Episodes

Beatles Films, Field Trip, John, Solo Projects UBP Producer Beatles Films, Field Trip, John, Solo Projects UBP Producer

Ep. 189 | “Daytime Revolution” Documentary (2024)

In 2003, The Redwalls, a really good band hailing from Chicago suburb Deerfield, IL kicked off their album “Universal Blues” by encouraging a “Colorful Revolution”; in a most Beatle-esque Banger fashion.

By coincidence (?), a mere 31 years earlier, there was a colorful “Daytime Revolution” as John, Yoko, and friends took over a week’s worth of “The Mike Douglas Show” - a.k.a. the guy all of us, if we’re being honest, initially confused/conflated with “The Dick Cavett Show”.

This new, soon-to-stream documentary examines these historic episodes, and had a brief in-theaters showing on what would’ve been John’s 84th birthday. Tony saw the film solo in Chicago suburb Glenview, IL, as T.J. handled the un-related, un-paid improv rehearsal many miles from his home - and even further from #GlenviewsFamousDawgPark. The result is a new-ish phase Beatles podcast, reproduced for streaming by Producer Casey. Roll up for this special UBP field trip, an aural journey (cue: “Faithfully”) of Tony documenting a documentary, as documentary commentary from T.J. documents Tony’s documentary commentary of the documentary's documentary commentary.

ALSO: The UBP’s Medved + (Helen) Roeper ask:

🔥🏡 Does a movie with too many talking heads stop making sense? Or does it get nothing but flowers? Is Wings Wild Life > Wild Wild Life? Sick Byrne, qu’est-ce que c'est?

⚾️📻 (Chicago guy - a Sox fan, but he doesn’t hate the Cubs; only Wrigleyville and their fans, and maybe he has a point): “How come the unique single mix of Steve Goodman’s “Go Cubs Go” - pressed, my friendt, on WGN Records! - ain’t been made available anywhere else since the original 45? Maybe Dean Richards will return one of my many handwritten letters and tell me what exactly woke WGN is trying to hide?

🥪 Would former American Idol Reuben Studard have been more successful if he’d been slathered in extra 1000 Island and better swiss?

 

EPISODE LINKS

Read More
Solo Projects, John, Super Deluxe Special Edition UBP Producer Solo Projects, John, Super Deluxe Special Edition UBP Producer

Ep. 184 | Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection) Deluxe Box Set Part 2

Attention loyal podcast description reader! Mighty fine morning in your town, init? Say, are you an “Only People” fan? Ever think, “I want to be, but it’s just not long enough!” Well, have we got a John Lennon boxed set for you, featuring 11 - count ‘em, 11 - more seconds of “Only People”. It’s “Mind Games!” Still a Capitol Records Value, now available for the low price of one month’s rent/mortgage. #ImagineNoPosessions

The Grumpy Gabbers deep dish this sprawling Lennon reissue’s many gorgeous ups and frustrating (Hugh) downs: the demos, myriad remixes, hidden tracks, glow-in-the-dark RSD exclusives, and more, like:

🎸 Does WFUK-96.9 FM - APPLETON’S HOME FOR F**K ROCK - play too little Led Apron?

🍌 If “Now & Then” is, technically, a Beatles song, is “Nutopian International Anthem (Evolution Documentary) technically a Rutles song?

🪄✌️ (Angry Chicago Guy, He’s Not Sober) “How come Tony don’t get no “Wizard Of Oz” references? And how come I took mushrooms after Super Bowl XX and watched my VHS of “Wizard Of Oz” synced up to “Pipes Of Peace”, and it all made sense?”

EPISODE LINKS

Read More
Solo Projects, John, Super Deluxe Special Edition UBP Producer Solo Projects, John, Super Deluxe Special Edition UBP Producer

Ep. 183 | Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection) Deluxe Box Set

In 1981, the Capitol Records green label LP, budget line re-release of "Mind Games" cost $5.99. In 2024, that same record, when heard in a cube complete with a gnome sized replica of Yoko (allegedly), can be purchased for roughly $1700. Thanks, Obama! (#Sarcasm #Satire #Satcasm)

A new precedent in solo Beatles reissues has been set with this reissue, including the more moderately priced (yet still insane) 6 disc edition. Is that a good thing? Does hearing 6 versions of "Intuition" really enhance the experience of listening to the album? And if T.J. doesn't collect it, does it even exist?

Tony and T.J. begin to dive into this massive release and answer these questions, and more, like:

💷🥊💵 Was Aunt Mimi a loyal fan of BBC 4's, "Pounds or Dollars"?

🐋 Did the Mick Jagger film "Freejack" portend the Michael Jackson film song, "Freewilly"?

