10 reasons why the best rock stars are nerds

Being a rock star is of course the coolest thing you can possibly be. But it doesn’t mean everything about you is cool. In fact, some of the biggest rock stars you know are nerds just below the surface.

Jimmy Page

Page started his career as a session guitarist and can be heard on dozens singles that would be deemed far too poppy and cheesy for any Zep aficionado. Led Zeppelin themselves dropped several references to The Lord of the Rings into their early songs and Page is such a fan of Aleistair Crowley he bought Crowley’s former home.
Nerd score: 7/10


Brian May

The Queen guitarist is a Doctor of Astrophysics, a passionate campaigner for animal rights – particularly badgers – and plays a guitar which he built himself as a teenager out of timber from the family fireplace. With a sixpence!
Nerd score: 12/10


Metallica

Their image is heavy but Metallica are music nerds at heart. Their rhythms are meticulously crafted and they will never play eight bars of 4/4 where a mix of 5/8, 3/4, 12/8 and 6/4 will suffice.
Nerd score: 8/10


Frank Zappa

Although the bulk of his lyrics were aimed at frat boys, Zappa’s music was all nerd. Auditions for his band bordered on the cruel. Applicants were required sight-read ridiculously complex parts and then improvise over bizarre time signatures like 11/8. Having learned from his father, Dweezil has said that 4/4 is the hardest rhythm for him to play.

When Zappa discovered he had a namesake in ’cellist and composer Francesco Zappa, Frank made an album of Francesco’s work by programming it into his Synclavier – an instrument he used for composing parts that were practically impossible for a human to play.

In the early 90s, Zappa had planned to set up a consulting business to facilitate trade between former Soviet Union states and the west. Czechoslovakian president Václav Havel had named him Special Ambassador to the West on Trade, Culture and Tourism but the appointment was nixed by then secretary of state James Baker.
Nerd Score: 10/10


John Lennon

The working class hero was never really working class. He was brought up by his middle-class aunt and went to art school. He published two volumes of absurdist verse, prose and cartoons in his lifetime and another was posthumously published.

Having once described avant-garde as “French for bullshit,” he fell in love with conceptual artist Yoko Ono, and embraced her experimental style on the albums Two Virgins, Life with the Lions and Wedding Album.

Later, during his house-husband years, he would take Polaroid photos of the loaves of bread he baked and send them to friends.
Nerd score: 8/10


George Harrison

The Quiet One discovered Indian music almost by accident while filming the move Help! He took to it with a passion and studied the sitar under master Ravi Shankar. His interest in non-western instruments influenced almost all of late 60s music. He signed Radha Krishna Temple to Apple Records and inadvertently invented WOMAD.

He was a supporter of the Natural Law Party, a political offshoot of the Transcendental Meditation movement.

A lifelong Monty Python fan, he appeared as a reporter in Eric Idle’s spoof The Rutles, and financed Life Of Brian after big studios balked at the subject matter.
Nerd Score: 7/10


Jeff Baxter

The Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist has probably the most interesting side hustle of them all: he is a consultant to the US Defence Department, with a particular focus on missile defence. Stemming from an interest in how objects can be used for things they weren’t designed for, he wrote a paper in 1994 about how an anti-aircraft facility could be adapted into a missile defence system and passed it on to his representative. He’s been on the Pentagon payroll ever since.
Nerd Score: 7/10


David Bowie

Bowie’s earliest releases flopped at the time, and it’s probably just as well. He later admitted that if his first album had been a hit, he would probably have ended up in West End musicals. His first album is pure music-hall, with songs the likes of Uncle Arthur and She’s Got Medals that make his novelty song The Laughing Gnome sound positively hip by comparison.

Bowie was also a keen reader who could easily drop Philip Larkin quotes into an interview. He played the lead role in the cult classic Labyrinth, and in the 90s, set up his own internet service provider so subscribers could have their email address @davidbowie.com.
Nerd Score: 10/10


Art Garfunkel

Garfunkel is a voracious reader and keeps his books in chronological order of when he read them. He once walked across America by getting a friend to pick him up at the end of the day, drive him to the nearest motel, and drop him off at the same place the next morning.
Nerd score: 8/10


Sting

Gordon Sumner’s day job was as an English teacher. He practices tantric yoga (among other things if you believe the rumours), and learned to play the lute for an album of 16th century British compositions, released on Deutsche Grammophon.
Nerd Score: 14/10

Top Ten Awesome Babble Songs

I’m currently reading Hang the DJ, an Alternative Book of Music Lists. It goes beyond the typical Top Ten Guitar Solos and sticks to very specific criteria. The first chapter, written by Owen King, tells you everything you need to know about the type of lists in the book: Ten Essential Stutter songs (for example, Muh-muh-muh-My Sharona and Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes.)

