Nothing Is Real - A Beatles Podcast

S08 Live with Mark Lewisohn: 60 Years of A Hard Day’s Night - Part One 

It’s been 60 years since A Hard Day’s Night hit the silver screen. In the intervening years, many myths have risen about how this film came together, and who better to bust those myths than Mr Mark Lewisohn.

Live in Person from Dun Laoghaire, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Nothing Is Real Live 2023 - The Q&A Sessions

At each of the Nothing Is Real live shows in 2023 we had a Q&A session. As a taster for the whole event, here are the sessions for Belfast on October 23rd (Before Now & Then) and Dublin on November 9th (After Now & Then).

Live in Person from Belfast & Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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S08 Bonus: The Beatles Last Tour NIR Live 2023 Part Two

When The Beatles landed for their North American tour in August 1966 only the innermost of inner circles knew that the last gig was nigh. 

What was the environment that the group was performing in, and was it really the end?

Live in Person from London, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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The Beatles First Tour (NIR Live 2023 Part One)

NIR went on tour in 2023, so it seems fitting to tell the story of The Beatles’ first and last tours. In the beginning there was Johnny Gentle,

a singing star with enough capital to play venues in the rural highlands of Scotland with the untested Beatles. What could possibly go right?

Live in Person from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Review of 2023

You boy! What day is it? Ending the year in the NIR log cabin looking back at 2023 - our fifth annual review. Did anything to do with the Beatles happen this year? That’s right, the third anniversary of McCartney III. Oh, and a little tune called Now & Then. Includes a special Christmas guest! 

Live on tape from Lapland, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame

1988 was an unusual time: The biggest Beatle was George, rock stars were dealing with the unthinkable (their forties),

people were paying attention to Mike Love, and the rebellion of rock & roll had been replaced by a gentlemen’s club.  

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Live at the Roundhouse - Part Two

In December 1968, Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed a TV special where the kings of British rock gathered to play their new material. 

Unfortunately, it was with the Rolling Stones. Whither The Roundhouse? What happened next and what could have happened?

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Live at the Roundhouse - Part One

After filming the Hey Jude promo, and in the midst of recording the White Album, somehow The Beatles decide to eye up a return to the stage in the heart of London. So where should that be, and how will they pull it off?

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real.

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In 1991, when so many acts from the 60s were lucratively touring, George Harrison decided to dip his toes in the water.

Why? Money. Where? Japan. Who? Clapton. What…could possibly go wrong?

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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The plan for a quick live-in-the-studio album gradually morphs into something more 80s, more produced. Hello to Hugh Padgham. Warning: Contains Spies Like Us. 

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Or….

Press to Play

After the huge success* of Give My Regards to Broad Street, Paul McCartney wants to get back to basics. Kicking back in a small band with Eric (not that one) this is a broth that attracts many cooks…

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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November 63 - Part Two

As the Beatles move through the month, beyond the Royal Variety Performance they continue to pack houses up and down the UK.

What recordings are waiting in the wings? I Want To Hold Your Hand and With The Beatles. Not too shabby. 

Live on tape from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Between October 31st and December 1st 1963, the Beatles pushed the envelope from being the biggest pop group in the country to something even… bigger. In a year when they just kept getting more extraordinary, by the end of November 63, the world was theirs for the taking. 

Live on tape from Dublin, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Harrison/Starkey

George and Ringo always had a special bond. 

As the sixties became the seventies, was there an opportunity for the

Beatles to give the world a second magnificent song-writing partnership?

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Bonus Episode!

Talking Mal Evans with Ken Womack

Kenneth Womack is a writer, historian, and critic, who has written some of the best books about The Beatles and their inner circle. 

To this list, he is about to add Living The Beatles Legend, The Untold Story of Mal Evans, the first of two books about big Mal,

which comes out in November 2023.  

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast & New Jersey, it’s Nothing Is ...

Mal Evans

Mal Evans had a front-row seat to the entire Beatles experience, and the Beatles were happy to have him there.

Whether it was as an extra in A Hard Day’s Night or co-writing a song on the Ringo album, he remains an indelible part of their landscape. Contains anvils. 

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Bigger Than Jesus - Part Two

Four months passed between John Lennon free-associating about Christianity to a trusted journalist,

and touching down in the US for a North American tour. The “Bigger Than Jesus” controversy hung over the tour,

but was it really that big of a deal? 

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Bigger Than Jesus - Part One

John Lennon never actually said that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus”, but that wasn’t the point.

When you’re free-associating to a trusted journalist, what’s to stop your words being lost in translation as they cross the Atlantic? 

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

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Welcome to Season Eight

Full steam ahead for the eighth(!) season of Nothing is Real. We need to tell you about live shows, the new season,

the world’s most difficult Beatles quiz, and ask the burning question of “Where’s that new Beatles single?”

Live on tape from Dublin & Belfast, it’s Nothing Is Real. 

Website: http://www.nothingisrealpod.com

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