Untitled Beatles Podcast

Bill Miller isn’t just Texas’ fastest growing BBQ joint this side of that one suburban Manila Kenny Rogers Roasters. No, sir/ma’am! Once upon a time, Bill Miller traded in his Texas, wet-rub BBQ stained hands to prepare something better and more culturally significant than chick’n: a U.S. Beatles album!

Longtime Capitol butcher Dave Dexter was (allegedly) too busy running Nixon’s campaign to assemble a Beatles album comprised of songs left-over from the British albums “Help”, “Rubber Soul”, and ripped from the not yet released “Revolver”. So that job fell to Bill Miller, the fast-growi...

“Nevermind”. “Ten Summoners Tales“. “The Backbeat Soundtrack”. Sensing a theme here, fellow alt-rocker?

Perhaps more than any other record not named “The River Of Dreams", these three albums are at the very heart of the alt rock/grunge/post-chillwave scene. Going to Metro in 1994? Better bring your cassingle of “Fields Of Barley”. Because at Metro, they don’t take American Express.

And yet, of all the great grunge albums, none is grungier than the motion picture soundtrack of “Backbeat”.

Was (not was) that a little too much? Cut me some slack! The Backbeat Soundtrack really does h...

1994 proved to be one of the most fertile years for Beatles-inspired filmmaking. The titles of cinematic classics either directly about The Beatles (“The Secret Of Roan Inish”, “Blue Chips”) or clearly inspired by their music (“Ski School 2”, “Wesley Snipes’ Sugar Hill”) were ’94’s dominant cultural and commercial hits. (Yeah, go ahead and f off, “The Air Up There”.)

Perhaps the most notable fab film from that year was “Backbeat”, which focused primarily on Stuart Stucliffe’s brief but incredibly/debatably important tenure as a Beatle. What does the film get right? What does it get terribly, offensively wrong? How do Beatles (and cinem...

One of the darkest days for the UBP was in May 1990, when Vic Tayback, a.k.a. Mel on CBS’ “Alice”, left this earth; and perhaps others. Despite taking place literal decades before the UBP began, Mr. Tayback’s death caused a deep level of pain that has us forever kissing our own grits.

Flash forward to June, 2025. Another entertainment hero is gone - one arguably bigger than Mr. Tayback - who helped define American music in the 1960’s, and inspired Paul McCartney and The Beatles to reach arguably their greatest artistic heights.* (*Does not include “Now And Then”.)<...

John Lennon literally said it best: "All You Need Is Love: The Cirque Du Soleil Soundtrack, on CD in multiple editions, streaming with bonus tracks on iTunes, and on a making of DVD."

And in 2020, a younger, dumber, sadly Casey-less Gab Two gabbed fab and dished deep on this album!

Now, for the first time, here's the Deluxe Edition remaster, in 5.1 Dolby NR Cr02 Color.

See you next week with an all new episode!

EPISODE LINKS

What’s your Favourite Beatles Cover, Art? Or, more generally, for those listeners not named Art, what’s your Favourite Beatles Cover Art? There are seemingly endless global 7” and 12” covers from which to choose. Despite all but a small few ever being authorized by the Fabs, a good many are iconic, super weird, or a mesmerizing combination of both.

Loyal listener and Patreon member Mick B brought us this great suggestion, inspired by the live-performance photo on the cover of “The Beatles In Italy”; which, indeed features hits by The Beatles! Just not live. Or “In Italy”. Maybe Bruce Spiz...

Look, some “Beatles podcasts” don’t have the 🏀🏀 to break into 14th-Beatle Vanessa Williams’ “Save The Breast For Last” while deep-dishing Beatles Covers.

Unfortunately, the UBP is not just any “Beatles podcast”. First off, and obviously, we’re officially authorized by #BMGDarkHorse, #CalderstoneuMe, and #Apple (Pantry on Fullerton, near Marco’s Beef).

Second, let’s change the subject and use AI to write about this collection of listener-suggested cover songs made famous by the Beatles, and re-interpreted by other artists of different genres and eras. Some argue that Beatles covers cannot be as good as the originals, but Producer T...

