Episodes

Solo Projects, Ringo UBP Producer Solo Projects, Ringo UBP Producer

Ep. 161 | Ringo Starr’s “Ringo” (1973) Side Two

Is it possible that Side Two of Ringo Starr's seminal 1973 self-titled album could be the finest piece of plastic ever committed to the work of the Fab Four? Or even second finest, after 2007's Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur" ...?

I know just the two guys for this job. (#CallAhead)

This week, T.J. and Tony step lightly into the album packaging and closing side of "Ringo", and along the way examine:

🛸 What's EMI got against count-offs, and what else might they be hiding?

🎞️ Maybe the 1974 live-action/animated short "Harry and Ringo's Night Out"? (#ReleaseTheBrucknerCut)

💨 How many "Oh My My" verses will Ringo cut before guy just owns it and Pelotons his ass back into playing shape? (#WeLoveYouRingo #PeaceAndLove #NotSponsored)

Warm up your winter with a bowl of Klaus Voorman's famous Zoup, and a second sumptuous serving of our Deep Dish into "Ringo". 

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Solo Projects, Ringo UBP Producer Solo Projects, Ringo UBP Producer

Ep. 160 | Ringo Starr’s “Ringo” (1973)

Is it possible - merely possible - that Ringo Starr’s 1973 album, “Ringo” is the best solo Beatles album of that incredible year of classic solo Beatles albums? And while we’re at it, does Ringo’s 1978 entry “Bad Boy” still run circles - from a sheer rock & roll perspective - around the flaccid, weak-ass “Some Girls”? To be discussed on our final episode, stay tuned! Because, today’s episode is dedicated to 50 years of the closest thing to a Beatles reunion album this side of the Threetles, and maybe even The Ladders. Tony and T.J., with a little help from our friends, Producer Casey and P3Z-Nutz, deep dish Side 1 of the greatest album (sorry, Liverpool 8) from the greatest drummer (sorry, Andy White) of the greatest band (sorry, Korn) of all time. And they also find (Morris Day and the) time to ask:

🐔 How in G-d’s name does the Skokie, IL, Buffalo Big Wingz (TM) stay open? Like, what uniquely moronic morons repeatedly pay to eat there?

🐻 (Validly angry Chicago guy:) How come coach Ditka let “Ringo” producer Richard “The Fridge” Perry score a touchdown in Super Bowl XX (“ex-ex”) but not Sweetness?

🏐 Is it too late to cancel the actor Tom Skerritt, for taking the starring role in the 90’s CBS dramedy, “Wilson Pickett Fences”?

 

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Solo Projects, Paul UBP Producer Solo Projects, Paul UBP Producer

Ep. 157 | Paul McCartney and Wings, ”Band on the Run” (1973) Part 2

Live from Meigs Field, it’s the final Untitled Beatles Podcast!

Of 2023, that is! Unless you know something we don’t? What is you [sic], a cop? If so, are you as effortlessly bouncy as the cop in "Hot Cop", the Village People's #2 Billboard Disco Charts smash from '78? #HotCop

Anyhoo, it’s onto Side 2, as we continue to deep dish “Band On The Run”, Paul’s most beloved album that doesn’t feature the word “Oratorio”. And because Tony, T.J., Producer Casey, and Sir Paul are all obviously Americans, we’ll consider the US version that includes the powerhouse single, “Helen Wheels”, not to mention much more memorable Macca music. Plus, we’ll examine this album’s rough beginning in Lagos and unmatched legacy within Paul’s recorded catalog, the celebrated cover and packaging, and also:

👖 Do some copies of “1967-1970” (2023 Remix) include the creepy 2000’s Subway jingle instead of “Now & Then”?

👗 Is the pronunciation of “Mamunia” the audio equivalent of Blue Dress vs Gold Dress?

🇨🇴The poster of Polaroids that came with the vinyl is fine, but is album’s most exquisite feature the massive UPC barcode on the front cover of the Columbia Records cassette?

#🔔🍆🔔🍆

 

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Solo Projects, Paul UBP Producer Solo Projects, Paul UBP Producer

Ep. 156 | Paul McCartney and Wings, ”Band on the Run” (1973)

Many Macca fans would argue that Paul McCartney’s best post-Beatles album is the German 12” Maxi-Single of “All My Trials”. (#WixTrumpetSolo) But others just might suggest that it’s 1973’s still-beloved landmark, “Band On The Run”.

This week, Tony & T.J. celebrate 50 years of this true (and, maybe, ultimate) Macca classic with a deep dish on Side 1, which features some of Paul’s most celebrated, iconic mega-hits. Along this Journey (#LyingBesideU), the Soft Beatle Boyz also ask:

📼📼 Did the BOTR robbers in Lagos inspire the most iconic line in “Give My Regards To Broad Street”?

