2025 in 2025: Day 7

Anthems - Kerry Ellis
More Brian May! Kerry Ellis belts out epic showtunes and some Queen/Brian May songs, while Brian May rocks the planet. It is all as massive as one would expect. Particularly the title track (from Chess) and Defying Gravity from Wicked. It is a million times better than any other version of that song. I said what I said. Come at me, Ariana Grande and Wicked fans. Shiizzz, I ain't afraid of you mofos.
Highlights: Anthem, Defying Gravity, 
7.5/10

Anthology 1 - The Beatles
Well... there's a lot going on here. Free as a Bird has definitely grown on me over the years. From there it is lots of home demos and live stuff. The early stuff is something I probably appreciate more now as fan of older rock'n roll; hearing The Beatles as teenagers giving us some Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochrane is pretty cool. And having the Decca audition tape here is certainly historically important. And sounds great. Controversial take: I understand why they passed. Listening to the original version of Love Me Do just confirms Ringo really was the better choice from the go. The live tracks from 1963 in Sweden are pretty awesome. Actually, their performances on most of these live tracks are awesome - even if some of the recordings are showing their age (the tracks from Two of Kind in particular feature a fair bit of clipping/distortion). Not sure how many times John and Paul can sing the wrong lines in No Reply, but clearly they were trying their best! Leave My Kitten Alone deserved a proper release.
Highlights: Free as a Bird, Leave My Kitten Alone, I Saw Her Standing There (Live in Sweden 24 Oct (1963)
6/10

Anthology 2 - The Beatles
This release features the best of the John Lennon demos-turned full song in Real Love. It also covers 1965-1968, which is possibly my favourite period of The Beatles. They were firing on all cylinders at the time, writing and releasing albums like Help! and Rubber Soul. If You've Got Trouble is another song that deserved a proper release - this is a great song! The live songs here are nicely recorded and the band still sound fantastic, but def sound tired, like a band that are performing non-stop. Especially on Help! I could have done with less versions of Yesterday, but hey, what's McCartney going to do? Not put lots of himself on here? And Your Bird Can Sing is completely derailed by some stoned fools laughing hysterically while trying to record their vocals. Live songs from Tokyo in 1966 show they are just done with performing live. The Strawberry Fields Forever demos are interesting in how different the feel is compared to the final release. A Day in the Life is so brilliant and then it cuts to the orchestra randomly, but still omits the ending? Good Morning, Good Morning minus all the nonsense is such a good song. Fool on the Hill is not, no matter how many versions McCartney tries to make me to listen to. This version of Across the Universe is a million times better than that 'wildlife' version that seemed to only exist to make Lennon mad. In fact, this may well be the best version. 
Highlights: Real Love, You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) [Extended Stereo Remix], Across the Universe [Take 2]
6/10

Anthology 3 - The Beatles
I'm glad Now & Then didn't make the cut for this, because it really wasn't that great. And I find it so funny how all the articles and interviews from the time make it clear Harrison thought it was rubbish. Yet, somehow, I'm supposed to pretend he would have approved of it being released 25 years later with his involvement almost completely removed. Lennon's acoustic tracks on here are a genuine highlight and part of me wishes he had sorted himself out and finished them instead of just letting them get thrown together for the Abbey Road medley, but then we wouldn't have gotten the epic medley of greatness, so either way is a lose. This version of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is actually less annoying, somewhat. The Savile Row sessions for Let It Be/Get Back/Whatever we are calling it these days are seriously good. Why is Get Back the only song from the rooftop concert? The kinda sad part is the Abbey Road period feels completely disjointed and like they are barely together. Which was the case, but the album itself at least managed to pretend otherwise. Still didn't need this odd remix of The End with all the extra out of place McCartney lead guitar playing.
Highlights: While My Guitar Gently Weeps [Demo], All Things Must Pass [Demo], any version of Glass Onion
5/10

That was basically a whole day of The Beatles. Luckily, it was a mostly varied chronological trek through their catalog - just in mostly inferior fashion. So I'm not sick of The Beatles right now. More sick of Anthologies?

"Albums" listened to so far: 59

Kissathon 2013

And so it began on Monday - the greatest musical marathon known to mankind!

Well, actually only the 2nd craziest I have ever done. Pretty sure my Lennonthon many years ago was crazier. And don't get me started on the problems involved in ever trying to do an Elvisthon...

