The Beatles conspiracy!!

Uuummm...I saw four guys at Festival Hall in Melbourne in 1964. Who was I actually watching while thousands of little girls were screaming so loud around me that I could not even hear the music properly.

I accept that the drummer was Ringo Nicol, not Jimmy Starr, but that was somewhat of a minor disappointment, because as long as long as your name is not Pete Best, it does not matter who the drummer is.

Norm
 
fromdownunder said:
Uuummm...I saw four guys at Festival Hall in Melbourne in 1964. Who was I actually watching while thousands of little girls were screaming so loud around me that I could not even hear the music properly.

I accept that the drummer was Ringo Nicol, not Jimmy Starr, but that was somewhat of a minor disappointment, because as long as long as your name is not Pete Best, it does not matter who the drummer is.

Norm
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Not that I recommend reading the absurd website in question, but its premise is not that 'the Beatles never existed', but rather that the people we think of as being the Beatles were a bunch of different people, lookalikes who had surgeries to resemble each other, and that the band was put together fraudulently by a British Imperial military-industrial conspiracy.

Also, take back what you said about Ringo! His quirky rhythms and unique taste in fills entirely set him apart as a drummer.
 
Vortigern99 said:
Not that I recommend reading the absurd website in question, but its premise is not that 'the Beatles never existed', but rather that the people we think of as being the Beatles were a bunch of different people, lookalikes who had surgeries to resemble each other, and that the band was put together fraudulently by a British Imperial military-industrial conspiracy.

Also, take back what you said about Ringo! His quirky rhythms and unique taste in fills entirely set him apart as a drummer.
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In all fairness, though, Ringo is a bit of a gimp. I've seen some funny threads re: the Beatles in the past, everything from Paul Mac being dead, to Eleanor Rigby being Lennon's mum, to what Penny lane is "realllly" about... Interestingly enough, the cemetery where Rigby resides is also where Lennon's uncle is buried, as well as the late, great Bob Paisley of Liverpool FC fame. There's a lot of interesting things to learn about the mop-tops, and none of them are in any way supernatural or mysterious, except for maybe how in the hell Ringo got the gig. As John said, "he's not even the best drummer in the Beatles."
 
As an amateur drummer and fan of rock and jazz drumming in general, I've never agreed with the common "wisdom" that Ringo is somehow subpar. He often rushes the kick and withholds the snare, which results in a unique drag between the down- and upbeats, and being left-handed his fills are often unexpected, surprising.

But you know, some people don't like fried chicken, so there's no accounting for taste. :D
 
turingtest said:
Well, it could be; but, if so, it seems like such an elaborate and determined one that (as I said in the "Giant Dragonfly" thread) you have to wonder if it hasn't crossed the line that defines the difference between merely satirizing obsession and becoming it.
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Pondering it is almost an existential thrill.



...Or it would be, if I weren't so jaded. :D
 
Gilbert Syndrome said:
In all fairness, though, Ringo is a bit of a gimp. I've seen some funny threads re: the Beatles in the past, everything from Paul Mac being dead, to Eleanor Rigby being Lennon's mum, to what Penny lane is "realllly" about... Interestingly enough, the cemetery where Rigby resides is also where Lennon's uncle is buried, as well as the late, great Bob Paisley of Liverpool FC fame. There's a lot of interesting things to learn about the mop-tops, and none of them are in any way supernatural or mysterious, except for maybe how in the hell Ringo got the gig. As John said, "he's not even the best drummer in the Beatles."
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TBF to Ringo, he was a good enough drummer for what their music called for; it's not as if they needed a John Bonham or a Neil Peart. Not a knock on the music; I was never a big Beatles fan, but they certainly blazed some trails. It's just that they were never a band whose strength was in their instrumental prowess- any of them.
 
Vortigern99 said:
As an amateur drummer and fan of rock and jazz drumming in general, I've never agreed with the common "wisdom" that Ringo is somehow subpar. He often rushes the kick and withholds the snare, which results in a unique drag between the down- and upbeats, and being left-handed his fills are often unexpected, surprising.

But you know, some people don't like fried chicken, so there's no accounting for taste. :D
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I agree, as a drummer, Ringo definitely had/has skills. I just dislike the daft sod. I think John's comment, along with a lot of other peoples comments, where mainly in jest, Ringo was always the poor sod who took the brunt of the jokes!
 
turingtest said:
TBF to Ringo, he was a good enough drummer for what their music called for; it's not as if they needed a John Bonham or a Neil Peart. Not a knock on the music; I was never a big Beatles fan, but they certainly blazed some trails. It's just that they were never a band whose strength was in their instrumental prowess- any of them.
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Idk, musically they were great. They utilized so much in their arsenal and made it sound great. Some of the stuff, like "Happiness is a Warm Gun," and even "Strawberry Fields" still impresses me today, not least the mellotron. I was mainly just bashing Ringo because that's what we do now, we all had a meeting and thought "sod him."
 