In selecting Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer, Owen King admits it only works if the final syllable is actually ‘far’ and not merely another ‘fah’ which would make it “better suited for the Top 10 Awesome Babble Songs.” Which gives me an idea…

This does not include scat singing or anything similar, but only songs where the babble is an integral part of the song, and often even the title.

10: Doo Wah Diddy - Manfred Mann
It’s really just your typical boy-meets-girl and they fall in love song. Only in this one, they’re singing ‘Doo wah diddy, diddy dum, diddy do.’ As you do.

9: Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
Apart from Mr Penniman listing some of the gals he’s got, the song is almost all babble. Although the title may also be an ice cream flavour an ‘aw rooty’ is allegedly a slang term for ‘all right,’ it hardly enhances the meaning of the song, whatever it may be. Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom’s meaning has only come since the song.

8: Be-Bop-a-Lula - Gene Vincent
Any song that commits the lyrical sin of rhyming ‘baby’ and ‘maybe’ ensures that even if all the other words are utter drivel, they still won’t be the worst thing about the song. Like Yabba-Dabba-Doo, Be-Bop-a-Lula has no particular meaning but you still know it means something good.

7: Da Do Ron Ron - The Crystals
Another piece of babble that you just know means… something! All the great innocent pop has a sexuality bubbling underneath and you have to figure out what it means for yourself. Bruce Springsteen made it obvious that when they kissed, fire! But in Phil Spector’s teen symphony, when he walked her home, Da do ron ron! If you know what I mean.

6: Hey Jude - The Beatles
Perhaps a controversial choice, but any song where over half of the single’s 7-minute length is: ‘Nah, nah, nah, nananah nah, nananah nah, Hey Jude!’ surely has to count.

If that doesn’t work for you try…

5:  Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da - The Beatles
Far from being a twee nursery rhyme that some people consider it to be, it’s far more political than that. It’s easy to forget this was the time of Enoch Powel and his ‘blood in the streets’ speech. Paul McCartney’s simple story of a multicultural family being just as ordinary as can be, set to a calypso beat, was a sly put-down to all that. While John Lennon might have been more likely to just say, “Don’t be racist, you pigs!” Paul was a bit more subtle than that. Almost too subtle.

4: The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
No-one said babble songs had light or fluffy. Paul Simon has admitted the ‘Li-la-li’ chorus was a simply a placeholder for lyrics that never came, and his embarrassment about it. He shouldn’t be so hard on himself. It works. What I never understood was why in the middle of the chorus of this most gentle and sensitive song, there’s a massive drum hit drenched in reverb that comes at you like a punch in the face. Like a punch in the… oh, right. The Boxer. Now I get it.

3: #9 Dream - John Lennon
John Lennon was a master of nonsense. This is quite a talent. A silly, off-the-cuff lyric from Paul McCartney sounds like a silly, off-the-cuff lyric but John could write about semolina pilchards climbing up the Eiffel Tower like it was the most profound thing you ever heard. You’ve either got it or you haven’t.

In its wider context, the chorus of ‘Ah! Bowakawa, pousse pousse’ sounds to the monolingual ear like it could be a message to Yoko in Japanese. In fact, they’re just the words John heard in the aforementioned dream. Yet his delivery assures you that there must be more to it than just that.

2: De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - The Police
Even as a classically trained post-punk in the late 70s, Sting took himself rather seriously. It’s tempting to think the title and hook of this song might be yet another pretention. It was on an album called Zenyatta Mondatta, after all. Mercifully, there was no deeper meaning. It’s simply a song about being tongue-tied before the object of one’s affections, and who can’t relate to that? It’s meaningless and all that's true.

1: Sussudio - Phil Collins
It’s still a boy-meets-girl song with a babble title and chorus. This time, the narrator invites the listener to say the word because it makes him feel so good. Try it for yourself. Go on, say, “Su-Sussudio.” Does it make you feel so good? Of course it doesn’t!

