"I Heard The News Today."

There is probably nothing novel I can add to the stream of stories and tributes you'll see today.  But there is no way I could let the death of veteran record producer George Martin pass without acknowledgement.  Along with figures such as Sam Phillips and Berry Gordy it's fair to say the musical world would be a much different place, and my life with it, without him.  Without Martin's open mind and creativity the Beatles would likely have been a much lesser group than they became.

But Martin did more than produce the Beatles.  He produced numerous comedy records in the 1950s and '60s, including for British comedy greats such as Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan.  He worked with numerous pop and rock musicians, including the Beatles' Liverpool contemporaries Gerry and the Pacemakers, '70s soft rockers America, and jazz saxophonist Paul Winter.  He also had connections to the James Bond films, producing the theme song to Goldfinger, and scoring Live and Let Die. 

The past few months have not been good for the world of pop and rock music, with several prominent figures dying.  Hopefully this is the last such death we'll see for a long time to come.

You'd Better Not Forget.

It's just a few days until the deadline for Canadian tax returns for 2014, unless of course you file more than yearly.  So make sure you get it done.  You don't want to piss off Mr. Wilson and Mr. Heath, especially since they're dead.

Fair Is Fair.

Since I posted a Stones cover last night I should be fair and post a Beatles cover, shouldn't I?  And here it is, Yellow Magic Orchestra's version of "Day Tripper." 

Happy Leap Day!

Time sure flies.  Once again it's Leap Year, and we get an extra day.  In a way it's too bad it just gets labelled as February 29th.  There should be an extra day added to the week with its own specific name.  No doubt people think it would be too confusing to have an 8 day week even if it was only once every four years.

Since we don't have an 8th day this week how about some Beatles instead?

Maybe You'll See Paul.

How's this for an interesting webcam?  It provides live coverage of the famous Abbey Road street crossing.  Pretty good quality and a smooth feed.  Of course it should be noted that Saskatoon is 6 hours behind UTC, so it's nighttime in London as I post this.

Sarge Turns 40.

Friday was the 40th anniversary of the initial release in the UK of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Wow, hard to believe it was 40 years ago. Into the CD player it went, which made me wonder again when the Beatles' catalogue will be remastered. You'd think they would have done a new set of remasters in the late '90s or early 2000s given how much digital mastering has improved, but instead we still have the late '80s version in the shops. If you live in the Western half of North America and some other places there's still time to listen to it on the album's fortieth birthday if you move quickly.

Billy Shears will be grateful.