🍻 Angry Chicago Fella: "How come the John Lennon tribute band, Real Sanpaku, don't play at the Merrillville Star Plaza no more?"

 

EPISODE LINKS

Read More
Solo Projects, John, Paul, Ringo, George UBP Producer Solo Projects, John, Paul, Ringo, George UBP Producer

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

Read More
Beatlesverse, Solo Projects, John UBP Producer Beatlesverse, Solo Projects, John UBP Producer

Ep. 171 | (Not So) Fab Greed

For us UBPeedles who also dig old school rap, it's clear that the Fat Boys cover of "Baby, You're A Rich Man" absolutely betters the Beatles' far less trilly/rappy original.

And some four decades since the Disorderlies soundtrack shocked the world, the Fat Boys have never been more relevant, en vogue, or even En Vogue.

Never gonna get it, never gonna get it (this reference)? Here goes: baby, you'd better be a rich them to afford Beatles-related reissues these days! A "Mind Games" cube for $1,700? WTF?!?! Only (rich) people, indeed...

Tony and T.J. delve into the shamefully burgeoning world of Fab Greed, the debut of Lennon/McCartney 2.0, and also:

🐏 Is buying a Billy Budapest Belt Buckle beyond Beatle believability? 

🍁 Can "Primrose Hill" replace "Solsbury Hill" as the go-to music used in previews for autumn-based romantic comedies? (Angry Chicago Guy: AND HOW COME WAGS IS TOO WOKE TO SERVE SALISBURY STEAK NO MORE??)

😵 Does P3Z-Nutz know a little too much about T.J.'s mom? Uh-oh! AI stalker-of-dead-parents alert! #NotAGame #Practice

EPISODE LINKS

Read More
Solo Projects, John UBP Producer Solo Projects, John UBP Producer

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?

 

EPISODE LINKS

Read More
Solo Projects, John UBP Producer Solo Projects, John UBP Producer

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?

EPISODE LINKS

 

Read More
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?

 

 EPISODE LINKS

Read More
Solo Projects, John, Yoko UBP Producer Solo Projects, John, Yoko UBP Producer

Ep. 142 | John & Yoko / Plastic Ono Band - “Some Time in New York City” (1972) Part 1

All four solo Fabs released legendary albums in their lives. But among the critical darlings (“Gone Troppo”), chart topping smash hits (“Ringo Rama”, 5.1 edition) and absolutely despised, forgotten about, piles of doggie poo poo doo doo (“Band On The Run”), there are some solo albums that remain quite difficult to categorize. Like this week’s Deep Dish Part 1 (CALORIE ALERT!) on the ever-controversial John & Yoko “Some Time In New York City”.

Is this a terrible record? Is it actually brilliant? Has it aged better than expected in the 50 years since its release? What do you think this is, pal, “Sound Opinions?” Sure, you come here for us to answer those fab questions, but you also may be wondering:

💿🍆 Is it fair to judge what’s on a CD by the size of its’ ’87 longbox?

📻 Should classic rock radio still play the heavily edited, phat-shaming, radio friendly version of the album’s single, “[Your] Woman Is The Bigger Of The Girls”? Or is it time we finally cancel The Drive, 97.1? (Ed note: Cancel Culture is ruining America and must end! Unless it's books, constitutional rights, science, personal freedoms, rule of law, arts funding, kindness, actual f**king facts, etc...)

3️⃣4️⃣ (Angry Chicago Guy) How come Coach Ditka let William the Fridge Perry tackle a nun during Super Bowl XX, (slower, rhythmically, drunk on Malort) but not Sweetness?

Like Was (not Don Was) once sang: open the door, get on the floor, everybody go watch “Dinosaurs”! (#NotTheMama) Fridays, on ABC! But first, yo, check dis out!

 EPISODE LINKS

Read More
Solo Projects, John UBP Producer Solo Projects, John UBP Producer

Ep. 110 | John Lennon and Plastic Ono Band’s Shaved Fish (1975)

Beatles fans all over the globe celebrate John Lennon’s birthday the same way: eating a tasty Filet-O-Shaved Phish sammy while listening to the Untitled Beatles Podcast.

In honor of what would have been Lennon’s 82nd birthday (woah), we break down the first solo-Beatles hits comp, and along the way ponder(osa):

 đŸ† Are Tony & T.J. more “radio edit” or “full length” fellas?

 đŸ§›â€â™€ď¸ Would there be a Led Zeppelin without the Hollywood Vampires?

 đŸĽ’ If Jimmie Nicol was a tasty dill pickle, would Jimmy John’s charge him to eat himself?

Like and subscribe, but never bike and imbibe; lest you be an imbibecile.  Oh yeah? Then you write the jokes, pal. (Seriously would you?)

EPISODE LINKS

Read More