Anyways, I managed to form a rather impressive playlist to do this - 545 songs all up!
The album list looks like this:

• Kiss
• Hotter Than Hell
• Dressed to Kill
• Alive!
• Destroyer
• Rock and Roll Over
• Love Gun
• Alive II
• Double Platinum
• Ace Frehley
• Gene Simmons
• Paul Stanley
• Peter Criss
• Dynasty
• Unmasked
• Out of Control  - Peter Criss
• Music from "The Elder"
• Let Me Rock You - Peter Criss
• Killers
• Creatures of the Night
• Creatures of the Night (1985 Remix)
• Lick It Up
• Animalize
• Asylum
• Frehley's Comet - Ace Frehley
• Crazy Nights
• Live+1 - Ace Frehley
• Second Sighting - Ace Frehley
• Smashes, Thrashes & Hits
• Trouble Walkin' - Ace Frehley
• Hot in the Shade
• Revenge
• Alive III
• Criss (EP) - Peter Criss
• Cat #1 - Peter Criss
• Kiss Unplugged
• Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions
• 12 Picks - Ace Frehley
• Loaded Deck - Ace Frehley
• Greatest Kiss
• You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!!
• Psycho Circus
• Psycho Circus - Bonus Disc
• Alive! The Millennium Concert
• Live to Win - Paul Stanley
• One for All - Peter Criss
• Anomaly - Ace Frehley
• Sonic Boom
• Monster
• Destroyer {Resurrected}

That is a total of 50 albums, though I have kinda cheated a little; where compilation albums like Smashes Thrashes and Hits and You Wanted the Best... just have songs that appear elsewhere, I have only listened to the new tracks. Except Double Platinum and Greatest Kiss. I did listen to those completely. So yeah - I make no sense... and then throw in Ace's solo track from Spacewalk somewhere too...

There was a bunch of stuff I decided to exclude because it was just repetitive. That album they did a few years ago where they re-recorded all their most popular songs using the new lineup - no way in hell was I ever bothering with that. There were a few others involving the new lineup that I just did not see the point in. The less Tommy Thayer, the better.

I've gone in a good chronological order as well, except for one album - that being Destroyer {Resurrected}. Technically, I believe it came out after Monster, but I felt after sitting through 2 albums involving Tommy Thayer meant I had to end it on a happier note. Seriously, Tommy Thayer is no way to end a Kissathon this great.

Tommy Thayer - FUCK OFF

So here we are at Thursday night and how am I doing?
Well, not that great. I had a terrible first day due to annoying meetings (apparently listening to Alive! during business meetings is not the done thing) and now I am playing a bit of catchup before tomorrow. But I should be on track to finish at the end of work tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

As for results, I've been a little surprised by my findings so far.
But you will have to wait a little bit longer for those...

So let's see what I think of the albums, one-by-one...

Bored? Then Listen to a Ridiculous Amount of Kiss

Because that will solve all your problems.

Not really sure why I decided this, but I have only one week of work left before a two week holiday so figured it was the perfect time to do a Kiss music marathon.

Maybe it's because Summer is starting. Maybe it's because I want to get their play count higher in my iTunes. Maybe it's because I'm in a silly mood from watching so much Chikara. Maybe it's because I'm in a frustrated mood from not watching enough Chikara. Or maybe I've just been drinking way too much Tequila lately...

But yes, starting Monday morning - Kiss music marathon. Not only that, I will be using the wonderful world of mathematics to finally decide once and for all which Kiss album is the best. I will rate each and every song as I listen to it - some for the first time in years - and also some thought on each album. Then I will report my findings back to my readers, who I am sure can't wait to find out why I think Rock'n Roll Over is infinitely better than Sonic Boom.

Spoiler alert: No Thommy Thayer on Rock'n Roll Over.

So perusing my personal collection, as well as looking at other albums I can get beforehand, here is a chronological listing of what I will be listening to (in chronological order too):

Kiss

Hotter Than Hell

Dressed to Kill

Alive!

Destroyer

Destroyer (Resurrected)

Rock and Roll Over

Love Gun

Alive II

Double Platinum

Ace Frehley

Gene Simmons

Paul Stanley

Peter Criss

Dynasty

Unmasked

Killers

Music from "The Elder"

Creatures of the Night

Creatures of the Night (1985 Remix)

Lick It Up

Animalize

Asylum

Crazy Nights

Smashes, Thrashes & Hits

Hot in the Shade

Revenge

Alive III

Kiss Unplugged

Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions

Greatest Kiss

You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best!!

