DJ Sue

DJ Sue
Welcome to my blog. I’m a DJ in Second Life and I find myself discussing the music I’m playing with many of those in attendance at my shows. Unfortunately, when I am busy DJing, I can’t participate and discuss the music as fully as I would like. I’m hoping this blog can help change that. Look here before my set to see if I might be playing something interesting today or maybe after to see if discussion on a topic might continue. You are invited to join in the conversation and leave comments.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Bob Seger



SUE’S SUNDAY SOJOURN: Each week Sue will showcase a particular artist or band during her entire two hour set.  Each week, prior to the set, there will be a blog post where she will write about her memories, favorite stories or share other interesting tidbits about the artist.  The idea here is not to tell the story of the band or play two hours of their greatest hits.  The idea behind Sue’s Sunday Sojourn will be to spend time with Sue, down in her music vault.  As she puts together the set, she will reminisce and share special memories.  “I remember when this came out,” or, “I recall hearing this for the first time and I thought…”  She might share little known facts, favorite memories, fun stories or maybe even some personal experiences. 

The sets will have plenty of the big hits but be ready for a few obscure tunes that may be her personal favorites.  She will probably include a few rarities or possibly unreleased material, along with other assorted curios.  So join her every Sunday night from 7-9 PM SLT as she lets you into her world.

Bob Seger


The Bob Seger System (1969), Seger up front


The summer of 1969 was a magic summer.  In July, three men were heading to the moon to make that historic first landing there.  While those men hurled towards the moon at 24,200 miles per hour (38,950 km/s), a U.S. Senator from my home state of Massachusetts was changing the course of that history on a bridge at an obscure place called “Chappaquiddick.”  (I was living only 35 miles away when that happened.)  There are few that doubt that Ted Kennedy would have been President if it weren’t for that black mark on his record.  It was the same week that people were flocking to see a newly released movie about two men, Wyatt and Billy (Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper), who rode their Harley Panheads across the country in what would be the third highest grossing film of 1969, Easy Rider.

From left, clockwise: Front Page Boston Globe with both Chappaquiddick and the Moon Landing making news. Senator Kennedy's Car in the water. Billy & Wyatt ride in Easy Rider. Click to enlarge.


If guys walking on the moon and riding choppers across America wasn’t magic enough, the following month a crowd of 450,000 “hippies” gathered in upstate New York for Woodstock, three days of Peace, Love and Music.  When the event went off without a hitch, despite overcrowding and lack of services and facilities, the world saw that our generation really was capable of the “love thy neighbor” philosophy that we were all embracing.  It was the perfect ending to the magic summer of 1969.

None of this was as magic as having my brother home with us in Massachusetts for a couple of weeks.  In 1966, my oldest brother had a falling out with our father and went to live on the opposite coast with our grandmother. He would come home each summer for a couple of weeks and I looked forward to these times very much.  Despite a seven year age gap, we were quite close and I’d say he was closer to me than anyone else in the family.  Back in 1967, he began recording tapes to me instead of writing letters.  It was my duty to inform the family, usually over dinner, about how my brother was doing and what he was up to.  Of course there were portions I had to omit and I was somewhat proud that he trusted me with this.  I will go into these tapes in more detail in an upcoming Sojourn.

So, how does Bob Seger work into all of this?

On this trip, my brother came into my room to visit and catch up, which we both loved doing.  We shared a great love of music so of course he was curious and picked up a couple of LP records sitting on my desk.  One caught his eye especially, my copy of a newly released album by the Bob Seger System, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man.  His attention piqued my curiosity because this was not one that I expected to interest him.  There were a lot of bands that we shared a great love for including the Jefferson Airplane, Cream and the Peanut Butter Conspiracy.  By 1969, his tastes were leaning more towards the acoustic guitar performance of war protesters like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Phil Ochs.  I like those artists too but my tastes were now also including the likes of Steppenwolf, Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple.  The Bob Seger System was not one of these softer, acoustic artists nor were they a Bay Area group and they definitely were one of my harder rock bands.

I took the record from him and I placed it on my record player and set the needle down on the first song of side A.  The drums started and I began to dance, flipping my hair around.  Then, when the lyrics began, I sang along at the top of my voice.

“Yeah, I'm gonna tell my tale come on, come on, give a listen.