🌅 (Angry Chicago Guy:) “How come there ain’t no “A.M. Magazine”? (Threateningly) And how come Oprah never gave me no car?”

🐪🥪 Did Sha Na Na’s Screamin’ Simon really eat a camel sandwich at the sock-hop in “Grease”? And if so, why didn’t Bowser yip-dip-dip-dip-dip-dip-dip-dip stop him?

 

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Ep. 152 | Mind Games (1973) 50th Anniversary Part 2

Let’s keep on playing those Mind Games together, as we delve into the meat (City/Free Monday) of the album, the often overlooked album tracks. Do they deserve their heretofore reputation as merely green Capitol budget label re-issue worthy? Or are there some stone-cold Lennon classics in the mix? And is it cool in 2023 to talk honestly about “sanpaku eyes”? Spoilers: Yes is the answer! But, also:

🏀  Is Marvin Gaye’s cover of “Nutopian International Album”, as performed at the 1984 NBA All-Star game, definitive?

📼 The 1999 film “She’s All That” had a great many classic songs. Is the very best “Kiss Me”, by Six Seconds Of Hiss?

🔧 (Angry Chicago Guy): How come Lennon didn’t write no songs specifically about Schneider, the high-larious handyman on “One Day At A Time”? (With sadness, the Malort is kicking in:) And how come the beautiful Valerie Anne Bertinelli don’t reply to my handwritten letters?

 

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Ep. 151 | Mind Games (1973) 50th Anniversary

John Lennon’s solo output presents a sadly small sample size. Paul’s had 347 solo albums and counting, Ringo releases a new EP every hour on the 8’s, but for the most tragic reason imaginable, John’s catalog is comparatively the smallest. So, how do Beatlenerds and your everyday classic rock fans look at “Mind Games” on its’ 50th anniversary? It yielded a massive hit single, one of John’s most beloved. And rumor has it (#Adele) there’ll be a massive multi-disc reissue coming out in 2024. But does the album hold up 50 years later? Do Tony & T.J. agree on this record’s place in John’s recorded history? And will the single version of “Meat City” ever appear on a digital format? Don’t make producer Casey mix his own version, Universal!

There’s a lot of questions in this show, and a whole lot of butt-talk. Speaking of which, just as tight as a (Cleveland) Guardians rope trick, The Tight and Dumb A$$es (sfx: Beavis & Butthead laugh) not only explore the wonders of John’s return to music for the masses, they also find the time to ask:

🫨🎮 Did longtime Foreigner fan John Lennon invent improv when he sang “Yes, and is the answer…and head games is…the cure?”

🫏🤡  If your name is Markwayne, shouldn’t you threaten your own parents for naming you, “Markwayne”? Like, WTF, “Markwayne”?

🐄🐷(Angry Chicago Guy:) HOW COME THE VICTORY AUTO WRECKERS GUY DON’T EAT AT MOO ’N’ OINK?

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BONUS: Ringo’s “Rewind Forward” EP (2023)

Breaking UBP Bonus Episode! Tony and T.J. waited until midnight at the long-shuttered Tower Records on Clark St, while dreaming of corned beef sammies from the even-longer-shuttered Belden Deli, to be among the first to stream the new Ringo Starr EP “Rewind Forward” in their respective and collective not-so-tidy-whities. And they have one question: was that really worth the run-on sentence? And who do you think you are, Warriners, my guy?

What the Bad Boy-oy-oy-oys discovered is this just might be the best Ringo EP of 2023. There’s peace, and love, and groovy tunes. And Steve Lukather! And Sir Paul McCartney! If you’re not certain that this EP should be among your Private Property, don’t go breaking the law; listen to this special mid-week deep dish of the newest Ringo release, just dropped in your feed like we’re Bono or some s**t! Along the way, the Two Andy’s (White and Frain) also ask:

💰If, like Canada’s please-make-them-stop Barenaked Ladies, you had a million dollars, would you spend it all on 17 copies of the “Rewind Forward” cassette tape?

👀🛞🛞 When listening to Ringo’s “Shadows On The Wall”, don’t you miss the big time now, you’re no longer on the ball?

📼 Is it true that rejected titles of this album include, “Pause Eject”, “Stop Play”, “Record Aux”, “Line In”, “Tuner AM/FM”, “Cr02”, “High Bias”, “Coax [pronounced CO-AX, as in a coaxial cable, not “coax”, as in to convince someone to do something], “Clock Timer”, “Clock Tower”, “Marty, It’s Plutonium”, insert your own joke here?

