Episodes
Ep. 267 | NEW PAUL AND RINGO! "Home to Us" (2026)—and Wel-Kum Back Tony!
What’s MORE thrilling than sitting through a slide show of your strange friend’s vacation photos?
Answer: LISTENING to the slideshow!
UBP co-host T.J. and UBP Producer Casey welcome back other UBP co-host Tony with all sorts of fab catching up (but no catching up on hot dogs! #chi-town #hotdogetiquette #nobodysezchi-town). They talk Ringo and Paul and then talk Ringo and AI, because you can’t spell “Ringo and Paul” without “AI”. Plus they have a row over 3 Saville Row.
They also ask:
🍀 Is Record Store Day to record collectors what St. Patrick’s Day is to alcoholics?
🧻 If you say Twotles two times into a mirror, do you really experience and uncontrollable #2?
👻 Wait. What happened to Producer Casey? He just disappeared. Is he okay? Did he get into a tragic accident?? Will he be replaced by an uncanny look-a-like made by an AI 3D printer??? #44IF… Or is this just another case of Millennial ghosting?
EPISODE LINKS
Ep. 266.1 | Ringo Starr’s “Long Long Road” (2026) - Part 2
In this hotly anticipated Part 2, T.J. and Casey and their Sunshine Band pick up the pieces for Florida Man, Tony Mendoza, still buggin’ out in the Everglades.
They wrap up their deep deep dish on Ringo’s “Long Long Road”, and T.J. “press night invite” Shanoff does his finest Chris Jones impression (Angry Drunk Chicago Guy: “I WAS ALWAYS MORUVA HEDY WEISS GUY MYSELF”) and opines on Brendan Hunt’s new one-man show “The Movement You Need” at Steppenwolf’s Magic Carpet Theater.
And between the bits, they babble on wondering:
🎤💉 Is autotune the new Ozempic?
🌩⚡ ️After his recent close brush with lightning during his road trip, is Tony ready to revisit the catalog of Lou Christie?
💨💨 “She’s Gone”: WHO DID IT BETTER? Ringo, Hall and Oates, Steelheart, Bob Marley, Black Sabbath, Clapton, NOFX, L.A.B., Soft Machine, Bang Camaro, the Tindersticks, or South Side icon Ken “the Hawk” Harrelson?
EPISODE LINKS
Ep. 266 | Ringo Starr’s “Long Long Road” (2026)
This week “Guys from The Untitled Beatles Podcast” (not to be confused with “Guys from Toto” or “Guys from Survivor”) pay homage to the great Frank Sinatra album Duets - as T.J. and guest co-host Producer Casey laugh it up over Ringo’s newest country platter, Duets Long Long Road —while ailing co-host Tony uses Duets-era technology to phone in his commentary all the way from Fort Lauderdale (not the first time that guy has phoned it in, just ask the Chicago improv community).
Between all the chuckles and landline logistical delays, the team wonders:
🌬️ How on earth is the weather in Minnesota so different than the weather in Southern California?
📸 Can Portrait Records airbrush the braces and acne off of my 8th grade school photo?
🍌 Is it worth buying the Sack Lunch Original Motion Picture Soundtrack solely for Ringo’s mid-tempo slog-thru of “Banana Stain Blues”?
EPISODE LINKS
Ep. 264 | Give My Regards to Broad Street (Film Review) | Replay!
It was five years ago today
When Teej and Tony told their friends to play
A VHS that T.J. had around
With its super warbly 80s sound
So may we introduce to you
The film you’ve loved for all these years:
Paul McCartney’s “Give My Regards to Broad Street”
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Originally aired April 17, 2021
At long last, T.J. and Tony review Sir Paul's magnum opus: Give My Regards to Broad Street. Starring and written by Paul McCartney, the 1984 movie was panned by critics and audiences alike, but brought us some of Paul's best music of the decade ("No More Lonely Nights"), and some of his worst remakes of his best music from decades past (lookin' at you, "Long and Winding Road").
This long and rambling podcast leads to all the usual goofs and giggles, and—as far as we're able to ascertain—what we believe to be the first reference to the theme music from NBC's "The Days & Nights of Molly Dodd" in podcasting history. And what movie review is complete without also covering the Commodore 64 video game adaptation?
Movie viewing recommended (you might be able to find it on YouTube), but certainly not required. Good times guaranteed either way, or your money back.
EPISODE LINKS
Ep. 236 | Ringo Live in 2025!
Riverside.FM is proud (neither legally nor officially) to present (allegedly) Chuck Swirsky and The Untitled Beatles Podcast! Brought to you (someday?) by Westmont’s incredible Blue Village Vinyl.
And when not spending gobs of sweet improv cash in Chicagoland’s many fine vinyl establishments, you can often find the UBP Two doing the next best thing: seeing Ringo Starr And His Approximately Infinite All Starr Band, live in Chicago!
Every “real” Beatles fan is aware that the Chicago Theater’s most famous moment was when Donny Osmond pranced the stage nightly in a coat of many colors back in 1995. (Trivia: That’s what killed a ton of old people that summer. #HeGone) But not anymore. Because Ringo Starr in 2025 has never sounded better, supported by a loyal, accomplished band who still rocks hard. Sometimes, for too long!