Axxman300 said:
The Stephen King guy's name is Lightfoot and he lives in my neck of the woods. For over 25 years he'd mastered the art of scamming his way into call-in radio talkshows pretending to be someone else, and then launch into his lunacy.

His website is hilarious:

http://lennonmurdertruth.com/

At some point in the mid-nineties he bought a brand new van and had it custom painted with "Lenon-Murder-Truth" and an address for his webpage. He seemed nice enough in person, but so was Ted Bundy. As far as I know he is the only human to believe his story.
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"Bold print government cryptographic codes" as headlines in mainstream magazines and newspapers. Uh huh. And they would have gotten away with it all if it wasn't for that meddling Lightfoot. :D
 
isissxn said:
This is amazing. :eye-poppi

It has to be a Poe.
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No. We'd like to think that because the alternative is that the nice guy making eyes at you on the bus could be as crazy as these people if they actually exist. But this site is a labor of love. This Silversong person has put zillions of hours into it, for a very low readership/attendance/response level. He/She could be trolling CNN Comments for a broader following and more impact.

We have entered the world of the TrueBelieverTM. If you look at some of the photo evidence in the Tutorials, Silversong makes Jack White look like a candidate for the Pulitzer. The pics of Paul with a red line arbitrarily drawn through the tip of the nose and/or the bottom of the nose are hysterically funny. They also have a whole series of shots showing how Paul's height changed from week to week, proving that the Beatles were "Multiples". (I haven't seen that term before... but it appears to be their theory for everything. JFK picture from '47 doesn't look like JFK picture from '59? Simple - it's not the same person!!!)

This line from one of his/her posts sums things up nicely:

This video connects the JFK and MLK assassinations to that ley line that runs from Teotihuacan Pyramids, through New Orleans, D.C. NY, Boston, Liverpool, Stonehenge, Jerusalem.
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Ley Lines? You've got to be kidding! And it's not "that ley line" but a series of lines.... that form in the shape of the Masonry Symbol! Yes, it's the Masons! Oh, no.... wait.... it's the Illuminati. Yeah, that's it, it's the Illuminati. But what about the Aliens!!?? Yeah, they have other threads on how the Beatles might have been aliens or 3D images presented by aliens.

The site is sort of Woo Plus - a safe space for catchall conspiracy mongering. The head woo tightly controls the place. I doubt you'll find anything but conspiradroid sycophants posting there. I guess it's nice that they all stay in their comfy little virtual basement. The thought that they're out there interacting with people is a bit worrisome.
 
Foolmewunz said:
No. We'd like to think that because the alternative is that the nice guy making eyes at you on the bus could be as crazy as these people if they actually exist.
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I automatically assume any guy making eyes at me on the bus is crazy. :D

But no, in all seriousness, it's too detailed to be a joke. It's probably a labor of love, all right.

Gulp.
 
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Vortigern99 said:
Also, take back what you said about Ringo! His quirky rhythms and unique taste in fills entirely set him apart as a drummer.
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That is fair enough. I was just trying to be funny, and obviously failed. Back in the '60's when my band was looking for a new drummer, our Manager told us to just pick the best looking one (we didn't - we picked the best drummer). That, plus the saying that "drummers are people who wanted to become musicians, but could not" has coloured my view all my life.

Norm
 
It is worth adding that nobody cared that Jimmy Nicol was the Beatles drummer at Melbourne in 1964. When ABBA toured here in 1977, and had Anna or Agnetha been ill like Ringo was, and replaced by Olivia Newton-John, well...people might have noticed and cared.

Norm
 
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fromdownunder said:
It is worth adding that nobody cared that Jimmy Nicol was the Beatles drummer at Melbourne in 1964. When ABBA toured here in 1977, and had Anna or Agnetha been ill like Ringo was, and replaced by Olivia Newton-John, well...people might have noticed and cared.

Norm
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:D:D

I'm not surprised that on no one noticed Ringo's absence in Melbourne.... since he was there.

He was the drummer for that performance and the rest of the tour. Nicol left after Adelaide when Ringo was pronounced fit enough to travel.
 
fromdownunder said:
That is fair enough. I was just trying to be funny, and obviously failed.
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I'm sure some people thought it was funny. Starr-bashers abound, in RL and on the web. I'm not one of them, and I'll defend his tasteful, groovy playing to the last beat of my lonely heart.

fromdownunder said:
Back in the '60's when my band was looking for a new drummer, our Manager told us to just pick the best looking one (we didn't - we picked the best drummer).
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I think that was a wise choice for your band! After all, the Beatles did the same. Obviously they didn't select Ringo for his looks!

fromdownunder said:
That, plus the saying that "drummers are people who wanted to become musicians, but could not" has coloured my view all my life.

Norm
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Conspiratorial balderdash. ;)

Every strike of the stick on an instrument is the drummer playing a note. The claim that this isn't music has no basis in objective reality.
 
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