Phil Collins is problematic on a few levels but there’s no denying he completely nailed it here. Every single line and lick is a hook, and if the first keyboard riff bears a striking resemblance to Prince’s 1999, it’s probably no accident. This is probably the most-mid 80s song ever. You couldn’t design one better if you tried. You want to hate it but you can’t. Admit it.

LENNONYC

While it goes over a lot of ground already covered in numerous other documentaries, LENNONYC has one major advantage. It doesn’t just talk about John the activist, John the iconoclast, John the reformed philanderer and John the family man, but most importantly, John the musician. The film is at its best when focussing on that aspect on John’s life.

Naturally, the film has to deal with stories previously told, such as John’s flirtation with the yippie movement and problems with immigration and the FBI. Also, despite being primarily about John’s love affair with New York, the film gives just as much time to the “lost weekend” period in Los Angeles, much of which has been gone over before.

Many of the usual suspects are interviewed, including Elliot Mintz, May Pang and the ubiquitous Geraldo Rivera but things get interesting when they talk to the musicians who played with John through the 70s. Even when it’s Jim Keltner talking about John’s drinking in LA, or members of Elephant’s Memory talking about having their ’phones tapped too, it brings a perspective that previous films haven’t shown. Producer Jack Douglas and Yoko’s recollections of what they did on the evenings following John’s death are particularly moving.

The film could stand to be about twenty minutes shorter but it does bring a new angle to the story of Lennon in the US, from participants who aren’t usually heard.

Highlight: Recollections from musicians about making the albums and studio banter.
Feature: * * * *
Extras: None
Audio: Dolby 5.1, Dolby Stereo

The Best of the Best-Ofs: John Lennon

If you count the posthumously-released Milk and Honey, John Lennon made eight regular albums in his post-Beatles career. Since his death, there have been six best-of compilations, three box-set compilations, three odds & sods compilations and several other regional versions. So which should you go for?

Shaved Fish – 1975
This was the only compilation released in John’s lifetime, so it has the benefit of being the one that clearly had his approval. It collects all the singles to date, half of which were not available on any other album, which would have made them hard to get in 1975. It opens with Give Peace a Chance, but this is faded after 60 seconds. The song is reprised at the end of the album with an excerpt of the live version from the One to One concert. (The full version is available on Live in New York City).

There’s one advantage that Shaved Fish has over all the ones that came after it. With its surreal artwork and bonkers title, it’s the only Lennon compilation to show John’s sense of humour. John was always a master piss-taker but you’d never know it from the po-faced seriousness of all the collections that followed. I’ve nothing against Yoko, but I don’t think she ever really understood John’s humour.

For: Original, authentic.
Against: Short, incomplete.


The John Lennon Collection – 1982/1989
Contains most of the tracks included on Shaved Fish and adds Stand By Me from Rock and Roll and all but one of John’s tracks from Double Fantasy. The tracklist was expanded for the CD reissue in 1989 to include Move Over Miss L and Cold Turkey, but tacking them on at the end disturbs the flow of the album significantly.

For: It’s the one that everyone bought after John’s death.
Against: Leans heavily on Double Fantasy.




Imagine: John Lennon – 1988
Not to be confused with Imagine by John Lennon, this collection accompanied the documentary film of the same name, itself not to be confused with The Making of Imagine.

Rather than being a best-of per se, the tracks are chosen and sequenced to reflect the narrative of John’s life. Controversially, nine Beatles recordings are included. An acoustic guitar version of Real Love and the initial demo of Imagine are included, presumably to attract those who already owned the rest of the music.

For: Gives an overview of John’s entire career.
Against: Beatles recordings on a John Lennon album? Let’s see Paul McCartney get away with that!


Lennon Legend - The Very Best of John Lennon – 1997
Apparently released with the intention of having a definitive collection, it’s also pretty likely that Lennon Legend was intended to take advantage of the renewed interest in John Lennon at the time thanks to the Beatles Anthology and Britpop. Two tracks from Milk and Honey are included as well as Working Class Hero, considered by many to be one of John’s most important songs. I guess by 1997, you were allowed to swear on a best-of album.

For: Has a balanced selection from all phases of John’s solo career.
Against: Made redundant by what came next.


Working Class Hero - The Definitive Lennon – 2005
“Definitive,” is a big call, but this 2-disc collection comes closer than any other. It aims at being a true best-of, rather than just collecting the greatest hits or most recognised songs. Lesser known album tracks are included, such as Bless You, Scared and I’m Stepping Out, as well as important tracks such as Isolation and God, which hadn’t been included on any previous collection. The version of I’m Losing You is a raunchier version, (previously available on Wonsaponatime and Lennon Anthology), there is the original piano version of Real Love (ditto) and Come Together from Live in New York City. There seems to be no logic to the sequencing of the tracks but other than that, this is the best overall collection so far.

