Liverpool and the Beatles

[Lang Spoon]

When they built some pseudo modernist drek on the Clyde as "Glasgow Harbour" apartments, some wanks complained the working shipyard across the river was ruining the view.

[imp]

The first cruise ship we ever went on, we made the mistake of signing up to fixed dining times which meant we were on a table with the same 6 people every night. One couple were from Tennessee and were rather up front about the role religion played in their lives, on the first evening the lady announced loudly "We are practicing Christians and we do not drink alcohol" when the waiter offered her the wine list. It's fair to say we didn't have a great deal to talk to one another about (give or take a quick chat about NASCAR), but one thing I did learn was that the fella drove some sort of train at Dollywood theme park and loved working there because "they have the same values as us, no employees are allowed to use cuss words". Even though I admire Dolly Parton, it's not been top of my list to visit since then.

That's like my worst wedding reception nightmare, but stretched over an entire holiday. I'd have thrown myself overboard after the first night. The one time frau imp booked us into something like this was at a 'family fun resort' in Pennsylvania, in a skiing area when the kids were young. The first night we were placed with a family from New Jersey. Dad wore a necklace with a mini machine gun dangling down, no attempt to hide it. Said he was in "waste management". All we could think about, of course, was Tony S and the boys. They'd been to the resort 14 times already and thought it was fantastic - this was told to us in a way that made it clear they didn't want to hear anything critical about their dream vacation haunt. Other than that, my attempts at conversation sank like a man with concrete boots dumped in the Hudson River. The next two nights, I ignored the seating rules and homed in on a smaller table, then managed to look so hostile that no one was sent to join us.

[Sporting]

One couple were from Tennessee and were rather up front about the role religion played in their lives, on the first evening the lady announced loudly "We are practicing Christians and we do not drink alcohol

Does "But Jesus drank wine" ever work in these scenarios?

[G-Man]

Jests and wine reminds of a (probably apocryphal) story about a cardinal who came to Cana in Galilee. In a shop, he was offered a glass of "Cana wine", a sickly sweet concoction one night describe as desert wine. So the cardinal gladly accepted the offer of a glass of Cana wine. He took a sip, and then exclaimed: "Oh Lord, please change it back."

[ursus arctos]

There was (and may still be) a widely held belief among lay Roman Catholics that sacramental wine was purposely made god awful so as to discourage alcoholism among the clergy and deter theft by altar boys).

Sporting, no. If you get a clever one, the response might be that Jesus wasn't a Christian.

[danielmak]

Like the residents of the modern apartment block built right next to Sydney’s 1935 Luna Park funfair, who complain about the noise. Or the people who own properties in affluent Rushcutters Bay, and try to have the beaches between their homes and the water closed to the public. (There are no private beaches in or around Sydney Harbour).

Richard Lloyd wrote a book 15 (?) years ago about the gentrification of Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood. It was a mix of artists and working class folks that had a kind of bohemian vibe. Of course, the artist nightlife was a big attraction for a lot of young people and then the developers followed. Lloyd's basic thesis is that the very thing that attracts people to a hip area is the thing that is destroyed once those people arrive. He wrote an academic journal article that basically says the same thing in a much shorter way if you're interested in sociological theories of the general phenomenon described by Sam and Sits.

[kokamoa]

I have to ask the OTF hive mind if anyone can remember the name of the novel which imagines that after releasing Love Me Do, the Beatles broke up and three-quarters of them remained in Liverpool except for Paul who became a star in Las Vegas.

[Sits]

I suppose it’s the same principle as “secret” holiday destinations.

[Satchmo Distel]

I have to ask the OTF hive mind if anyone can remember the name of the novel which imagines that after releasing Love Me Do, the Beatles broke up and three-quarters of them remained in Liverpool except for Paul who became a star in Las Vegas.

'Liverpool Fantasy' by Larry Kirwan.

A similar idea is 'Sorry, Boys, You Failed The Audition' by Ray Connolly but in that one, they never get a contract.

[danielmak]

I suppose it’s the same principle as “secret” holiday destinations.

Yeah, the "off the beaten path" attractions aren't very secret at that point.

As I posted above, obviously The Beatles and Elvis are the top of the pyramid for rock music, but it's interesting that all of these stories use the Beatles as the characters (that film Yesterday, which has its own thread in TV/Film is another). I'm sure those books are interesting on some level for die-hard Beatles fans but the plotline seems like such a stretch (well, maybe not for Pete Best) that I would think a more moderate choice would make sense. A mid-level band that people know but aren't global stars might make for a more realistic fictional story. What happens if Bernard Sumner decides he's not sticking with music after Ian's suicide. That might seem more realistic than the Beatles not making it. But I haven't read any of these so I could be way off.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I have to ask the OTF hive mind if anyone can remember the name of the novel which imagines that after releasing Love Me Do, the Beatles broke up and three-quarters of them remained in Liverpool except for Paul who became a star in Las Vegas.

If anything Paul was surely least likely to become a 'star in Vegas". George, definitely.

[Sporting]

Harrison disliked fame.

[kokamoa]

'Liverpool Fantasy' by Larry Kirwan.

A similar idea is 'Sorry, Boys, You Failed The Audition' by Ray Connolly but in that one, they never get a contract.

Cheers Satchmo.

[ursus arctos]

I recently came across this rather interesting article about the Beatles and football, which necessarily touches on Liverpool.

https://www.beatlesstory.com/blog/20...-and-football/

Is anyone aware of one or more of the Beatles having met a member of the England World Cup winning squad?

I haven't found any photographic evidence for them having encountered Moore, Hurst, Hunt, Callaghan or Wilson, but it is a difficult thing to prove didn't happen.

[Gangster Octopus]

When you say Callaghan and Wilson, are you referring to the Government or not?

[ursus arctos]

Ian and Ray

[Gangster Octopus]

I'd guessed that, but it's worth a shot...

[ursus arctos]

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/s...th-The-Beatles

[Gangster Octopus]

Cool Brittania...