties with the Tara Browne story - he changed it so he "Blew his mind out in the car."

John Lennon stated this regarding the article about Tara Browne: "I didn't copy the accident. Tara didn't blow his mind out. But it was in my mind when I was writing that verse." At the time, Paul didn't realize the reference was to Tara. He thought it was about a "stoned politician." The article regarding the "4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire" was taken from the UK Daily Express, January 17, 1967 in a column called Far And Near.

John's friend Terry Doran was the one who completed John's line "Now they know how many holes it takes to fill..." Terry told him "fill the Albert Hall, John."

McCartney contributed the line "I'd love to turn you on." This was a drug reference, but the BBC banned it for the line about having a smoke and going into a dream, which they thought was about marijuana. The ban was finally lifted when author David Storey picked it as one of his Desert Island Discs.

McCartney's middle section (Woke up, got out of bed...) was intended for another song.

The final chord was produced by all 4 Beatles and George Martin banging on 3 pianos simultaneously. As the sound diminished, the engineer boosted to faders. The resulting note lasts 42 seconds, and the studio air conditioners can be heard toward the end as the faders were pushed to the limit to record it.

The rising orchestra-glissando and the thundering sound are reminiscent of Entry of the Gods into Valhalla from Richard Wagner's opera "Das Rheingold," where after the rising glissando, Thor beats with his hammer. George Martin said in his 1979 book All You Need is Ears that the glissando was Lennon's idea. After Lennon's death, Martin seems to have changed his mind. In his 1995 book Summer of Love: The Making of Sgt. Pepper, he states that the rising orchestra-glissando was McCartney's idea. (thanks to Johan Cavalli, who is a music historian in Stockholm)

This being the last song on the album, The Beatles found an interesting way to close it out. After the final note, Lennon had producer George Martin dub in a high pitched tone, which most humans can't hear, but drives dogs crazy. This was followed by a loop of incomprehensible studio noise, along with Paul McCartney saying "Never could see any other way," spliced together. It was put there so vinyl copies would play this continuously in the run-out groove, sounding like something went horribly wrong with the record. Kids, ask your parents about vinyl.

In 2004, McCartney did an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper where he said he was doing cocaine around this time along with marijuana: "I'd been introduced to it, and at first it seemed OK, like anything that's new and stimulating. When you start working your way through it, you start thinking, 'This is not so cool and idea,' especially when you start getting those terrible comedowns."


The movie reference is to a film Lennon acted in called How I Won The War.

Keith Richards named his second son Tara after Tara Brown, the Guinness heir who smashes his car in Lennon's first verse. Richard's son was premature and died soon after birth.

The Beatles started this with the working title In The Life of...

This is a rare Beatles song with a title that is not part of the lyrics. Another one is Yer Blues. (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

That's Mal Evans doing the counting during the first transition from John to Paul. He set the alarm clock (heard on the recording) to go off at the end of his 24-bar count. Evans also helped with the composition of a couple of songs on the Sgt. Pepper album. Although he never received composer's credit, the Beatles did pay his estate a lump sum in the 1990s for his contributions. Evans died January 5, 1976 after a misunderstanding with the police. (thanks, Brad Wind - Miami, FL)

George Martin (from Q Magazine, July 2007): "John's voice - which he hated - was the kind of thing that would send shivers down your spine. If you hear those opening chords with the guitar and piano, and then his voice comes in, 'I heard the news today, oh boy' It's just so evocative of that time. He always played his songs to me on the guitar and I would sit on a stool as he strummed. The orchestral section was Paul's idea. We put two pieces of songs together that weren't connected in any way. Then we had that 24-bars-of-nothing in between. I had to write a score, but in the climax, I gave each instrument different little waypoints at each bar, so they would know roughly where they should be when they were sliding up. Just so they didn't reach the climax too quickly. With A Day In The Life, I wondered whether we were losing our audience and I was scared. But I stopped being scared when I played it to the head of Capitol Records in America and he was gob smacked. He said, That's fantastic. And of course, it was." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)

In the original take, a 41 piece orchestra was not used. Instead, Lennon had roadie Mal Evans count to 21 in a very trippy manner and set off an alarm clock after the 21 counts. This version is on the 2nd Anthology CD, and is a very different version than the one on Sgt. Pepper. (thanks, Emery - San Jose, CA)

David Crosby was at Abbey Road studios when The Beatles were recording this. In an interview with Filter magazine, he said: "I was, as near as I know, the first human being besides them and George Martin and the engineers to hear A Day In The Life. I was high as a kite - so high I was hunting geese with a rake. They sat me down; they had huge speakers like coffins with wheels on that they rolled up on either side of the stool. By the time it got the end of that piano chord, man my brains were on the floor." (thanks, Brian - Williamsburg, VA)

The orchestral bit was used in the Yellow Submarine movie. Photos of different geographical areas were shown as The Beatles were apparently traveling in the submarine to try and find Pepperland. (thanks, donald - as, KY)

When asked by Rolling Stone magazine what songs of his dad's constantly surprise him, Sean Lennon said: "I've listened so much to that stuff that there are very few surprises. But I do think A Day In The Life is always inspiring."
American rock band Hawthorne Heights originally named themselves A Day in the Life after this song. In 2003, lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist JT Woodruff changed it to their current name.