“Cause I was born lonely down by the riverside,
Learned to spin fortune wheels, and throw dice,
And I was just thirteen when I had to leave home.
Knew I couldn't stick around, I had to roam.
Ain’t good looking, but you know I ain't shy,
Ain't afraid to look it girl, hear me out.
So if you need some lovin’ and you need it right away,
Take a little time out, and maybe I'll stay.

“But I got to ramble ramblin' man.”

I had played that song enough, being my favorite on the album, that I had no trouble with the words.  When my little performance was done, my brother chuckled, but not in a mocking way.  You could tell he enjoyed it.  He then went over to the record player and turned the record over and placed the needle somewhere on the second side.

With a grin on his face he told me, “Listen to these words.”

It was then that I finally dawned on me; he knew this album.  The song began with just a bass and I had heard it before, of course, but it was not one of the songs I had on constant replay.  It was called 2+2=? (pronounced “two plus two equals what”), which I found to be a strange song title.  I listened as Bob began singing with the bass.

“Yes it's true I am a young man
But I'm old enough to kill.
I don't wanna kill nobody
but I must if you so will.
And if I raise my hand in question,
You just say that I'm a fool.
Cause I got the gall to ask you,”

It was here that the fuzzed out psychedelic guitar kicked.

“Can you maybe change the rules?
Can you stand and call me upstart?
Ask what answer can I find,
I ain't sayin' I'm a genius;
2+2 is on my mind.

As I listened to the words, I realized that I was listening to a war protest song.  That is why my brother new it.  He traveled in the kind of circles where this song was probably played.  The song finally ended…

“I'm no prophet; I'm no rebel.
I'm just asking you why.
I just want a simple answer.
Why it is I’ve got to die?
I'm a simple minded guy,
2+2 is on my mind.”

My brother was looking at me as those last lyrics were sung.  I think he was looking for my reaction to the song but I recall that all I could think about was that one line, “Why it is I’ve got to die?”  My brother was four months away from turning eighteen and having to register for the draft.  When he would get his letter, he would need to report to a designated Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS).  I didn’t want my brother to die; especial in some rice paddy half way around the world, in a war we had no business fighting.

But there was hope.  Richard Nixon had won the election for President and took office back in January.  He had won on the promise of getting us out of Vietnam and ending the war.  We hadn’t heard anything on the particulars up until then but what we didn’t know was that Nixon, behind the backs of Congress and the American people, had escalated things and was conducting operations in Cambodia, a country that we weren’t even at war with.  It seems that getting a bigger hammer and obliterating everything was his answer to ending the war and bringing peace.  Thinking back, I’m reminded of one of my brother’s favorite singers of the time, Tom Paxton, and a line from one of his protest songs, “to help save Vietnam from Vietnamese.”

For better or worse, that was how I got to know about Bob Seger.  He was an artist emerging from the Detroit music scene with his new band, the Bob Seger System.  Wow! Here was a rock guy who was not only a singer, he was an entire system!  I would later learn that he had recorded a couple of singles with his previous band in Detroit, Bob Seger and the Last Heard.  I always thought that was such a clever name.  I will include Heavy Music (1967) by Bob Seger and the Last Heard in my set Sunday night, along with every song mentioned so far.



The one thing I can say about Bob Seger is that he has always been there for me from that magic summer of 1969 onwards.  Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix and others are long dead.  The Beatles, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, the Dead, Jefferson Airplane, all gone.  Bob Seger is still active after all these years and actually released his latest single this year, Glenn Song, a tribute to his good friend, Glenn Frey.  This post is more about my own life, but you will see that Bob Seger was always around.

That summer came to an end and the Bob Seger came out with their next album, Noah, in the fall.  This one had a song, Death Row, which was notable because it is considered one of the songs of the late 60’s that inspired and heralded in the harder rock sound of the 70’s.  This album has never been legitimately been reissued but I’ll still play Death Row for you on Sunday.

Nixon would finally address the nation on how we would get out of Vietnam in November and we began hearing a new term, “Vietnamization.”  It was a process by which we would make Vietnam the problem of the Vietnamese and not ours. Despite his promise to bring troops home, the draft continued, my brother tuned 18 and eventually he had to report for his physical.  He failed it and was deemed unfit for military service so, much to my family’s relief, he would not be going to Vietnam.

Counter culture icons go to war. Click to enlarge.