Dust off your funny bone (actual NBC ad copy circa 1987), it’s the long-awaited conclusion to T.J., Tony and Producer Casey’s forensic deep dish into Paul McCartney’s 1993 appearance on Saturday Night Live!

Yes, the boys are combing through every Macca performance, each Clinton-era comedy sketch, and almost every opinion... Unfortunately, Producer Casey did not inform the affiliates that we would be running over, so regularly scheduled programming resumed as planned.

Of course, any well-executed satire (like the Gap Girls sketch!) will elicit thought-provoking questions. Such as:

💰🚳 Didn’t Lorne Michaels offer Paul $300...

Remember when Paul wasn’t in The Beatles anymore? And, um, he was on that TV show Saturday Night Live? A second time? And he played all those songs nobody knew from that record only T.J. Shanoff loved called Off the Ground?

Remember that?

That was awesome.

(But also some of it might’ve been hot garbage #AlecBaldwin #AnalcAnal)

Join Tony, T.J., and Producer Casey as they foray into Sir Paul’s second foray into live sketch comedy, his 1993 appearance on SNL. Along the way, the gang finds out:

...

Did you know that fellow '60's Brit rockers The Kinks had their biggest ever hit in 1984? Who didn't love "Kum Backing", their tribute to one of the very first bootlegs: the Beatles acetate "Kum Back"?

Here at the UBP we love the Kinks, kink shaming, Kum & Go gas, and this legendary bootleg, heard by the #Kum2GetherToo for the very first time just this month! Some Beatles "fans", right? I'll bet they can't even pronounce "Esher" correctly...

So do get your tape recorders rolling, but be forewarned; Kash Patel may come to your home...

Some “podcasts” only hear The Beatles (TM, pending) tell some. But only one “Podcast” hears the Beatles tell all, for one. #Sting #BryanAdams #RodStewart #TellMeAllYourThoughtsOnRod

This week, our own Dunhill & V.J. - Tony & T.J.! - jump into one of the long-forgotten, 1964 V.J. record label cash grabs, “Hear The Beatles Tell All”. This tabloid-style Beatles interview album contains no Beatles music, but it does feature one of rock & soul music’s greatest drummers this side of Purdydice City. Take! Me! Home! #PurdiePlayedOnThatTrackToo

Take a trip back to late 1964, when this album was released, or sometime in...

Holy Beatles Discovery! Two 1963 concerts, in arguably made up British towns, have surfaced! They capture the early days of British Beatlemania (#BillyJoel) and are a revelatory addition to the Beatle live catalog. One can only hope Calderstone/UMe releases it in a souped up vinyl version, with an Apple and on Capitol's 1988 purple label, for only $75! #ThrowInADamnGnome #AndAnXDRChime

As if we needed any more proof that the fabs were on top of their game well before they hit the U.S. (angry Chicago guy: "How come Tony & T.J. hate A Murica so bad? And how come...

As our beloved US quickly descends into cruel authoritarian idiocy, the UBP crew reunited IRL to wax fab on new RSD purchases, old Reckless Records purchases, and then attend an IMAX screening of the new Magnolia Films doc One To One: John & Yoko.

Within the fortified safety of their top secret Meigs Field Beatle Bunker Bag, T.J., Tony and Producer Casey hunkered down to opine freely about anything (¿🇺🇸?) and pre-game with some DEEP HARDCORE MACCA. Owwwoooooo!!!!

It wouldn’t be a UBP field trip without a visit to some kind of ROADHOUSE. And while no one go...

Spring Break Alert! Get your bus ticket to Cabo and/or Wabo, because it's time for a springtime April catch-up! Tony and TJ 1969 Xmas Flexi Disc the heck out of this episode, as they review the latest Beatle film news, and more! Plus, newly crowned 8th Beatle Yoko Ono takes the spotlight, with a deluxe reissue of our early-ass look at Approximately Infinite Universe; now in Dolby NR!

EPISODE LINKS

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March may be officially in the rearview, but its Madness sticks around for one more week! Join T.J., Tony, and Producer Casey as they Duke it out over their Eighth Beatle Brackets, and maybe also inadvertently disseminate dubious biographical details.

