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Post by GN on Jan 10, 2010 19:07:05 GMT -5
Hello INVestigation AND DIScussion people! I ask you HELP! The arrow points to a member of "Pete Best Four" group. Who is that guy?
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Post by ramone on Jan 10, 2010 20:09:47 GMT -5
There was a Tony, and a Tommy and a Wayne. I could be wrong but this could be Wayne Bickerton
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Post by B on Jan 10, 2010 20:12:04 GMT -5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Best#The_Pete_Best_BandBest later relocated to the United States along with songwriters Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. As The Pete Best Four, and later as The Pete Best Combo (increasing their number to five) they toured the United States with a combination of 1950s songs and original tunes, recording for small labels, but had little success. They ultimately released an album on Savage Records, titled Best Of The Beatles; a play on Best's name, leading to disappointment for record buyers who expected a Beatles' compilation. The group disbanded shortly afterwards. Bickerton and Waddington were to find greater success as songwriters in the 1970s, writing a series of hits for the American female group, The Flirtations and (also the) Rubettes.
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Post by B on Jan 10, 2010 20:34:29 GMT -5
www.rubettesfeaturingbillhurd.com/facts.htm"The Rubettes most successful recording period was the mid 70’s – the “Bickerton/Waddington” years, when the band achieved outstanding international success and sold millions of records worldwide ! In 1976 the band thought it was time to move on and made the decision to part company, with their ‘hit’ songwriting team...." Unfortunately, the writers weren't in the band. ------------------------- www.answers.com/topic/pete-best"...(Brian) Epstein set (Pete Best) up with a job in another group, it was not as the leader, but as the drummer for another popular Liverpool band, Lee Curtis & the All Stars. Best only recorded one 1963 single with them before Curtis & the All Stars went their separate ways. Decca then renamed the All Stars the Pete Best Four to capitalize on the drummer's fame, although he didn't sing on their one Decca single (from 1964). Then follows the strangest part of the Best saga, as the group were flown over to the United States by a shady promoter. Using New York City as their base, the Pete Best Combo, as they were now called, recorded quite a bit of studio material there in the mid-'60s. Best, although nominally the group's leader, again did nothing but drum. The real creative forces in the group were guitarist Tony Waddington and bassist Wayne Bickerton, who wrote the original material and handled the vocals. The results were issued on singles on tiny fly-by-night U.S. labels in the mid-'60s, with many other tracks dribbling out decades later on reissues. These recordings were kind of generic, but really weren't half-bad. As singers and writers, Waddington and Bickerton were competent (though no more than that), achieving a strange Mersey-meets-mid-'60s-New York-pop-rock hybrid, with a bit of a garage feel. Nothing came of them commercially, of course, especially when Best decided he'd had enough of the charade and went back to Liverpool. The rest of the group followed, but they only lasted a couple of more gigs before falling apart. Best took a job in a bakery before embarking upon a career as a civil servant, recording what basically amounted to souvenir albums in the 1990s, and going on a year-long tour after his retirement from Liverpool's employment service in 1994...." ----------------------- I am not finding any pictures of Tony Waddington on the internet. Here's more information on Wayne Bickerton: www.answers.com/topic/wayne-bickertonBiography Wayne Bickerton might not be the biggest musical name to come out of postwar Liverpool, but as a behind-the-scenes figure he's had an uncommonly major role in popular music in England. He first emerged into prominence in 1963 when he and Tony Waddington were selected, as bassist and guitarist, respectively, in the Pete Best Four, this at a time when Best -- the ex-Beatles drummer -- was at the peak of his public exposure. At a time when anyone associated with the Beatles seemed to be in line for