So join Tony, T.J., Ringo, some true all-stars, a replacement player (e.g. “scab”) or two, and a few great UBP listeners, for some spirited/spirits-filled conversation, and highly illegal concert audio that can rather easily be traced back to the phone on which it was recorded. LOL! So in the interest of free speech, and praying our billion dollar merger with Sinstar Media goes through, let’s ignore dumb legalities/norms and instead misdirect with inane questions, like:
💨🔥 Is the original “gaslighting” when Aerosmith released the exact same #1 song 17 times in the 90’s?
🍏🤑 Do people with CDS (Calderstone Derangement Syndrome) know they’re actually in a cult, cruelly brainwashed by Big Apple?
✂🎂 Would the Average White Band have been more successful if they’d stopped being so damn bossy all the time?
EPISODE LINKS
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13 Green Potatoes by MENDOZA on Bandcamp/Apple Music/Spotify! (and other streamers)
Ep. 202 | Ringo Starr's "Look Up" (2025) and Our Country Music Favorites
Sure, in 1982, George may have “Gone Troppo” … but who could’ve guessed that some 43 years later, his old pal Ringo would have “Gone Conttro”?
That’s right! Buckle your buckles, scoot those boots, and pour out’cher ten gallon hats, because this week the Twangin’ Two dish deep not just on Ringo’s new Nashville-infused release, “Look Up”, but they Look Back on their own Americana and country music roots.
Join us as we hit the open highway with our radios tuned to Tom T. Hall, Dave “Curley” Dudley, and Dick Butkus, and along the ride we ask:
🌿 Who got higher at Poplar Creek in the 1980s: Willie Nelson, or T.J.’s mom?
🐂 True or False: Tony’s first concert was Alvin and the Chipmunks at the opening night of Coyote Ugly Saloon?
👯 Is Ringo’s “Can You Hear Me Call” featuring Molly Tuttle the greatest solo Beatle duet since Macca’s “Ivory and Ivory” with Hamish Stuart?
(hat tip to Patreon supporter ChossoMosso for episode art inspiration 🤠)
EPISODE LINKS
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Ep. 173 | Rolling Stone's 100 Best Beatles Solo Songs (A Very Special Untitled Beatles Penpals Episode)
Is any magazine as influential as Rolling Stone magazine? From the iconic Garth Brooks/Goo Goo Dolls issue (4/93) to the glibly unsuccessful attempts to help sway the outcomes of the ass-brutal 2004 and 2016 elections, hooray for Rolling Stone! (And, Caddyshack fans, hooray for the Douglasses!)
We at the Untitled Beatles Podcast don’t dare hold a Beatles-related opinion without first consulting what the culture-makers at RS want us to know. So we were thrilled - no, THRILLED - when RS (dba Rob Sheffield) released a list this spring of the 100 Best Beatles Solo Songs!
In fact, we were so thrilled, we decided to start an old-school letter writing campaign all about the rankings - to each other! Thanks to the bravery and diligence of the U.S. Postal Service - which the previous president proudly tried to sabotage, because, uh, “Own the libs” I f’ing guess? - the New Box Tops (dba Tony & T.J.) read their pointed correspondences aloud. They have some questions, including:
🍕 (Angry Chicago fella): How come Paul’s got a song about Dominoes, and not a real Chicago pizza joint like the Barnaby’s in South Bend or the Old Town Pizza Hut on North & Wells that they turned into some woke Boston Market? And how come I keep getting kicked out of Old Town Ale House at 2 in the afternoon?
❤️📦 If Kurt Cobain were Jesus, would he have returned to stop “Cut Me Some Slack” from happening?
🍗 Is it a coincidence that the UBP is sponsored by Kenny Rogers Roasters in Malaysia, and longtime Beatle roadie Mal Evans and early 80’s supergroup Asia are both essential parts of The Beatles story? #MalAsia
EPISODE LINKS
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Ep. 170 | Ringo Starr’s “Crooked Boy” EP (2024)
If it’s Saturday, it means one thing: Ringo has another new EP! Nobody other than Ringo has released more music in such a short amount of time - LOOKING AT YOU, TAYLOR* (*Fred Taylor, longtime Jaguars running back.)
The masses want to know: is Ringo’s “Crooked Boy” the biggest musical release of 2024? As Macca might opine, Who Cares what the idiots say! Any Ringo album is a gift to us all, right? RIGHT? In this episodic journey - which also begins to touch on the recent, disturbing silver streak of greed in Beatles reissues - we discuss the newest Ringo record, arguably his finest EP since whatever the hell the last one was called, and also get into these hot button hot topics:
🍕🛖 Is the Pizza Hut in Normal Illinois best known for its personal pan pizza, or for Rich Hall’s infamous 1987 visit?
💩🏄 Is Ringo a Butthole Surfer, or merely one of the two?
📻 Is Linda Perry’s “What’s Goin’ On” way better than Marvin Gaye’s long-forgotten, critically derided, socially irrelevant version? (Angrier than usual Chicago guy:) AND HOW COME WGN AM-720 STOPPED USING BOTH OF THOSE SONGS, FEAT. DEAN RICHARDS, AS PROMO BUMPERS? AND WHY DID MILT ROSENBERG HAVE TO DIE?
EPISODE LINKS
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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".
EPISODE LINKS
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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”?
EPISODE LINKS
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