The war was perverse in many ways, especially to my pre-adolescent (and eventually teen-aged) mind.  We started seeing our anti-war counterculture icons like peace symbols and sayings on our soldiers and their implements of war (see above).  I recall watching on TV a bit about an airplane that they nicknamed “Puff the Magic Dragon.”  This was a transport in which several Gatling type (rotating barrels) machineguns were mounted on one side.  The plane was shown circling over the jungle canopy and I began singing out loud as it rained death down to the Viet Cong below at 10,000 rounds per second…

“Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist
In a land called Honnah Lee.”

Artist rendition...  Puff the Magic Dragon


I was a freshman in High School when Bob Seger released his seventh album, aptly named “Seven,” in March of 1974.  Despite it being an amazing album, it never charted and it remains out of print today.  My favorite song from this one is School Teacher and I’ll play it for you on Sunday, along with other tunes from it.  I must have played this one 100 times when I first got it, before I finally put it away.

Bob was there at the beginning of my senior year when he released what was his most successful album to date, Night Moves.  I actually had two copies of this album, one on LP record and one on 8-track tape.  This one had so many great tunes.

I graduated high school and much to my parents’ disappointment, I did not plan on going to college.  I wanted to be a radio DJ and I set my sights towards that.  I knew that the stations were too big around my area for someone starting out, so I decided to relocate to New England where I had both family and friends.  Some of the smaller stations up there actual were having trouble finding on-air personnel.  By December, I had earned my Third Class Radio Telephone License with an FM Broadcast Endorsement from the FCC and I was working as a Radio DJ.

I started only as a fill-in, working odd shifts here and there.  In April, one of our regular afternoon DJ’s got a job at a much larger station in Boston.  Our late night DJ moved, took the afternoon slot and I was offered the midnight shift, Monday thru Friday.  Of course, I accepted it and I was now a regular on-air personality.

I usually reported to the station around 8 PM, even though my shifted didn’t start for a few hours.  We all had tasks assigned to us and I also would spend an hour in the music room pulling records for my set.  It was before one of my very first sets that the Music Director came in soon after I arrived and gave me a task.  I was to file several newly arrived albums in the “New” section for airplay.  I went through the albums and came across brand new Bob Seger!  I had not seen nor heard this new one yet, Stranger in Town.  As I filed the others away, I kept the new Seger LP and used it to begin my collection of records for my upcoming show in a few hours.



I relieved the DJ who was finishing and soon I was alone in the studio.  The thing about the midnight shift is that everyone goes home and the on-air DJ is all by themselves for their show.  I cued the new Bob Seger record up and not knowing any of the tracks on it, I picked the first song on the first side, Hollywood Nights.  I had never heard any of these songs before and it was risky for a DJ to play a song they didn’t know, but I took the chance.  After I cued the record to the first song, I placed the turntable in gear and set the corresponding knob to about 8 or 9.  I set the lever back from cue to the upright position.

After the current song had ended, I pushed the lever above the microphone knob to the right and the red “On the Air” light went on over my head as I rotated the knob from 0 to about 8.  It was just me, alone with an unknown number of listeners, as I spoke to them into the microphone.

“I got an amazing treat for all of you… Brand new Bob Seger with the Silver Bullet Band.  It’s so new that I haven’t even heard it yet.  Let us share it for the first time together.”

As I uttered the last sentence, I flipped the lever to the right and the turntable started turning and the song began.  The guitar and the drums kicked in and it was amazing, like a musical orgasm.  I had most definitely but unknowingly picked a winner.  When the song ended, I put the record aside and, when I found a break during a longer song, I took the album to the other studio and set it up to record onto a cassette tape.

The following Saturday afternoon, I lit a joint and played the tape.  The album was amazing with such songs as Hollywood Nights, Still the Same, Old Time Rock and Roll, We’ve Got Tonight, Feel Like a Number and others.  The album would be released the following month in May and would become available in stores.  Old Time Rock and Roll would be used in the movie, Risky Business (1983), featuring Tom Cruise.  Stranger in Town would eventually sell over 6 million copies becoming certified platinum six times!  It climbed all the way to number 4 on the Billboard Charts.

His next album, which came out in 1980, would go all the way to number 1.  The title song, Against the Wind, was actually timely with a major life change of mine.  I had been living a subsistence existence.  I wasn’t making enough money to get anywhere and the prospect for advancement was not great.

