Goodbye in 2018

BDJ's Cellar Full of Remixes

In 2018, we again had to say Goodnight to a few famous names in Beatles history. The best known casualty is Geoff Emerick, so we begin and end this 'in memoriam' mix with Geoff.
Second to be heard is Tony Calder, the music manager who promoted the Beatles’ debut single Love Me Do, died on 2 January at the age of 74. The British record executive, producer and manager worked with acts including Marianne Faithfull, Black Sabbath and Fleetwood Mac.Calder was hired by Beatles manager Brian Epstein to promote the band in the early 1960s. Soon after, Calder and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham – whom Calder had met while working at Decca Records – formed a PR company called Image. It managed the Rolling Stones and promoted the Beach Boys.
Then Ken Dodd. He was a comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. He also had 18 singles in the British Top 40, including a no. 1 ("Tears"). The Beatles' appeared only once on Ken Dodd's BBC radio show.
Friday, February 16, 2018
We then hear Kenneth Haigh, cast member in 'A Hard Day's Night'.He played the role of Simon Marshall in one of the best scenes. He was the man who didn't recognize George Harrison as he lectured him on how he was supposed to be hip to "Susan." "Oh, that posh bird who gets everything wrong," George snapped at him. But his other roles included playing Brutus in "Cleopatra" with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
Grammy Award-winning audio engineer Geoff Emerick, who worked on several of the Beatles' most important albums, died from a heart attack. He was 72 years old.Emerick is credited as being an innovator, willing to do anything to help his demanding clients craft their sound. When John Lennon said he wanted to sound like the "Dalai Lama singing on a mountain" for the 1966 song "Tomorrow Never Knows," Emerick and other sound engineers fed his voice through rotating speakers to distort it. "I remember the surprise on our faces when the voice came out of the speaker. It was just one of sheer amazement," Emerick said, according to Beatles chronicler Mark Lewisohn.
Emerick joined EMI at the age of 15 in 1962, sitting in on the Beatles' first session for the record label during his first week of work.
"It was the right place at the right time," Emerick told CNN in a 2006 interview about his time with the Beatles. "It could have happened to anybody," he said.
"At the time of doing those albums we never realized it was going to develop into what it developed into."
He became the right-hand man to late producer George Martin, working the board through the '60s for seminal Beatles' albums like "Revolver," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Abbey Road" and much of "Magical Mystery Tour" and "The White Album."
After the Beatles split in 1970, Emerick continued to work with Paul McCartney, producing his third studio album "Band on the Run." He also worked with Elvis Costello, The Zombies and Johnny Cash.
His work won him four Grammy Awards, including Best Engineer for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Band on the Run" and "Abbey Road." He won the technical Grammy in 2003 for "pushing the boundaries of studio recording techniques to new frontiers of creativity and imagination," according to his website.
In 2006, he released the book, "Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles," which received criticism for its dismissal of the work of George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
My own Claim to Fame came last year: while attending a concert of the famous Beatles cover band 'the Analogues' I noticed that Emerick was sitting in the row behind me. After the concert I approached him, but I didn't have the courage to speak to him. The opportunity will not offer itself again......