For: Two discs, remastered.
Against: Odd sequencing, takes itself awfully seriously.


The US vs John Lennon – 2006
The soundtrack to the documentary film of the same name. Movie tie-ins, especially to do with musicians, are usually a no-brainer but let’s take a little reality check: If you’re at all interested in the film, you probably have more than a passing interest in John’s music. If you have more than a passing interest in John’s music, it’s pretty likely that you’ve got most of this music already. On the off chance that you have discovered John’s music by viewing the film out of an interest in early-to-mid ’70s US politics, then there are better places to start listening than this.

The track selections naturally follow the theme of the film, and so include John’s more political songs and others that reflect what was going on in his life at the time. Scared is used to great effect in the film. The carrot for those who own every other album is a previously unreleased live version of Attica State (not the one that’s on Anthology) and instrumental version of How Do You Sleep? Hearing the latter sans vocal track does bring home what a relentless, pulsating groove the song has, but it’s hardly worth buying the whole album for.

For: One previously unreleased track, one new mix.
Against: Otherwise pointless.


Power to the People – 2010
In 1978, John Lennon wrote a short memoir of his life with Yoko, which was eventually published in 1986 in the book Skywriting by Word of Mouth. In it, John described the song Power to the People as “rather embarrassing,” and implies that he was shamed into writing the song by some of the more radical characters he was hanging out with at the time. Of course, it’s not uncommon for artists to have love/hate relationships with their own songs. For all we know, John’s view of the song may have softened had he been allowed to live, so I won’t speculate on whether he might have approved of the title being used this way. However, given what he wrote just six years after releasing the song, one does wonder how he would have felt about it being so closely associated with him, and being included on every single one of these compilations.

The only thing that makes this latest collection worth considering is that it’s compiled from the 2010 remasters. However, this isn’t like the Beatles remasters where they haven’t been touched for over twenty years. The last round of Lennon remasters came out between 2000 and 2005. It’s hard to imagine that new kinds of digital pixie dust have been invented since then that will further improve recordings that sonically, were pretty good to begin with. Remasters in the 21st century can be cause for concern but fortunately, that have not put them all through the make-it-loud machine. Instead, the remasters are at a more civilised level than the previous versions but to my (admittedly untrained) ears, there’s nothing like enough audible difference to warrant replacing your current collection.

(Just Like) Starting Over, 2000 remaster. Note the clipping.

(Just Like) Starting Over, 2005 version from Working Class Hero

(Just Like) Starting Over, 2010 remaster

As for the album itself, it’s call the hits and that’s what it delivers. The track sequencing is tasteful and there’s the option of a bonus DVD, although it doesn’t contain anything that isn’t already available on Lennon Legend.

For: 2010 remasters
Against: Please, please, let this be the last one!

If you had to choose one, choose....
Working Class Hero. Between that and a couple of downloads, you could make up all the other ones from it.


See also,

Menlove Ave. – 1986
Inessential collection of outtakes mostly from the Rock and Roll and Walls and Bridges sessions.






Lennon – 1990
Four-disc box set which is essentially an extended best-of. Contains the whole of Plastic Ono Band, all but one track of Imagine and all John’s tracks from Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey. Now out of print and overpriced. Avoid. Buy the real albums instead.


John Lennon Anthology – 1998
Is to John’s solo career what the Beatles Anthology is to theirs; collected out-takes, demos, live versions and home tapes. Very interesting to the serious fan but, like the Beatles Anthology, should not be used as an introduction to the music. Four themed discs covering the Ascot, New York City, Lost Weekend and Dakota periods. Bit pricey.


Wonsaponatime – 1998
Single-disc collection of highlights from Anthology.







Acoustic – 2004
Worthwhile collection of acoustic versions – some demos, some live – most of them previously released. Includes chord sheets for budding guitarists.





Remember – 2006
Curious selection of hits and album tracks. Perfect for those who only buy their music from Starbucks.





Gimme Some Truth – 2010
You want the truth? The truth is that these four themed discs (Working Class Hero, Woman, Borrowed Time and Roots) are little more than glorified iTunes playlists, repackaged and resold. Again, it contains nearly all of the Plastic Ono Band and Imagine albums. Pointless. Buy the real albums and make your own.