We’re just asking questions here. Like:

🏀🍆 Did Jimmie Nicol "Delonte West" John’s Aunt Mimi?

📡🍆 Can any of us ever truly know whether “Radar Love” was written about Patti Boyd?

🇺🇸🍆 Where was Cilla Black on J6?

WE’RE 👏 JUST 👏 ASKING 👏 QUESTIONS 👏 HERE 👏

And who will be crowned the Untitled Beatles Podcast’s offi...

It’s 1964. The Beatles have conquered America. But beneath the screams and the hysteria lies a secret—a mystery so audacious, so rhythmically complex, that it has remained hidden for decades. Could it be true that Bernard Purdie, legendary session drummer, played on Beatles records?

Join hard-hitting investigator Tony Mendoza as he dives headfirst into one of rock and roll’s most bizarre conspiracy theories. Along the way, he encounters a rogue’s gallery of underground insiders whose stories paint a picture of deception, syncopation, and a janitor with a mop that could shuffle harder than a Reno cro...

It’s March Madness! Can you feel the excitement, between bouts of despair from our rapid descent into a fascist state? And did anyone else pick Fascist State to beat Attica State in the Hate Eight?

The UBP takes March Madness more seriously than Americans take hating Duke. (David. F**k him!) Because at the UBP, we have two jobs: being the podcast of academic record for serious Beatle (and bible) study, and creating a tournament bracket destined to cement Dick Biondi’s legacy as a Top 10 figure in Beatles history! So play along with us as Tony...

It’s the end of an error, as Tony & T.J. conclude their three years/one day saga of binging reissued Macca 45s with a couple of absolute late-era McCartney gems; and an exclusive, world-wide/WorldStar, legally dubious debut of T.J.'s "Liverpool Oratorio" test pressing!

We’ll be back next week with an all new episode where we get in the March Madness spirit; and by that we mean point-shaving, baby!! In the meantime, go ahead and grab a Macca snack; they’re meat free and it’s not even Monday. Unless it is!

Move over, "Cloud 9". 1987's biggest release, at least for fans of the kind of hard, f rock that Appleton's legendary WFUK made famous, is Tiffany's "Could've Been".
#📁_🍆🎸

But what was ol Tiff singing about? We interpret her lyrics as a listing of songs the Beatles could've (been) released in their real-time, U.K. discography. For those of you for whom Tiffany rocks just a wee too hard, the Untitled Two dream up some of their choices most amazing fantasy Fab singles.

So come on down to fantasy land - no yoga toe spreaders required, which is...

In what many scholars consider one of the most revelatory album releases of 1994 (perhaps second only to Sade's "Best of Sade"), the Beatles' "Live at the BBC" provides a portal back to the early 60s, when the Beatles weren't yet quite as popular as the big J.C.

This week, T.J and Tony dust off their CD collections to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 30th anniversary of some of the Fab Four's finest live studio recordings, and in the process, answer the timeless questions:

🇬🇧🎙️ Who was the superior BBC presenter: Lee Peters, Pee Litres, or...

Have you ever had a Rock & Roll Fantasy? The Kinks did. So did Bad Company. And nobody hated Bad Company more than rock music’s Stephen Sondheim. #FireElaineStritch

Some Rock & Roll fantasies are quite dangerous, like the troubling, cancel-worthy ones Rick Rubin has about feet. ALLEGEDLY. But others are healthy enough to dream out loud, on, by any reasonable metric, one of America’s most acclaimed podcasts.

Inspired by an inspiring suggestion from longtime listener, Patreon supporter, and singer/songwriter, Montreal’s own Max "Como" Comeau (which translates loosely in ‘Murican to "Max, how"?), Tony and T.J...

The fab four’s fourth fab album, Beatles for Sale, isn’t just absolutely freaking underrated. It offers perhaps the last of their comparatively-less-ubiquitous knockout tunes. Side 2 illustrates this point perfectly, where just about Every Little Thing is magical*. (*May not include cover songs!)

