Tag Archive for: beatles

,

Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the 60s & Beyond

Peter Asher

May 18, 2 pm, Regent Theatre, Arlington, MA

Peter Asher, we first came to know him through the global smash “World Without Love” as one half of the British Invasion duo Peter & Gordon. He returns–now a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire– in “Peter Asher: A Musical Memoir of the 60s and Beyond” which brings a multimedia experience to the stage, hosted by the two-time Grammy winner for Producer of the Year. Peter Asher moved effortlessly from his role with Peter & Gordon to Music Executive with the Beatles’ Apple Records, then famously- (as in cover of Rolling Stone magazine level famous)- to Producer and Manager, handling the careers of James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and a host of others. Books abound, documentaries with half-truths (and worse) are all too common, but, now, finally, Mr. Asher tells first hand his tales from the eye of the cultural hurricane in this intimate evening.

Tickets: Click Here

“Memoir” includes film footage and photos from Peter’s considerable personal archive, brought to life with a storyteller’s gift, transporting audiences back to the heart of 60s popular culture. Icons such as Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Marianne Faithful, Yoko Ono, Carole King, James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt are among the cast of characters in this narrative – along (of course) with the greatly missed Gordon Waller. The evening is filled with the music of Peter & Gordon, including “I Go to Pieces,” “True Love Ways,” and “Lady Godiva.” The songs given to Peter & Gordon by Paul McCartney are also front and center: “Woman,” “I Don’t Want to See You Again,” Nobody I Know,” and “World Without Love,” all of which were US Top 40 hits. Peter presents these timeless classics along with other old favourites from that golden era.

The show brings the audience through the earliest days of Peter’s journey all the way to the present day, and projects including his SiriusXM radio show on the Beatles Channel, “From Me to You” . Peter’s book based on the show, “The Beatles A to Zed” was released by MacMillan on October 29, 2019; the book is already in it’s third printing.

Tickets Here: Click Here

For more Last Dance Productions events, Click Here.

/by
, ,

Badfinger’s “Straight Up” with Joey Molland

Badfinger Straight Up

A rare opportunity to see this show “live” with Joey Molland

Tickets click here

Friday, November 3, 2017, 8 pm, Arlington, MA

It’s the 45th Anniversary of the Greatest Album by Badfinger, 1972’s Straight Up, and the band’s legendary guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist Joey Molland—along with his dynamic band—brings the album to the stage in a bracing live show.

Featuring 5 tracks written by Joey, Q Magazine described Straight Up as ”…brimming with mature melodies and bracing verse/chorus interplay…”, while NME deemed it ”…a stone cold beauty of an album…” and advised, “Love it like your mother …”

George Harrison produced four tracks on the album, Name of the Game, Suitcase,I’d Die Babe, the latter two written by Molland, and Pete Ham’s Day After Day, which gave the group a Top 5 U.S. Single.  AllMusic says, ”…there’s absolutely no filler and everybody is in top form…” The album, which also featured Baby Blue, stayed on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart for 32 weeks.

From their legendary lineup, Joey Molland continues the unforgettable legacy of BADFINGER.  One of the original signings to the Beatles’ Apple Records label, they had their first hit single with a Paul McCartney penned song, Come and Get It, which went to #7 in the U.S. charts.  Badfinger followed this with their own compositions No Matter What, Day After Day (produced by George Harrison), and Baby Blue, which went to #8, #4 and #14 respectively.

During this time American singer Harry Nilsson placed Badfinger’s song Without You on top of the charts, and Mariah Carey did the same in 1994.  VH1 produced a Behind The Music documentary about the band, whose songs continue to heard in films (The Departed, etc), on television (Breaking Bad finale et al), and of course on Classic Rock and oldies radio; Harry Nilsson’s version of Without You was featured in the 2016 film starring Tina Fey, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.  Joey Molland and Badfinger played on John Lennon’s Imagine album and joined George Harrison for the Concert for Bangladesh.

Badfinger’s classic lineup of Tom Evans, Pete Ham, Mike Gibbins, and Joey Molland came together in 1969, as the group changed it’s name from The Iveys. Signed by the Beatles to their newly formed Apple Records label, they scored an Instant Top 10 U.S. smash with the Paul McCartney penned theme song Come and Get It from the film the Magic Christian. They followed this with their own compositions No Matter What, Day After Day (produced by George Harrison), and Baby Blue, which went to #8, #4 and #14 respectively.

 

Badfinger’s Baby Blue has enjoyed extensive and enduring appeal through its use in television and film. It was featured in Martin Scorcese’s film, The Departed, the highly popular TV drama, The O.C., but its most spectacular resurgence came when it was featured in the closing scene of the finale of AMC’s classic series, Breaking Bad in September 2013. In the first full week following the finale of the show, the group’s Baby Blue equaled its 1972 Hot 100 success, by roaring back onto the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart at No. 14, thanks to hefty sales and streaming gains. It also blasted onto the Rock Digital Songs chart at No. 8 with 37,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Joey Molland released a new record, titled Return to Memphis, in 2014. Badfinger music continues to be used in television and film, the most recent example being the inclusion of Without You in the film, Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot in 2016.

/by
, ,

Denny Laine of Wings “Band On The Run” Live

Denny Laine

Denny Laine, In Concert at the Regent Theatre, Arlington MA, January 27th at 8pm

Tickets and more info Click Here

Denny Laine celebrates the 40th anniversary of the “Wings Over America” tour with a live on stage performance of their greatest album, “Band on the Run”—complete and unabridged! Within a year of its release, “Band On the Run” had sold over six-million copies worldwide, having spawned three U.S. Top Ten hits-”Helen Wheels”, “Jet”, and the title track. The singles alone occupied the U.S. chart for forty-five (45) weeks, while the album stayed on the charts for over two (2) years. “Band On The Run” was in the Top-30 of the Billboard 200 as recently as 2010, when a remastered version of the album was released.

This special evening celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Wings Over America tour. The sold out U.S. leg of the “Wings Over the World” tour helped carry the’ “Silly Love Songs” single and “Wings at the Speed of Sound” album to number one on their respective charts. From the tour came the film “Rock Show” and the number one triple album set “Wings over America”.

By far the most successful album involving any of the Beatles following their breakup, “Band on the Run” was created by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney. The other members of Wings quit the group just prior to the departure to Lagos, Nigeria to begin sessions for the album, but out of adversity came advantage.  With Paul McCartney on vocals, piano, drums, guitar, bass, and keys, and Denny Laine contributing vocals, keys, acoustic, electric and bass guitars, and Linda McCartney on keys and vocals, Band On the Run transcended the era to become an album whose deep cuts such as “Let Me Roll It”,  “Picasso’s Last Words”, and “Mrs. Vanderbilt”  and “Bluebird” are better remembered-and played more often on classic rock radio-than most hits of the era.

Expect other Wings hits such as “Live and Let Die”,  and “Time to Hide” as well as Denny’s legendary lead vocal on the Moody Blues classic “Go Now” to round out this special anniversary show.

Information and ticket info Click Here

/by