a potential career, Best's group (later reduced to a trio) was well able to earn a living, and Bickerton and Waddington ended up getting the lion's share of the musical exposure, as they handled the singing as well as what songwriting there was; indeed, they ended up writing songs as a formal team, separate from their work in the group (which recorded dozens of sides in the US that trickled out throughout the 1960's as the producers sought to exploit Best's name and Beatles connection). Bickerton and Waddington left the Best trio in 1966, and Bickerton went to work for Decca Records, as a producer and later A&R chief at the company's new Deram Records imprint, devoted to progressive pop-rock acts. Among those artists that he produced -- one of the least successful at the time, and among the most frequently reissued in the decades since -- were Giles, Giles & Fripp, the forerunners of King Crimson; making The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp work as an LP was no small achievement for Bickerton as a producer. He was also depicted, after a fashion, in the cover art for the 1969 album World of Oz, by the group of the same name. In the midst of his work for Decca/Deram, he also found time to produce Petula Clark on the side, for one album in the mid-1960's. Bickerton left Deram to assume the job of A&R chief at Polydor where he produced Mongrel, among other acts. During this period, he and Waddington co-wrote and produced a demo of a song called "Sugar Baby Love", originally intending it for the Eurovision Song Contest -- instead, they offered the song to Showaddywaddy, who turned it down. Finally, Bickerton and Waddington offered it to the musicians from the existing demo, if they wanted to become an actual group. Thus was spawned the Rubettes, who were produced by Bickerton and Waddington and whose success with them permitted the two songwriters to organize their own record label, State Records, through with they released the Rubettes' hit "I Can Do It". Bickerton and Waddington also enjoyed many years' success producing and/or writing most of the work of the Flirtations. Bickerton later moved beyond the realm of the record industry, into the upper reaches of the larger music industry as a ranking executive of the Performing Rights Society in England, and he subsequently occupied a similar position in the European equivalent organization, SESAC International (roughly the equivalent of ASCAP and BMI in America). ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
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Post by B on Jan 10, 2010 21:14:00 GMT -5
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Post by B on Jan 10, 2010 22:32:01 GMT -5
Here's a video of Lee Curtis and the All Stars, the band that Pete Best joined after leaving the Beatles: www.mybeatclub.com/video/iLyROoafYKrF.htmlHe is not in this clip though. It was filmed prior to his teaming up with them. I have spent some time looking into this because there seems to be 'something there'. The words of Neil Young's "Cowgirl in the Sand" came into my mind when I read about the Rubettes. The lines: "Hello ruby in the dust, Has your band begun to rust?" I have felt that that song was PID-PWR related for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the line: "Purple words on a grey background" which suggests the writing on a tombstone to me, particularly more modern ones where the inscription of the letters into the stone makes the letters appear purple. But the context of the words also is significant, imo. Hello woman of my dreams This is not the way it seems (so what seems to be the case, isn't)Purple words on a grey background (a faked death)To be a woman and to be turned down (possibly expelled from another band)Old enough now to change your name (for anonymity)When so many love you, is it the same? (This person is well-known; famous)It's the woman in you that makes you want to play this game. (His feminine side; this game of seeing if he could pull it off)-------- Remember John's words in "How Do You Sleep": "A pretty face may last a year or two, but pretty soon they'll know what you can do" And then there's always the transgenderism of "Obladi Oblada". So when I hear "Has your band begun to rust?" I don't think of a wedding band; I think of someone managing a band, and since the Rubettes are named after a Ruby colored