And yet, the UBP’s very own Tony “Dave Dexter Junior, Junior” Mendoza wants to make this album even better. How will he do this you may ask? That’s why you literally have to listen! (No, really this time we’re not f**king around.) Spoiler alert: just when the “lawyers” said Rush and The Beatl...

It’s one of the more unique and perhaps under-appreciated albums in the Beatles otherworldly catalog: “Beatles For Sale”. Recorded in the eye of the Beatlemania storm, with the making of  what would become “Help” right around the corner, this is one of the few Beatles albums that, to quote TLC’s tribute to Zach Braff (NBC’s “No Scrubs”), “Beatles For Sale”, sadly gets no love. It’s occasionally dismissed as a creative and energy step down from the album which preceded it, “A Hard Days Night”. BY MORONS, AM I RIGHT? Because this is a damn fine album, however exhausted and...

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 g...

The rager of an anny party continues over at the UBP, as the team celebrates their 200th (200-point-fifth?) episode! With the help of some fab listener questions, Tony, T.J., & Casey dish deep on all things Beatles - and some exciting news that may be revealed for 2025! (This is called a tease, but it’s a bad one, because there’s no special news. There is, however, a rarely-heard Tony Mendoza production, crafted exclusively for Beatlefest 2024, seamlessly bringing together the world’s two most important proper nouns.)

While reflecting on the future of UBP, and also preparing for th...

It was 200 episodes ago today… The world was thrown into chaos by a pandemic that real scientists, like the bumbling, mediocre, former host of a largely stupid, 2000’s NBC reality show, knew could be cured with basic medical know how; like injecting bleach. #NegativeCreep #FileHimUnderARock

From this weird, wild world of alternative facts and despair came The Untitled Beatles Podcast, and we couldn’t be more proud to share our 200th sojourn into the vast, beautiful world of Beatles music and culture. In this special episode, Tony, T.J., and Producer Casey take the rare step of making...

Cheer Down, Untitled Beatlefreaks! This week, Tony gives T.J. Cliff’s notes (shouldn’t have left your locker open, Cliff) on the fascinating book, Dark Horse Records: The Story of George Harrison’s Post-Beatles Record Label, written by Aaron Badgley. Did the quiet Beatle create the first indie label, one that featured appearances from Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, and at least one former Wing? The guys discuss this and more, like:

🤠 Joe Cocker toured the country in the musical “Grease”, so why is Eric Clapton too cowardly to step into “Oklahoma”? TULSA TIME, MY ASS. #DonWilliams

🗑️ If Matt...

To celebrate the release of The Beatles 1964 US Albums in Mono, Untitled T.J. invited Untitled Tony over to his Untitled Beatles Paradise, where the two middle-aged lads Beatled about for hours with these new HOTLY CUT platters.

In this episode, the first in a sporadic series, they delve into this MOSTLY FAB box set, leading off with Side 1 of Meet The Beatles.

While the hot wax spins, the Jurk Twins ponder:

🥩 Is Tony’s new copy of “Mono Meet The Beatles: feat “Not A Second Time Sgt. Paper Inner Groove [Lee Minkler Remix]” more rare or...

The fellas are offline for the holidays this week, enjoying a restful end of the year and prepping furiously for all-new episodes in 2025.

And hey BY THE WAY, UBP Episode 200 is coming up real soon! If you'd like to be a part of the celebration, we'd love to have you. Record an audio memo with a question for the guys and email it to untitledbeatlespod@gmail.com with "Episode 200" and we'll try to find a way to work it into the episode.

And in the meantime, dust off those old Xmas Flexidiscs, and please enjoy...

Since Xmashanukkwanza has been an ongoing celebration since late September, we here at the UPB have already spent all of our allotted giving spirit for 2024 (#ThanksObama). Therefore it’s time to focus on what we WANT to RECEIVE from The Beatleverse in the years to come. So this week, Crimbledee and Crimbledum list off all the major contenders on their fab wishlists, while leaving these remaining items for future wishlists:

🧊“Now and Then” Then and Now Commemorative Scrapbook Vault. A crafty 12’x12’ cube to warmly display all of your “Now and Then” 100+ coloured 7”, 10”, 12” vinyls, posters, t-shirts, keychains, beach towels, cuckoo cl...