“Never worried about paying or even how much I owed.
Moving eight miles a minute for months at a time,
Breaking all of the rules that would bend.
I began to find myself searching;
Searching for shelter again and again…

“Against the wind,
A little something against the wind.
I found myself seeking shelter against the wind.”

The lyrics said it all.  It was fun but I really had no future there.  I finally caved in 1980 and allowed my parents to pay for my college.  I still had dreams of radio but I would never realize them.

I graduated in 1985 with an engineering degree from a university in Illinois.  I realized that I didn’t want to be an engineer and while I was finishing up my degree, I earned my National Registry Emergency Medical Technician.  I went home to New Jersey after graduation and proceeded to piss off the parents once again and get a job in the Emergency Medical Services.  After using my EMT to start working, I began to take classes to become a paramedic.  I officially earned my MICU Paramedic (Mobil Intensive Care Unit) in 1986.  At about this time, Bob Seger came out with his 13th studio album, Like a Rock.  The title track would become a staple theme for Chevy trucks beginning in 1991.

His career would seem to sync up with my life on more occasions to come.  In 1991, while Like a Rock was becoming a Chevy Truck commercial, I lost my father and Bob came out with his 14th studio album, the Fire Inside.  I announced my retirement from EMS at the end of 2005 and in 2006 Bob came out with his 16th studio album, Face the Promise.  On the cover, Bob can be seen riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

This album (see below) came at a time that I was retiring from a second career.  My radio career of a couple of years was rather short lived but my medic career had run a full 20 year course, including the tragedy of September 11, 2001.  I left my house that fateful morning not to return for five days with only the clothes on my back and a couple of personal effects.  I retired with eight citations, including one for valor in 1991.  My father would live long enough to read about the incident in the paper but he did not survive to see the medal ceremony.



I was embarking on a new chapter of my life and this new Bob Seger album in many ways pointed the way.  Seeing him on the cover on his Harley invoked the image of my brother on his.  I began a mundane third career and tried to cope with my PTSD, a parting gift for 20 years of service in “the trenches.”  When my father had retired, he was given a gold watch.  I was given a substance abuse problem and nightmares.

Bob was quiet for twelve years as I coped and tried to get by.  In therapy, my therapist and I decided that I’d get a motorcycle.  This would hopefully give me a means to cope.  All of my brothers had ridden and I had ridden on the back many times, much to my mother’s chagrin.  Why shouldn’t I get one?  In 2014, I took the New Rider Course and got my license, setting the stage for the purchase of my very own Harley-Davidson.  That same year, Bob finally released his next album, his 17th studio album, aptly named from my perspective, Ride Out.  This album has a motorcycle and open road theme to it, its cover (seen below) showing a roadway reminiscent of Easy Rider (1969), mentioned above.  In many ways, Bob and I had come full circle.



DJ Sue’s Vault…




Above is my copy of the record that started it all, Ramblin' Gamblin' Man.  I look at the cover and I’m instantly transported back to that magic day in 1969 were I belted out the title tune, hair flying everywhere, for my brother.

Conclusion…


Bob has been there for me throughout my life, through my high points and low points.  Only sometimes as it was happening did I realize this synchronicity.  Usually, it only hit me during times of contemplative retrospect.  Bob and I have been through a lot together and now I wonder how much more there is for us to share.  This year (2017) Bob released Glenn Song, a tribute to his good friend, Glenn Frey, on the one year anniversary of his death.

I have never seen Bob in concert and maybe I should fix this.  Maybe I owe him that in thanks, buy a ticket and thank him (from a distance) in person.  Thanks Bob!

Join me Sunday night (AWT 7-9 PM slt) as I relive all of these memories.  Every song mentioned above is on my set list.  I’m sure, whether you are a Bob Seger fan or not that you will enjoy this one.  You will find yourself saying, “Hey, I know this one,” often.  Pretty much every tune will be high energy and get you dancing in your seat.

Today I have let you into my life in a way I have never before.  I’ve known many of you for so long that I wanted you to know what made me tick.  Much of this many of you already knew.  Now I have strung it together as a cohesive whole.  I love you all.