car, then 'Ruby's band' could be the Rubettes. They did not stay popular for long. They have 'stayed alive' with member changes and nostalgia shows, but they were a bit of a flash-in-the-pan, I would say. While reading this review of their third album, www.answers.com/topic/rubettes-uk-release-1975-album-by-rubettesI was struck by the name of one of the songs: "My Buddy Holly Days". I couldn't help but think of Sheryl Crow's lyrics in "All I Wanna Do": This is LA! "All I wanna do is have a little fun before I die," Says the man next to me out of nowhere It's apropos of nothing He says his name's William but I'm sure He's Bill or Billy or Mac or BuddyAnd he's plain ugly to me And I wonder if he's ever had a day of fun in his whole life We are drinking beer at noon on Tuesday...." So Bill or Mac or Buddy (like Holly) is in LA (where records are produced, etc.) and s/he's ugly. So, OK, this proves nothing, but "Ruby" would be "in the dust" if the band he managed failed, and he had been left "in the dust" compared to what his mates had gone on to do. Anyway, that's why I think this may be worth pursuing. I think of Lennon's "Steel and Glass" lyrics about an executive who has sold out for a drab existance. I think of Bowie's lyrics about Mickey Mouse becoming "a cow", possibly a "cash cow" for someone who sold out. I think of "Frankie goes to Hollywood", as possibly "Frankenstein"/Boogaloo going to the land of television, like the one shown on the cover of Pepper, with actresses and palm trees. I think of the "for Frankie" dedication on the Bowie album cover for the song "Life on Mars". Frankenstein - he's just plain ugly to Sheryl Crow. I think of "Hollywood Paul is dead" in Faul's "Rinse the Raindrops". I think of Simon and Garfunkel's line about "I like boysenbury more than any ordenary jam" line in their "Punky's Dilemna" song about someone on the West Coast. Shall I go on? I think there may be a trail here, somehow. And while GN maybe looking for the Neil Aspinal connection, I suspect, I just want to suggest that he continue his pursuit of who that character in the photo is. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rubettes"The Rubettes (often referred (to) as Rubettes since 1975) were an English pop band of the 1970s, assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts. The band duly emerged at the tail end of the glam rock movement, wearing trademark white suits and cloth caps on stage. Their first release, "Sugar Baby Love" was an instant hit remaining at number one in the UK for four weeks in May 1974, while reaching number 37 on the U.S. chart that August, and remains their best-known record. Subsequent releases would be less successful, but the band carried and continued to tour on the nostalgia circuit well into the 2000s."
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Post by B on Jan 10, 2010 23:11:25 GMT -5
OK, I should just shut up now, but I was looking at the Punky's Dilemna lyrics: Wish I was a Kellogg's Cornflake (sitting on a cornflake waiting for the van...)Floatin' in my bowl takin' movies, Relaxin' awhile, livin' in style, Talkin' to a raisin who 'casion'ly plays L.A. Casually glancing at his toupee. Wish I was an English muffin (an English muffin!)'Bout to make the most out of a toaster. I'd ease myself down, Comin' up brown. I prefer boysenberry More than any ordinary jam. I'm a "Citizens for Boysenberry Jam" fan. Ah, South California. If I become a first lieutenant (as opposed to a Sgt. Pepper)Would you put my photo on your piano? (as Paul's is on the Abbey Road studio piano)'To Maryjane (his assumed name. "What's the New Mary Jane") -- Best wishes, Martin' (George Martin)Old Roger, draft-dodger Leavin' by the basement door, Everybody knows what he's Tippy-toeing down there for. --------------- "What's the New Mary Jane" lyrics: www.stevesbeatles.com/songs/whats_the_new_mary_jane.aspRead as: "What's the news, Mary Jane?" The song is about Linda McCartney, some say, but why the "South African" style dialect? "She like to be married with Yeti, he grooving such cooky spaghetti, she jumping as Mexican bean to make that her body more thin" Faul is Yeti? Or is "Frankenstein" yeti? And the chorus: What a shame Mary Jane had a pain at the party. What a shame Mary Jane. What a shame Mary Jane had a pain at the party. Clearly the pain caused her to have to leave 'the party'.