Disclosure: I do not own all of these albums, but I do own nearly all of John’s music in one form or another which means I know what each album will be like without owning every one of them.

70

There will be millions of things written about John Lennon this week, and rightly so too.  But I don't think there's any better way of hearing John's story than letting him tell it himself in his own music.

THE US vs JOHN LENNON (2006)

It's very tempting for Lennon fans to see him as something of a political victim, since he virtually invented rock star activism.  Although this documentary is predictably sympathetic to John & Yoko's cause, it doesn't protect them from charges of naivety and perhaps just a little gall in expecting to be allowed to stay in the country at the same time as they were criticising that country's policies at every opportunity – however valid that criticism might have been.  It also quietly acknowledges that the US  was within its rights to cancel their visa, however petty and paranoid such an act may have been.  You have to know which arses to kick and which ones to kiss. 

In fact, the first two thirds of The US vs John Lennon is taken up with a history of his political activism between 1968 and 1972, and he comes across as a remarkably moderate voice between competing world views.  But this was the height of the paranoid Nixon years and the administration saw him as a threat, which of course, he was to the establishment, even though he was also telling radical elements to be cool and that violence wasn't going to help anyone.  Major players from all sides are interviewed, including John Sinclair, Angela Davis (both subjects of Lennon songs), G Gordon Liddy, Geraldo Rivera, George McGovern, and Walter Cronkite, among others.

John's music is used to excellent effect throughout, especially Scared.  The audio is listed as 5.1 but don't go expecting great surround mixes. 

Highlight: John telling the crowd at the John Sinclair concert, “Apathy isn't it. So flower power didn't work, so what? We start again.”

Feature: * * * *

Extras: None

Audio: Dolby 5.1, Dolby Stereo

JOHN LENNON – Classic Albums: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (2008)

The brilliant Classic Albums series takes on Plastic Ono Band and it's every bit as good as we have come to expect from them. All the living participants are interviewed with the exception of Phil Spector. This doesn't leave as big a gap as you might think because we learn that although Spector has a co-producer's credit, he was hardly ever there. Ringo, Klaus Voorman, Richard Lush and John Leckie all agree that his involvement was minimal.

As with so many other docos, John speaks for himself by way of the many interviews he did on the subject and we also get insights from Jan Wenner, who conducted several of those interviews, and Arthur Janov, the creator of Primal Therapy which inspired many of the songs.

The real thrill comes when the engineers go back to the original multitracks and isolate parts so we can hear John screaming unaccompanied, studio chatter, out-takes and, inexplicably, an unused mouth harp part in Remember.

And fans of irony will get a kick out of Lennon confidante Elliot Mintz with fake gold hair, even faker tan, and generally looking like an animatronic waxwork, praising the album because it was "real."

The bonus material is in the form of seven parts not used in the television version, although it would have been nice if these had been cut back into the main program rather than tacked on the end. We also have the 1972 live performance of Mother and the film clip of Instant Karma, both of which are available on a multitude of other discs.

Highlight: The master tapes
Feature: * * * *  ½
Extras: * * * *
Audio: Dolby Stereo

Previously posted at Strawberry Fields

SWEET TORONTO – John Lennon (1969/1988)

Sometimes, whatever you imagine is better than the real thing. When I first heard the Live Peace in Toronto album, I was amazed by it. The film of the same show leaves me flat though.

The Plastic Ono Band (this time consisting of John and Yoko, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman and Alan White) made their debut at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival in 1969. Although the rock credentials of both Lennon and Clapton were well established by then, they were still an odd choice to close a festival that also had Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard on the bill. It's sobering to think that only a decade past their heyday, these legends were already on the nostalgia circuit.

For context, Sweet Toronto gives one song each from the other acts on the bill. The Plastic Ono Band's set keeps the spirit of the show in the beginning, with three old rockers before throwing in Yer Blues and the premiere of Cold Turkey. History records that Yoko's contribution was surprisingly well received by the rock and roll crowd but the film suggests that by then, half of them had gone home or were too stoned to care. John, Eric and Klaus do set up an impressive feedback chord, but by the time they get there, you've lost interest and there are times during Yoko's wailing that even John looks bored.

Although he did his best with what he had available to him, D.A Pennebaker's documentarian style is not flattering to a concert. Most of the footage is shot from the wings or the foot of the stage, giving a fan's eye view of the show. Sweet Toronto is interesting more as an historical document than as a concert film.