Psycho Circus

Psycho Circus - Bonus Disc

Alive! The Millennium Concert

Sonic Boom

Monster

I'm also hoping to include all the solo work of the original members as well. I'm not going to bother with anything released outside of Kiss by Vinnie Vincent, Eric Carr or Bruce Kulick. And especially not Thommy Thayer.

So far, looking at a potential 51 albums to get through. Holy cow that is a lot of music!

It isn't that bad, though, because a few are compilations where I have removed the songs I already have. Their final grading will be mathematically graded accordingly to make sense. Unlike that sentence.

This will be fun. For me. Until the second day. Then who knows who this will go?

Stay tuned...

Americans Are STUPID

Paul McCartney Voted 'Best Beatle'

And dear GAWD some of the comments from people are ludicrous. Paul's "gotten better with age"? REALLY???


Retarded

Happy Beatles Invasion Day!

So today is the day The Beatles launch their assault on the world again, with the re-release of their music and their own branded Rock Band game - complete with, of course, Paul McCartney replica bass. I'm not sure if others agree, but considering you are supposed to be playing guitar in the game, I don't get why you should be using a replica of the bass players instrument. Just saying.

Anyway, I was wondering why they would have chosen the whole 09.09.09 and decided that it was most likely due to how cool that date really is. But figured I should check out The Beatles history to see what other events may have occurred on the 9th day of September in years of past...

1946 - Billy Preston is born. OK so he wasn't really a Beatle, but that is still significant. I think we can all agree that The Beatles probably would have disintegrated a year earlier had he not been brought in to jam. And his piano playing on John Lennon's God is nothing short of awesome.

1965 - Broadcast of a performance for The Ed Sullivan Show. I wonder what they played...

1966 - Eleanor Rigby hit number 1. Something else that was sure to make Paul happy.

1968 - Takes 4-21 of Helter Skelter recorded. THAT must be why they chose the 9th - 41st anniversary of the insane Helter Skelter jam that lasted something like 25 minutes. I'd celebrate that!

1971 - US Release of Imagine album. Hells yeah to that!

Wow - the next few on the list are concerts that Paul did. What the hell? Does he just always do stuff on this day every year? Because other than the release of Imagine and Billy Preston's birthday, EVERY event is Paul McMarketing centred!

That settles it; I plan on buying the box sets, but I will have to wait until a day that means something in Beatles history.

Of course people should know I jest on this, as John Lennon felt something very mystical about the number 9 in his life so it is probably fitting that they released everything today. But I certainly don't have a spare $1000 sitting around to buy both those box sets, so I'll keep pretending it is some sort of protest against Paul or something...

Resuming Relationships with My Old Friends...

Aaaaahhhh I love it when dear old friends come back. That's right, I'm talking about George Lucas and Paul McCartney

Firstly, the most amazingly brilliant movie ever - Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I accidentally saw the trailer yesterday. Seriously. It was tagged on the end of the latest episode of impact! that I downloaded. And for something made with "state of the art CGI", it sure looks like one crappy video game.

I thought the CGI in episodes 2 & 3 were bad, but I have to congratulate Mr. Lucas on making this look even dumber than I had thought possible. I honestly believe Lucas Films code these things using an Amstrad. I have a Return of the Jedi game for my Commodore 64 that looks better. Well, I HAD that... my mother through out my Commodore 64 and all my games when I moved to Melbourne. Not fun to come home and find out your mother killed your best friend.

And secondly, I was having a good laugh at the last Paul McCartney live DVD (it's kinda old, but I was bored in Whitcoulls this morning) when I finally realised - in the last few years he has only released live material from the US. Does that mean he doesn't play live in the UK? Or that people don't like to go see him in the UK? Or that people are just more willing to spend money to see him in the US and therefore prove to me that these people are dumber than George Lucas?

Hmmm... not feeling overly witty or creative today.
George Lucas and Paul McCartney are a couple of stupid heads

Who Broke Up The Beatles?