Recent picture of Bob Seger

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

DJ Sue’s Theme and Upcoming Sojourns



SUE’S SUNDAY SOJOURN: Each week Sue will showcase a particular artist or band during her entire two hour set.  Each week, prior to the set, there will be a blog post where she will write about her memories, favorite stories or share other interesting tidbits about the artist.  The idea here is not to tell the story of the band or play two hours of their greatest hits.  The idea behind Sue’s Sunday Sojourn will be to spend time with Sue, down in her music vault.  As she puts together the set, she will reminisce and share special memories.  “I remember when this came out,” or, “I recall hearing this for the first time and I thought…”  She might share little known facts, favorite memories, fun stories or maybe even some personal experiences. 

The sets will have plenty of the big hits but be ready for a few obscure tunes that may be her personal favorites.  She will probably include a few rarities or possibly unreleased material, along with other assorted curios.  So join her every Sunday night from 7-9 PM SLT as she lets you into her world.

DJ Sue’s Theme and Upcoming Sojourns

This Sunday, April 23rd, I will be out of town visiting family so there will be no Sojourn this week.  Sue’s Sunday Sojourn will return on April 30th, 7:00-9:00 PM slt, with Bob Seger.

Even though there is no Sojourn, I wanted to give you a “take away” so let me tell you about DJ Sue’s Theme and why I picked it.  The song is My Sweetheart by the Dutch band, Focus.  It is the next to last song on their 1975 album, Mother Focus.  (See below)



I religiously listened to WPLJ (95.5 FM) through the ‘70’s, which was an Album Oriented Rock (AOR) station in New York City.  This is where I got my daily dose of Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Jethro Tull and many more.  I loved listening to the DJ’s and remember them all fondly, Tony Pigg, Jim Kerr, Pat St. John, Jimmy Fink and of course, Carol Miller.

I’d be lying if I said that Carol Miller had no influence on my decision to go into radio.  In 2013 she published her autobiography, Up AllNight: My Life and Times in Rock Radio.  In it she describes when she was young and listening to the radio and the radio personalities of the day.  She would sit alone, listening to them and felt somehow that they were her friends.  It was not unlike the feeling I would get listening to her at night when I was a teen.  If you ever read this, Carol, you were my friend too.



Back then, My Sweetheart became WPLJ’s official theme.  It was unique and that obscure rock tune became a well-known piece to New York radio listeners, though few could identify it.  I would put it on a mix or party tape and people would instantly recognize it and ask me what it was.  Below is a TV spot for WPLJ from the 70’s using the tune.



Early on in Second Life, I was coached by a few DJ’s in world and I noted that several used “theme songs.”  Some kicked off with them and some ended with them.  The type of music I wanted to play was just what I used to hear on WPLJ so I decided to choose My Sweetheart as my theme.  I honestly expected the occasional, “Oh my God!  The WPLJ theme,” but it has never happened.

That is the story of DJ Sue’s Theme and where I stole the idea from.  At the very bottom of the page is a YouTube link to hear My Sweetheart by Focus.

Sue’s Sunday Sojourn and the Future…


Here is the schedule for the upcoming Sojourns:

April 30 - Bob Seger
May 7 – Blue Oyster Cult
May 14 – Crosby, Stills & Nash
May 21 – Phil Ochs

I have decided to end the series there for several reasons.  First of all, It takes between six and eight hours to put each together from preparing the song list to writing the post, collecting and editing graphics and even creating special mp3’s.  It has not yet become a chore but if I continue, I fear that it might.  I want to go out on top.

Also, the final one, Phil Ochs, was actually written back in February.  I realized that after I wrote it that it would need to be the last one.  I could not continue after it so I put it away and saved it.  In fact, it changed my MO and how I wrote the ones after.  They have been written to lead up to this finale.

This doesn’t mean that every once in a long while that I may not do a lone Sojourn.  I may even include more than just bands.  When I did the Beatles one recently, I thought a future bit in backmasking in general, not restricted to just the Beatles, might make a fun future Sojourn.

I’m not going anywhere, so don’t worry.  I will continue the blog and doing special sets well into the future.

DJ Sue's first Second Life graphic from the Spring of 2010

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

The Beatles (Backwards and Forward)



SUE’S SUNDAY SOJOURN: Each week Sue will showcase a particular artist or band during her entire two hour set.  Each week, prior to the set, there will be a blog post where she will write about her memories, favorite stories or share other interesting tidbits about the artist.  The idea here is not to tell the story of the band or play two hours of their greatest hits.  The idea behind Sue’s Sunday Sojourn will be to spend time with Sue, down in her music vault.  As she puts together the set, she will reminisce and share special memories.  “I remember when this came out,” or, “I recall hearing this for the first time and I thought…”  She might share little known facts, favorite memories, fun stories or maybe even some personal experiences. 

