How the Beatles invented pop video and acts we love who always sound the same

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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