First off, let's get one thing clear: I was not a member of The Beatles. I was not part of the band, or did I even know any of them while the band was together. Heck, I wasn't even alive when they were a band! So whenever I make statements regarding The Beatles, they are based on information that I have been collecting in my music-geek brain over the last 27 years. There is a lot out there that is pure myth (like Ringo didn't play drums on the recordings - anyone who believes that is stupid), but there are some things you can easily research and find the truth on. And you always have to take into account one major factor; Paul McCartney has been alive 27 years after John Lennon died, and he'll be damned if he'll let anyone pretend he wasn't the greatest of the all The Beatles.

That, I'll say, is one of the toughest parts of reading about The Beatles; most are huge supporters of Paul McCartney and take whatever he says as being gospel. Why did the 3 remaining members never reform? Because Paul said "No" - despite George publicly saying that he would never put himself under Paul again. Paul said Let It Be... Naked was exactly how The Beatles always wanted it to sound, so it must be the case. Never mind the fact that both John and George stated the original was the best you could make of the crappy recordings they had made, or that Paul actually just suffered an ego blow that lasted 30 years because for one time he and George Martin didn't have final control over an album. And according to Paul, George walking out on the band was all John's fault. Interviews with George where he straight out says he was sick of Paul (and even wrote a song about him when he went home - Wah Wah. Damn awesome song, too) are not considered to be accurate.

So anyway, in my opinon, one of the biggest misunderstandings in The Beatles' History is how they split and the blame being firmly placed on the shoulders of one Yoko Ono. So in order for me to prove that she is not the one to blame (well, not in the way most blame her), let's go back in time...

Firstly, it is true that Yoko did come between John and Paul. Paul did not approve of John leaving his wife for another woman, and this he made no secret of. I mean, he even went over to Cynthia's house to play "Hey Jude" for her and Julian, to show them he was on their side. So to say she came between them is true.

On a side note, I guess Paul felt that his engagement being called off due to his unfaithfulness, and then meeting Linda Eastman, was a much more reasonable situation.

But that last point is what was the real beginning of the end for The Beatles; Paul met Linda Eastman

The Beatles were in need of new management; with Brian Epstein dead and The Beatles in charge of their own affairs, nothing was getting done properly and everyone was fighting. So John sought out the notorious Allan Kovac, while Paul recommended Eastman & Associates, a firm owned and operated by Linda's Father. Citing this would give Paul favourable treatment, the rest of the band refused to sign with Eastman and eventually The Beatles signed with Allan Kovac.

This was a large blow to Paul's ego; it was like John, George and Ringo were all saying "you are not out leader - we don't have to do what you tell us to do!" and would become the basis of Paul's lawsuit against his former bandmates in 1970. And, again in my opinion, is what really began the break-up of The Beatles.

Until this, Paul had a measure of control over the band and was able assert himself. But as the others also gained more confidence in themselves, they were more willing to stand up to his demands, until eventually he decided that if he wasn't going to be the star of the group, then he was better off on his own, and in April 1970 announced he was leaving The Beatles. I've always loved how him quitting was the end, even though the others had already quit in the last 2 years; Ringo walked out while recording the 'white' album after Paul took over drumming duties for Back in the U.S.S.R, George left when Paul was telling him how to play guitar, and John quit 6 months earlier because he was basically sick of everything. I've always found it interesting that in each of these previous cases, they were talked in to returning to the group. Yet no one tried to persuade Paul to stay...

So there you have it - a rather brief glimpse into my view on why The Beatles' split. Of course, after this Paul went on to form Wings where he was able to lord his musical talent over a bunch of average musicians (including the below average abilities of Linda) and make rather average 70's pop music (though I admit some of it was pretty good), so I'm sure he made the right decision.

Unfortunately, it also took one awfully messy lawsuit against John, George and Ringo... but that's for another blog.

Oh Yeah, I'm Predictable

I realised this morning that my blogs are becoming increasingly predictable; they are either about wrestling, or just me bitching about Paul McCartney or George Lucas.

So on that vain, I thought we would continue this week's trends and just have a little look at

TODAY IN THE HISTORY OF THE BEATLES

Today, in 1964, The Beatles performed their concert in Wellington. That's pretty cool, in my books. Pity I was 16 years away from being born.

And in 1966, this was the last day of the Revolver sessions. That's also pretty darn cool.

And finally, on this day in 1968, The Beatles purchased their new Apple Offices on 3 Saville Road. It is of course, the building where they performed their famous rooftop concert. I might write a blog on that concert...

So was that interesting? Maybe not.

But isn't it a fun way to waste a blog?