On June 18, 2010 John Lennon's handwritten lyric sheet for this song featuring corrections and alternate crossed-out lines was auctioned at New York Sotheby's .

It was sold for $1.2 million to an anonymous American buyer.

This was rated the greatest ever Beatles song in a special collector's edition issue by The Beatles: 100 Greatest Songs. The list was compiled to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Fab Four's final studio album, Let It Be.

That's it for today on WTIT: The Music Blog.
Catch us next time!

Hey Joe

Jimi Hendrix

It was 40 years ago today that one of the most talented rock 'n roll musicians died.

WTIT: The Music Blog wishes his family all the love and condolences on this anniversary. RIP Jimi. You will long be remembered. Join us next time on The Music Blog.

Come Sail Away

From a meme at WTIT: The Blog

Name three things from your bucket list. I’d like to meet and have a short chat with Paul. I’d like to do a radio show where I could be the last DJ who plays what he wants to play and says what he wants to say. Hey, hey, hey and we’d get back our freedom of choice with the last human voice. I want to be the last DJ. (Apology to Mr. Petty.) I’d like to write a piece of comedy that gets produced. I’d write a killer ass sitcom.


What was the last concert that you attended where the band was much better than you imagined? Yes. My lady loves country fairs and in New England ‘tis the season. She told me Dennis DeYoung was playing the Woodstock Fair. She read that he does the music of Styx. I always like Styx, but I am not exactly a Styx-freak. I asked if he was a tribute band. She hadn’t a clue. It turned out he was indeed the lead singer of Styx until the two main players had a falling out a decade or so ago. When we got to the stage area there were about 50 to one hundred people sitting on blankets. Obviously no one knew who he was. The dude is 63. I expected nothing. I mean the fucker is at a country fair.


When he hit his third song Lady, over 1500 people had crowded in and the cops stopped any more from entering. There was no pushing. We sat on the grassy knoll about five rows from center stage. His band was tight. The dude wailed. He held notes.

My lady said he was note perfect at his age doing 70s rock. She’s not even a fan, but she has the best ear I've ever encountered. So my friends, I’ve got this one as a great one that was better than expected. If DeYoung plays near you, run don’t walk. Here are a bunch of photos that my lady Kathy took.

What’s the next band you’re either planning to see or want to? We are planning to see Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders at the Big E. The Big E is Western New England’s annual regional fare. We are really psyched. If he is half as good as the Styx dude was, it will be fun.

That's all from WTIT: The Music Blog. We hope you join us next time!

Peace and Love

It's a big day. The oldest of The Beatles
turned 70 today. He requested that we all

say "Peace and Love" today. Happy birthday,
Mr. Starkey. Your music will last forever.
And we still get by with a little help from our friends...

WTIT: The Rock of the Blogosphere

I really did tell you that story for a reason yesterday. I mean more of a reason than just it being NaBloPoMo. The woman I spoke of yesterday wound up interested in investing in a business with me. I had owned my own business for a decade, a chain of video stores, in the 80’s. Part of what led up to my second divorce was a disagreement over the fact that I wanted to operate a business again. My new girlfriend had a ton of confidence in my abilities. But you cannot open a business without actually having an idea of what you might want to do.

Every city has an “After Dark” type of weekly newspaper that tells you what bands are playing where and generally have an incredibly liberal editorial staff. In our area it is called The Hartford Advocate. We had just celebrated the turn of the century and The Advocate had an article on webcasting. Wow, I thought. I could actually own a radio station on the internet. I started costing the proposition out. All the software and hardware you needed was under $5000. I was fairly excited. I discussed the idea with my girlfriend and she was very enthusiastic.

Fortunately when I was forming a business plan I realized two things. The first was that internet radio was so new that royalties (for the right to play the music) had not yet been established This was a VERY big red flag. You can’t start a business without knowing what your overhead will be. I also realized that the rates of advertising had to be tied to two factors. Those were the cost of playing the music and the amount of money on which I needed to live. While I knew the second I didn’t know the first. I was absolutely sure I could program music that you did not hear every fifteen minutes on broadcast radio. I hadn’t played my own songs other than on WTIT in years. It was a damn exciting proposition.

What this all ties into is the fact that I am now able to able to place a playlist of 75 songs right here on the WTIT Tape Radio Blog. I really enjoy putting together different music playlists and rotating the music. What you are actually listening to is a bit of what my vision was for that webcasted internet radio station, back in 2000. The difference is that the player merely is a conduit to licensed music. So, it is really just a link to the website that is sharing the music. A lot of the music is offered on MySpace sites of the musicians.

I never started that internet radio station. I realized that there were no limits to how many stations were going to wind up on the internet. I also was correct that when the record companies started suing webcasts for royalties most went bankrupt. Doing a business is not always about knowing the business (trust me I know radio and I know music), it is sometimes just knowing when the right business decission is to walk away. And as a footnote, the woman and I did not last a full year together, so it was REALLY good that there was no business relationship after we broke up.