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Post by jarvitronics on Jan 10, 2010 23:32:57 GMT -5
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Post by B on Jan 11, 2010 0:43:30 GMT -5
Well jarvitronics, I always suspected that that line might have been about Roger mcGuinn, as opposed to "Jolly Roger", but I have no proof. It was Roger (Jim) McGuinn of the Byrds who wrote this swishy little number: But speaking of pirate ships, sailors and such, these lines in Billy Joel's "Piano Man" speak volumes, I suspect. Now Paul is a real estate novelist Who never had time for a wife (cough cough)And he's talkin' with Davy, who's still in the Navy And probably will be for life OK, now at the time this was written, the navy was primarily for men. There were women who were given shore duty, but there were no women on ships. As you may recall. Of course, there's no Davy connected with the navy more than "Davy Jones", whose locker is found at the bottom of the ocean. But Paul, the real estate novelist (television script writer?) is in conversation with Davy. Ahem: Davy, the second one on the left Dig? Would that maybe be why a "Beatle in fatal car crash" announcement was alledgedly made during one of the first Monkees episodes? Some kind of a signal to those in the know? Who could write scripts about being a Beatle better than someone who had been one, eh? Didn't iamaphoney have a video that showed that the Sgt. Pepper O-shen drum had been altered to go from reading "He die" to "He bie"? Well anyhow, here's a song that A Crowley would have embraced, me thinks. Almost sounds like the Monkees. So the wife called me and we'd better go to see a surgeon Or whatever to price it… yellow underclothes So, any road, we went to see the dentist instead Who gave her a pair of teeth which wasn't any good at all So I said I'd marry, join the fu**ing navy and went to sea In my broken chair, my wings are broken and so is my hair I'm not in the mood for whirling (Ah! ha! ha! ha! stayin' alive! Stayin' alive!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vj092UgKwQ
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Post by B on Jan 11, 2010 2:18:17 GMT -5
Mary Jane's Last DancePoetry corner with E "Lily" Allen and the "deck aids" SHE'S SO HEAVY It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea; But we loved with a love that was more than love - I and my Annabel Lee; With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven Coveted her and me. And this was the reason that, long ago, In this kingdom by the sea, A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling My beautiful Annabel Lee; So that her highborn kinsman came And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulcher In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not half so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me Yes! that was the reason (as all men know, In this kingdom by the sea) That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we Of many far wiser than we And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride, In the sepulcher there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea. Sorry GN, I got carried away!
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Post by ramone on Jan 11, 2010 18:51:05 GMT -5
Hello INVestigation AND DIScussion people! I ask you HELP! The arrow points to a member of "Pete Best Four" group. Who is that guy? "Hello INVestigation AND DIScussion people!" Got it GN. invanddis
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Post by GN on Jan 12, 2010 19:28:11 GMT -5
... so he was the BASSMAN of "Pete Best Four" ... (?)
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Post by B on Jan 13, 2010 3:19:55 GMT -5
Probably Billy the Bigmouth Bassplayer, I should think, GN.
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Post by GN on Jan 14, 2010 18:11:18 GMT -5
Probably Billy the Bigmouth Bassplayer, I should think, GN. ... probably we have missed Pepper ...
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Post by B on Jan 14, 2010 23:03:52 GMT -5
I don't see a match there, GN. However your proposition made me think of a mysterious musician described in a book about Montauk called "The Music of Time", who was said to be the brother of Mark Hamill. The picture of that individual from the book, labelled "Chuck Hamill" can be found by scrolling down here. Chuck doesn't look like the fellow in Ringo's band, but in the process of trying to track down "Chuck Hamill", I came across the wikipedia article about Peter Ham mill here. And in 1971 Peter put out an album called "Fool's Mate": which, of course, made me think of the fool/McCartney connection. I would say one of the themes on the cover is flying across time. Later, in 1978, he put out an album called "The Future Now" the cover of which makes me think of Paul/Faul, and maybe the "W" sign for Wings. No doubt he really put his heart into it. In the Montauk book I mentioned above, "Chuck" has kept himself out of the limelight, while his brother Mark is well known as the character Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars movies. (In real life, Mark Hamill doesn't have a brother named Chuck, but the book alledges that the Mark Hamill whose picture is shown is supposed to be one and the same as the Star Wars actor.) And the Star Wars movies were partially inspired by stories from this book: The Hero with a Thousand Facesscreaming perfectly loud. By the way, look at the desert on the cover of "Fool's Mate". It appears to be the bridge across time. The Beatles - FlyingLuke 'Skywalker' / Flying / Fool's Mate /1000 faces/voices