So my mission for all of next week is to avoid the main three topics for my blogs, and see if I can still write anything worthwhile. But then again, I haven't managed to write anything worthwhile in a very long time, so taking away my main source of inspiration may not help.

Actually, as a warning to you all, next week could be a Transformers-heavy week, with the new movie out and all. I have my tickets - do you?

Making Fun of Old People is Fun

So today (or yesterday I guess) is Paul McCartney's birthday.

Happy Birthday, McMarketing!
Hope you sell more of your crappy new album.

I got thinking last week while I was writing my blogs on The Beatles, and during my usual digs about Paul McCartney and his never-ending desire to be loved by millions and make more money, I came to a startling conclusion:

Paul McCartney is the George Lucas of the music industry!

Think about it...

George Lucas is famous for making a movie 30 years ago (Star Wars) that was revolutionary and captured everyone's imagination. After that, he oversaw 2 sequels to that movie (The Empire Strikes Back & Return of the Jedi), and although he wasn't the director he still seems to get the most recognition for the films. After that, he managed to come up with the occasional story (Willow, Labyrinth), but soon realised that the best way for him to make lots of money was to capitalise on the success of Star Wars and find ways to market it in various forms; toys, clothing, lollies, games and action figures - anything fans would pay a dollar for. Not satisfied with his millions, and unable to think of anything new due to complete lack of talent, he then surrounds himself with 'yes men' that will tell him how great he is, begins reworking the original Star Wars movies to be more like his original vision and releases more Star Wars movies that not only stink up the screen, but should be destroyed from all existence so that humanity may be spared. And then he forces even more marketing saturation on us, putting the Star Wars name on everything in the world.

Paul McCartney is famous for making music 40 years ago that was revolutionary and captured everyone's imagination (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). After that, he was part of more legendary albums by The Beatles (The Beatles, Abbey Road), and while he wasn't responsible for the greatest songs of these albums he still seems to get the most recognition for them. After that, he managed to write the occasional good song (Jet, Band on the Run), but soon realised that the best way for him to make lots of money was to capitalise on the success of The Beatles and find ways to market himself and The Beatles in various forms; toys, clothing, lollies, games and action figures - anything fans would pay a dollar for. Not satisfied with his millions, and unable to think of anything new due to complete lack of talent, he then surrounds himself with 'yes men' that will tell him how great he is, begins reworking original Beatles albums to be more like his original vision (Let it Be... Naked) and releases more solo music that not only stinks up the airwaves, but should be destroyed from all existence so that humanity may be spared. And then he forces even more marketing saturation on us, putting the McCartney name on everything in the world.

So what I'm trying to say is this:
Both men are incredibly rich and famous for things they accomplished decades ago. And while both were very talented, they have both gotten so wrapped in their own egos that they haven't made anything worthwhile since their heyday, and as such continue to pump out material void of any creativity because fans are stupid enough to still give them money - just because of who they are! It's amazing just how much George Lucas & Paul McCartney fans continue to support their heroes, no matter how terrible their work gets.

So I just have a few messages for some people...

George Lucas: leave the original Star Wars movies alone - they were fine the way were and no one likes Hayden Christensen, so keep him out of Return of the Jedi. No one is going to forget who you are, just please let the saga go. You can still enjoy your billions of dollars and surround yourself with people who think Jar-Jar was a great idea.

Paul McCartney: The Beatles were 4 people - they weren't called Paul McCartney & The Beatles. And you haven't written a halfway listenable song in a decade, so it's time to let it go. There are still plenty of people out there willing to say you are great, and you've shown us that with your money you can still get a young wife.

And to the fans of these two "icons": STOP BUYING THEIR RUBBISH AND ENCOURAGING THEM TO MAKE MORE!!!

And Speaking of The Beatles...

The latest buzz is that all of their original albums are finally on course for a re-release; apparently some guy has been remastering them for a few years now, and now that they finally settled the lawsuit against EMI, The Beatles (or to be more exact, Paul, Ringo & the widows) are looking to have the new and improved albums out later this year.

Remastering old material can have various benefits; sound recording technology has improved so much in the last few decades that there is no denying the overall sound quality can be improved in amazing ways, and it also gives you the ability to improve glitches and so forth. The Cure have been slowly working through their back catalogue for the last few years, and very much to fans approval. And I also have the entire Queen catalogue digitally remastered, which again I will say suits the music in many ways (especially given how revolutionary they were in the studio).