I hope you take a little time to listen to our music here on the WTIT Blog. And email us , even if it is criticism. I am a big boy. In some ways though I feel I finally got my webcast radio station. I don’t sell advertising and if they stop the service, oh well. I am having a blast now and hope you like it.

That is it for the WTIT Blog on your Hump Day. We hope you enjoyed your stop here today. If you have the time come back tomorrow. We will be here with something. And of course, we will continue to be The Rock of the Blogosphere. Right here. Same time. Same blog.

WTIT Top 10 R&B Female Singers

WTIT Tape Radio Blog brings you today our feature called A DJ’s Take and another one of our "Best of" lists. Today we bring you our Top 10 Female R&B Singers of all time. Please feel free to “take this feature" and do it as a meme to present your opinions. Today, we will share. We will give you the artist and a bit of their bio. Let’s cue up today's A DJ's Take!

10. Donna Summer was born on New Year’s Eve 1948. Her biggest hits were released in the 1970’s. She became one of the premiere female disco singers, but in our opinion she would have succeeded in any era. “Love to Love You Baby”, “It’s Raining Men” and “Last Dance” are some of her huge hits.

9. Gloria Gaynor was born September 7, 1949. She is another of the disco queens of the 1970’s. Her biggest hit was “I Will Survive” and to this day rings true to a lot of folks. “Never Can Say Goodbye” and “Let Me Know (I Have a Right)” are another couple of big songs for Gloria.

8. Mariah Carey was born on March 27, 1970 in New York City. Her biggest hits include “Always Be My Baby”, “We Belong Together” and “Fantasy”. She popped on the national scene and has almost every conceivable award since. She is currently still a huge force in music.

7. Janet Jackson was born May 16, 1966. Her brothers were already superstars by the time Janet released her first album in 1982. It wasn’t until she hooked up with two of the men behind “Prince” (Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) that she became a star. She released the album “Control” in 1986, which yielded five hit songs, videos choreographed by Paula Abdul. Her first nominations and awards came from “Control”. Janet still sells music to this day. But who will ever forget that Superbowl "Wardrobe Malfunction"?

6. Patti Labelle was born May 24, 1944 as Patricia Holt. She was the driving force to Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles in the 1960’s. When the Supremes needed a replacement for Florence Ballard they grabbed Cindy Birdsong from the Bluebelles. Patti and Cindy did not talk for eighteen years because of that. Their biggest hit was “Lady Marmalade” in the 1970’s.

5. Whitney Houston was born August 9, 1963. Considering the magnitude of her talent it will always be her rocky on and off relationship with husband Bobby Brown and drug problems that immediately come to mind at the mention of her name. Her self titled album in 1985 yielded five hit singles. Her last big album was released in 2002. At one point in the 80’s she had seven number one hits in a row breaking a record shared by The Beatles and the Bee Gees.

4. Martha Reeves was born July 18, 1941. She and her two friends were back-up singers to Marvin Gaye in the early 60’s. When Mary Wells didn’t show to record a song, they had Marvin’s back-up singers try it. It became the first hit from Martha Reeves and the Vendellas. Some others include “Dancing in the Street”, “(Love is Like a) Heat Wave” and “Nowhere to Run”.

3. Tina Turner started with husband Ike and had some huge hits with him. “Proud Mary” was the biggest of the era. It was an abusive relationship she later made a movie about that included some of her biggest hits of the 1980’s titled “What’s Love Got to Do with It”. Her Mad Max and the Thunderdome soundtrack was very successful as well. Tina was born on November 26, 1939. Her “Private Dancer” album was a huge 80’s work as well. Her first greatest hits album was titled “Simply the Best”.

2. Diana Ross was as good as a Motown ladies group leader got. Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard and she started the Supremes. Mary Wilson was lead singer until a record contract was at stake. Berry Gordy moved Diana to the lead spot. Mary Wilson would write in her book it was because of Diana and Berry’s personal relationship. However since they broke up in 1970, how many big Mary Wilson hits have there been? The Supremes had hits like “Where Did Our Love Go”, “Baby Love” Come See About Me” and on it goes. Diana’s solo career has been big as well. “Touch Me in the Morning”, Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) and “Love Hangover” are some of her solo hits. She played Billie Holiday in “Lady Sings the Blues” and Dorothy in “The Wiz”. Diana was born on March 26, 1944.

1. Aretha was born “The Queen of Soul” on March 25, 1942. No one has ever been a bigger soul artist. She has recorded twenty number one R&B singles. Her biggest and signature song is “Respect”. Other hits included “Chain of Fools”, “Baby I Love You” and “(You Make Me feel Like) A Natural Woman. Steely Day in “Hey Nineteen” complained that a young lady did not know who “The Queen of Soul” was. And I never bought it. I bet even today, all these years later, a nineteen year old knows Aretha. OR perhaps they just don’t like music.

We hope that you enjoy this feature.

If you have a suggestion for A DJ's Take please email us at

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