 

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Ep. 146 | Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band Live in Chicago

It’s already October, and it’s been quite the merry goo year for The Untitled Beatles Podcast. In August, we recorded live at Beatlefest! And last week, we took a field trip to see Ringo Starr and His All Star Hamms (TM) at the beautiful, historic Chicago Theater; a Chicago landmark owned and operated by Madison Square Garden, just a few blocks from longtime classic Chicago store, Macy’s! (Damn you, NYC…)

Tony and T.J. got to grace an actual Beatle with their presence - together, as a duo - for the very first time, And this week’s episode captures the all the rawdio as the guys pre-game to the rockin’ sounds of Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus’ death, demand obscure requests from the All Starr Band, and deep dish the entire concert; something TONY ABSOLUTELY WANTED TO DO!

Along the way, they simply must ask:

🐷 Is Warren Ham aware that, per Fox “News”, there’s a War on Ham?

🚽 Is the studio version of “Rosanna” better than the live version because it’s tighter, or because it actually f’ing ends?

🧸(Sad Chicago Guy:) IF THESE TWO CHUCKLEHEADS SITTING BEHIND ME DON'T STOP SHOUTING "PRIVATE PROPERTY" BETWEEN EACH SONG SO HELP ME BUTKUS I WILL SEND THEIR ASSES HOME TO KENOSHA IN GREEN AND GOLD FULL-BODY CASTS.

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BONUS! Back in the U.S.S.R. from McCartney: A Life in Lyrics

Cue the Salt ’N’ Pepa: Pu-Pu-Pushkin’s real good…at producing podcasts and audiobooks! They’re the force behind the just-dropped “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” pod, which is off to a delightfully entertaining and insightful start. The dulcet tones of Paul Muldoon had better be the future voice of AI. (We’re talking about practice. Not a game.)

And on this very special episode of the UBP, the Gab Two is proud to present, in partnership with Pushkin, a special airing of “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” Episode 2. How cool is that?! This one one’s a Double Paul deep-dish on “Back In The U.S.S.R.”, a definitive #FileUnderRock track, though, as the episode sadly fails to acknowledge, was largely unknown until Billy Joel’s live take on “Kohuept” (2 LP’s on 1 CD!).

We’ll be back with our usual chicanery and a whole new episode/world, DON’T YOU DARE CLOSE YOUR EYES, next week. In the meantime, all 3.5 of us at the UBP are absolutely honoured to be associated with anything Macca-related. We hope you will enjoy the show as much as we did. Five Freaking Fabs!

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McCartney: A Life in Lyrics | Back in the U.S.S.R

What’s Paul McCartney, a Liverpudlian, doing writing about the Soviet Union in 1968? Turns out McCartney was doing a little Chuck Berry, a bit of The Beach Boys, some pastiche and a lot of subversion. Opening “The White Album”, “Back in the U.S.S.R.” raised some eyebrows. And because of The Beatles’ evolving position within the former Eastern Bloc the song has over the years taken on a life of its own, following the trajectory of the West’s often fraught relationship with the region.

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Solo Projects, John, Yoko UBP Producer Solo Projects, John, Yoko UBP Producer

Ep. 143 | John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band - “Some Time in New York City” (1972) Part 2

¿Què Pasa, New York? Mornings, on WXTV, Univision 41, Nueva York! But also, that’s a refrain from arguably the most commercially viable song from John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band’s “Some Time In New York City”. So why wasn’t the semi-title track a single? Why didn’t it lead off the album; not enough racial epithets in the title? And who in the love of Danza decided “Angela” - a heart-wrenching tribute to Judith Light - belongs on ANY Lennon comp? So many preguntas! Què Pasa, indeed!

Fortunately/Maybe (#Oasisish) it’s time for part two of the highly anticipated CHICAGO STYLE deep-dish of one of the most derided solo Beatles albums this side of “The Family Way” soundtrack! And as if this 2LP set isn’t long enough - the Giles Martin deluxe remix is slated to include the full 117 minute version of “Au” - the UBP’s very own Cap’n Jamrag and Lt. Scumbag (#PossibleForestGumpReference), to answer these, and more!

🎅🏽 Who the HELL did Bono think he was when he spent Christmas Eve ’93 hand delivering cassettes of “Zooropa” to everyone in the world?

🍕 Was Yoko the inspiration for one of 1982’s great raunchy comedy films? Hint: check out her #SixPack. #KennyRogersRoasters

🍆💨 There may not be much difference, between Tucker Carlson and someone with an actual dong, if you listen to their fartbeat. True?

 

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