George Harrison's tribute to Smokey Robinson, "When Smokey Sings", isn't just Rob Sheffield's favourite solo Beatles tune. The Motown legend, arguably best known for covering "So Bad", is a huge part of "Beatles '64", the Mouse's latest entry in the world of Beatles documentaries.

1964 is THE seminal year in Beatles history, so surely this Scorcese-produced doc provides a comprehensive look at the full year? Clearly, the talking heads are relevant and used sparingly? Obviously, this release comes in concert with expanded, cleaned up footage improving on what we all really want, a reissued "The First U.S...

Right around Thanksgiving (the American one, THE ONLY ONE), the Material World got a whole lot more material! The Harrison estate graciously reintroduced one of George’s most acclaimed records to the world; via a sparkling, glorious Paul Hicks remix in honor of its’ (approximately, infinite) 50th anniversary. There are many iterations of this current reissue, as Beatleworld continues its transition from “marketing exclusively for the masses” to “marketing primarily for boomers with loads of disposable cash”.

In arguably the greatest national tragedy of 2024, Theater Tony (The Annoyance) and Theatre T.J. ("Madonna: The Musical") could only afford the 2...

This week, T.J., Tony, Casey, and P3Z-Nutz all gather round the cornucopia at Untitled Beatles HQ to reflect for just a moment on all the fab fortunes 2024 has brought to Beatledom, while saving a little room for the requisite holiday grievances.

Fun and turkey tomfoolery abound, and we are grateful to get to share the table with all of you.

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This week, we gotta get back in time. Back to 2022, when a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, and edible-influenced T.J. and Tony ripped through Teej’s brand new box set of the 7” Macca Singles, joined by their close (and possibly hallucinated) friends P3Z-Nutz, Mrs. Vandebilt, and Uncle Pecos.

Will they make it all the way through the bonus test (your patience) pressing of 4 random songs from Liverpool Oratorio? Pop in your earbuds and a coupla your favorite Macca Snacks, and you might just find out.

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You got a problem with me, guy?

What about The Beatles, you don't got a problem with them, right? Because some of their songs, depending who you ask, are pretty darn problematic. Where's Jerry Falwell when you need him? Oh, yeah, dead! He Gone!!! 🥰

Tony and T.J. attempt very hard to get cancelled as they debate which Beatles songs are, to quote Lindsey Buckingham, Trouble; as they discuss their unique and very real compilations of Problematic Beatles Songs.

Along the way, Tony, T.J., and stone cold early 90s Miami DJ legend - n...

Not everyone gets lip serviced. Like, have you ever been lip serviced, pal?Being lip serviced, also known as “paying someone lip service” is when someone talks about you. For example, “Donald T****p once paid his daughter 💋Ivanka💋 lip service when he literally joked about wanting to date her on the Howard Stern show”. But it’s not usually that creepy or gross, in fact it’s often a compliment, like the many songs that feature a direct mention of The Beatles, in every generation and genre of music.

This week, Tony & T.J., as reproduced for podcast by Pro...

For anyone with a pulse - and/or a mint copy of the Pink Floyd CD with a still-functioning blue light - Beatles music makes life better. The Fab 4 (or 5, depending where one sits with Sir Jimmie Nicol) were imperfect men, who created mostly perfect music; “12 Bar Original” and “Sie Liebt Dich”, notwithstanding. Despite their very human flaws and contradictions, they sought to communicate light and love through their remarkable music, lyrics, and an unmatched accessibility to every generation and background.

In mere hours, America [F**K YEAH!] will decide our next president. Regardless of one’s political...

A book can take you anywhere…

…Out to sea on a vengeful hunt for a fierce white whale…Trapped on a stalled train car solving the grisly murder of a fellow passenger…Madly pacing at a record retailer, deciding whether or not to purchase a Leon Russell Christmas LP because it’s on green vinyl…

That last scenario hasn’t been published yet, and those pretentious snobs over at Simon & Schuster won’t accept unsolicited submissions. Same goes for Penguin. And the dorks at HarperCollins. And the jerks at Random House. And Macmillan. And The Hachette Book Gr...

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’...