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Post by B on Jan 15, 2010 5:44:32 GMT -5
There's something here. I've been on the computer all night and feel as if I'm about to go blind, so I won't be able to do this justice, but here goes. Here is a picture of Peter Hammill: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PHammill08.jpgHere's the Wikipedia page about him: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_HamillHe appears to have an indentation where his third eye would be, and it reminds me of the bust on Sgt Pepper with the bump on its head over the same location. Peter toured with the group Marillion, serving as the warm-up act. We have discussed the pictoral references to the Beatles on Marillion albums here before. It appears to me that Peter is the guy they modeled the drawing on for this Marillion album. Reading the wikipedia biography, one cannot help but note curious instances where, for example, Peter's song titles seem to correspond to things we discuss here. One is called "eyebrows", for example. Reading the description of his voice from the article: "Hammill's voice is a very distinctive element of his music. He sings in an emotional, often even dramatic way. As a former Jesuit chorister, his delivery is usually (a notable exception is the track "Polaroid") Received Pronunciation British English (rather than Americanised), and ranges in tone from peacefully celestial to screaming rants (which are nevertheless highly controlled). Singing in registers from baritone to high falsetto, he growls, croons, shrieks and shouts in ways that have drawn comparison with the guitar playing of Jimi Hendrix." Now, that is strange, I think you'd agree. And it might just seem to be someone being another Yoko Ono, but I think there's more to it than that, and I'll comment later. Peter' s album covers are also a bit weird. Here is one: Here is another: And here's one for his album The Fall of the House of Usher based on the story by E A Poe. The one's that have the "M" sign on them (the astrological sign for Scorpio) were done by his associate Bettina Hohls, whose My Space page is here, where she goes by the name of VOICE, and her wikipedia bio is here. She is an artist, and has done some rather peculiar work, some of which can be seen at her photo gallery. here's one. Now, there are a number of strange connections being made in my head as I read all this. When I see the artwork with the pillows looking like someone's butt, I think of the line: "You never give me your pillow" on Abbey Road. So that could be 'seen' as "You never give me sex", or something. But pillows in her art... Bettina's my space name being "Voice" is interesting, given that at the end of Abbey Road is the line: "Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl, but she doesn't have a lot to say". I mean, after you've done "Paul is dead/replaced" for 8 years, you kind of realize that he lost his voice, or ability to speak, at least temporarily. "Nobody ever hears him, or the sound he appears to make" "Nowadays Clancy can't even sing" (etc.) so that makes it kind of interesting that Bettina is all about being a voice, and Peter makes music that includes all kinds of grunting and screaming comparable to Jimi Hendrix's guitar playing. There are just too many coincidences here. And what about that "M" being the sign for Scorpio, which is Peter's astrological sign? I mean yes, it is that, but it makes me think of this: And if Peter is the "Fool's Mate", maybe the M stands for something more than just the sign of Scorpio, eh? There are so many other connections. Read the bios. And as for that guy on "The Future Now" album.... WHO is he? Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun. Shine on you crazy diamond. Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
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Post by GN on Jan 15, 2010 9:15:22 GMT -5
I don't see a match there, GN. However your proposition made me think of a mysterious musician described in a book ... You say? I still see great similarities among So what the name of that guy?
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Post by B on Jan 15, 2010 18:17:18 GMT -5
Similarities... maybe. I have no idea what his name is. I haven't been able to find anything on the internet, which, frankly, is surprising. There ya go: his name is Frank. Frank Hellifino ;D
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Post by SS on Jan 15, 2010 18:58:08 GMT -5
Hmmmm....who could he be, he be dead, he be dead.
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Post by B on Apr 23, 2010 4:51:32 GMT -5
bump
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