Band on the Run

One day in the car, Paul McCartney heard a BBC production of the absurdist play “Ubu Cocu” by french writer Alfred Jarry. Taken by the rebelliousness of the radio play, McCartney wrote a sweet-sounding tune about a murderous medical student that seemingly lives in the same univer ...  Show more

The Beatles’ songbook became standard repertoire for artists to perform almost as quickly as they kicked off “the British invasion.” But one was covered more than all the rest: Yesterday. “McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” is a co-production between iHeart Media, MPL and Pushkin Indus ...  Show more

Countless decisions, large and small, aided The Beatles’ ascent to the top of popular culture. The release of their debut single, “Love Me Do,” in the UK in the fall of 1962 was one of those decisions. Their debut on American television was another. In this first episode of seaso ...  Show more

The sessions for The Beatles were fraught with disharmony among the band members. While rehearsing "Back in the U.S.S.R.", on 22 August 1968, Ringo Starr became tired of McCartney's criticism of his drumming on the song, and of the bad atmosphere generally, and walked out, intent ...  Show more

Stevie Van Zandt, aka "Miami Steve," aka "Little Steven," aka "Silvio Dante," has written an autobiography, "Unrequited Infatuations." We dig into the process of writing the book, and we also cover the landscape from New Jersey...back to New Jersey! Growing up with the radio, the ...  Show more

Having earmarked the song for release as a single, the Beatles recorded "Hey Jude" during the sessions for their self-titled double album, commonly known as "the White Album". The sessions were marked by an element of discord within the group for the first time, partly as a resul ...  Show more