The film is 'introduced' with a short and barely relevant interview with Yoko at the opening of an exhibition of John's art in 1988. The audio is 5.1, upmixed from the original stereo.

Highlight: Yer Blues
Feature: * *  ½
Extras: *
Audio: Dolby 5.1

Also released as Live Peace in Toronto and Live in Toronto '69.

Previously posted at Strawberry Fields and at Fishpond.

GIVE PEACE A CHANCE – John Lennon (1972/2005)

Despite having a cover photograph from 1967, this unimaginatively titled DVD is in fact the film record of the One to One charity concert that became the Live In New York City album.

Being one of Lennon's very few live appearances of the 70s, you'd think the DVD's producers might have put a bit of effort into it. Sadly, they haven't. The transfer is awful and looks like it's come direct from VHS. We know that better film from this show exists because we've seen it used in some of the Lennon Legend clips. To make matters worse, someone decided it would be a good idea to spend five minutes at the beginning of the program showing 20-second samples of every song. Ick!

The audio is 5.1 but it hasn't been remixed and sounds terribly thin. Note to producers: shoving some audience noise in the rear speakers does not amount to remixing for surround. If you're not going to do it properly, then just leave the stereo track because any Pro Logic processor could do better than this.

As for the concert itself, John was always a very nervous live performer outside the Beatles but he strikes a good balance of cheekiness, earnestness and energy here. He also reveals that he could sometimes match Paul for uncoolness. He back-announces Yoko's Sisters O Sisters by telling the crowd, “That's reggae.” No it isn't John! We hear him say several times, “It's just the rehearsal,” indicating that the film is taken from the afternoon show. If someone would properly remaster the film of the evening show, it would immediately be the essential Lennon live film. This disc is a cheap and nasty treatment of a show and an artist that deserve better.

The extras are a highly editorialised and factually dubious biography (Lennon was on a sabbatical from life in the late 70s?? Says who?) and a crap photo gallery.

Highlight: Come Together
Feature: * * 
Extras: *
Audio: Dolby 5.1

Previously posted at Strawberry Fields and Amazon.

GIMME SOME TRUTH, The Making of John Lennon's Imagine Album (1986/2000)

We can be grateful that John Lennon filmed just about everything he did. With very little in the way of narration, this fly-on-the-wall program is a fascinating insight into the birth of a classic.

It's hard to tell whether the film is shown chronologically or if it has been recut. What's clear is that there is an olive branch to Paul in the way the film has been edited. There is bitterness and derision towards Paul before and during the recording of How Do You Sleep? but immediately afterwards, they show John explaining to a bewildered fan who wandered onto the property that Carry That Weight was actually Paul's song, “but he was talking about all of us.”

We also get an interesting look into how Yoko earned her producer's credit. Her suggestions range from the insipid (“let's try and give them the right one”) to quite perceptive. She says, quite rightly, that there is too much improvisation in the early takes of How Do You Sleep? and that it should be a steady groove.

The music is remixed in Dolby 5.1 and while the film has plenty of music, it does make you long for a full length surround mix of the album – especially I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier and Gimme Some Truth.

With lots of mumbling and crosstalk, the subtitles become very handy – although there are times when even they give up and just say, “unintelligible.”

The bonus feature is the complete interview given to a journalist by John and Yoko about young people and sexuality. It's relevant to the documentary because it was the interview was done at the same time and excepts from it are used in the main feature. There's also a complete discography.

Highlight: John and George doing a take of Oh My Love.
Feature: * * * * *
Extras: * * *
Audio: Dolby Stereo, Dolby 5.1

LENNON LEGEND – John Lennon (2003)

The CD of the same name was really just The John Lennon Collection repackaged for the Britpop generation, now rendered doubly redundant by the recent two-disc compilation. But there is much to recommend the DVD version. It's primarily a collection of video clips for all John's singles, with audio very tastefully remixed for 5.1. Many of the songs never had film clips when released, but John was such an avid home movie maker that there was ample footage to assemble clips from for the video world. Many have been made especially for this DVD.

Extras include a couple of live performances, some more home movie footage and animations of John's drawings. Great menus too!

Highlight: Mind Games
Feature: * * * *
Extras: * * *
Audio: LPCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1, DTS


Previously posted at Strawberry Fields and at Fishpond.