But when it comes to The Beatles, did this really need to happen? Yes, the remastered Yellow Submarine Songtrack released many years ago showed a huge improvement in the sound quality, but there was one major difference to that album: George Harrison. Harrison was completely in the know when it came to this technology, and as such oversaw the complete restoration of that album, as well as his first solo album All Things Must Pass. He had planned to remaster his entire catalogue, but sadly, passed away before he could complete any more.

It just seems that since he’s been gone, there is no longer anyone to stop Paul McCartney and his ‘vision’ of what The Beatles should have been. George died, and 2 years later we got the tackily titled Let It Be… Naked – purely because Paul had always hated the original mix of the album, blaming Phil Spector for turning the album into something that “didn’t sound like The Beatles”. John and George of course had no problem with the album, with John once stating "He was given the shittiest load of badly-recorded shit with a lousy feeling to it ever, and he made something of it." And so I am left asking, what will become of The Beatles’ music? Will we lose the fun little nuances and things that made them so special?

I don’t know, maybe I’m just cynical and stuck in my ways, but I don’t see much point in giving Paul McCartney more money just so I can have music I already own, without as much character. Maybe it’s just the idea of the pointless and self-rewarding project that was Let It Be… Naked being repeated on all The Beatles albums that came before it. When I think it about it a little – and I ignore a little bit of history and just focus on Yellow Submarine – then I begin to think that maybe this could be a good thing.

There is no denying that The Beatles suffered greatly due to the lack of technology (although, Wikipedia actually dares to call to Abbey Road “state of the art” during the recording of Sgt. Pepper’s – even though it was constantly criticized by The Beatles for being completely behind the times; they were still having to use a 4-track recorder, while studios in the states were starting to use 8 and 12 track recorders) and because of that, their music does lack something. I will even admit that I would kind of like to hear a remastered version of Abbey Road, just to hear it in all its splendour and glory. And the original mono mix of Sgt. Pepper’s is apparently very different from the stereo version we hear today, as it was the only mix that was overseen by The Beatles, and therefore more what they wanted from the album, so using this as a tool to present the music the way they wanted could be good. Although, what do you think the chances are of someone releasing an album in mono in this day and age?

I guess I’m just not really convinced yet; The Beatles were recorded in analog, the early recordings will sound like that regardless – a sound which I think they suit, being old rock’n roll songs that should be played on vinyl - and I don’t see much need for a 24-bit digitally remastered recording of From Me to You. Unless the improvements in sound quality are vast. And Paul McCartney keeps his ugly old mug out of the mixing room. And if I see a single song credited as McCartney/Lennon, I am personally going to fly to London and beat Sir McMarketing with a remastered limited edition of my microwave!

Somebody Shut This Man Up!!!

As I'm sure most of you are aware, I don't like Paul McCartney. Not at all. Yes, I LOVE The Beatles, but there are so many stories from their break-up that show up his true personality - not to mention everything he's done from the past 5 years or so (namely the whole McCartney/Lennon fiasco and Freedom... blargh!). So a few years ago I made the stark realisation - PAUL MCCARTNEY IS A SELF-ABSORDED, SELF-PROMOTING, EGOTISTICAL CONTROL FREAK WHO IS ONLY INTERESTED IN MONEY AND FURTHERING HIS OWN PUBLIC IMAGE AND I CAN'T STAND HIM!

Don't believe me? Well dig this:

McCartney registers name as trademark
Saturday Oct 14 12:05 AEST

Former Beatle Paul McCartney sought on Friday to cash in on his name by registering it as a trademark for use on everything from waistcoats to vegetarian food.
In addition to vegetarian items, he is also seeking permission for the name on meat, fish, poultry and game.

The application has been made by McCartney's company, MPL Communications Ltd, and if successful will give it the exclusive right to use of the name McCartney on clothing, footwear, headgear and a variety of other goods.

The full application specifies such disparate items as articles of fancy dress, overalls, waistcoats, hosiery, dressing-gowns, bath robes, sports clothing and swimwear.

So, while I'm sure all you Macca fans out there will be ready to abuse me for insulting "the infallibe Sir Paul", you will excuse me while I go laugh at his arrogance and listen to music he could never try and claim as his...

(Yes, I did just run away and listen to All Things Must Pass - the greatest solo album of any ex-Beatle)