The sets will have plenty of the big hits but be ready for a few obscure tunes that may be her personal favorites.  She will probably include a few rarities or possibly unreleased material, along with other assorted curios.  So join her every Sunday night from 7-9 PM SLT as she lets you into her world.

The Beatles




Gosh! Entire books have been written on the Beatles and many would argue that they don’t even begin to scratch the surface.  So, how do I cover them in a single blog post?  I don’t.  But I will share some memories and cover a few interesting subjects like the “Paul is dead” rumor along with backmasking and secret messages.

I was a little kid when the Beatles came to America in February 1964.  I don’t recall seeing them on the Sullivan show per se, but I’m sure I did as my family watched it every Sunday night religiously.  However, the following year the Beatles had a cartoon series that aired every Saturday morning.  This I fondly recall watching every week.  It wasn’t their voices but each cartoon ended with a real Beatles song.  Below is an episode.



Beatles fans were unlike any other either before or since.  First off, the fan base gave each Beatle a nickname as follows.  John was the “Smart One,” Paul was the “Cute One,” George was the “Quiet One” and Ringo was the “Funny One.”  I recall seeing Ringo occasionally being referred to as the “Sad One,” but that wasn’t really common.

You also weren’t a true Beatles fan unless you had a favorite Beatle.  Fans would always be asking each other, “Which is your favorite.”  For the record, my favorite Beatle was (and still is) George.  My favorite Beatles song is Here Comes the Sun, written and sung by my favorite Beatle, the Quiet One, George Harrison.

It was the Beatles who really created the concept of marketing all sorts of merchandise to fans.  There were the typical tee shirts and lunchboxes but there was so much more, many of them seemed as ridiculous back then as they do today.  Things like Beatles shampoo, Beatles gum, Beatles dresses, even Beatles record players.  What else would you play your Beatles records on?  There was actually a Beatles board game called “Flip Your Wig” too.

Beatles Shampoo...  Believe it or not!


Then there were the movies, each one a fun farcical romp and escape from reality.  They never lasted more than 90 minutes but as fans we watched each as it was released.  Both the Yellow Submarine and the Magical Mystery Tour are better watched when stoned.  (Don’t ask me how I know this.)

In 1966, John Lennon found himself in a bit of hot water when it was widely reported that he had told a reporter that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.”  There were several versions but it was taken totally out of context.  The original quote was reported by Journalist, Maureen Cleave, in an article in the London Evening Standard.  Let me quote the entire paragraph, which has been seldom ever done.

“Experience has sown few seeds of doubt in him: not that his mind is closed, but it's closed round whatever he believes at the time. ‘Christianity will go,’ he said. ‘It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first -- rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.’ He is reading extensively about religion.”

While he did say it, when you read the entire paragraph, it’s not quite the shocking quote the press used to sell papers and magazines.  Either way, it was out there and soon fans could be seen burning Beatles’ records in big bonfires.  Furthermore, my mom started getting on my case. “You’re not listening to those sacrilegious Beatles anymore, are you?”  Or maybe she’d ask, “Do you have any Beatles records?”  It eventually blew over, but it was damn inconvenient for a prepubescent kid living at home.

In 1968, I got my copy of The Beatles, a double album usually referred to as the “White Album.”  This was a clandestine purchase since mom still thought that they were sacrilegious heathens and they, along with anyone who listened to their music, were destined to burn in Hell.  A couple of years later, I got brave and hung the four portraits (shown below) that came with the album on my bedroom wall.  I don’t think she ever put together who those four men were so prominently displayed in my room.  Those four pictures followed me to college and many moves until they finally fell apart.



It was in 1969 that rumors began to spread that Paul McCartney had died in a car accident and instead of risking damage to the Beatle Gravy Train, the record company decided to replace him with a double and move forward.  Rumor led to full blown conspiracy theory, which took on a mind of its own.  I could sort through the details of who said what in which paper but in the end it doesn’t really matter.  After it started, fans began looking for clues that Paul was dead both on the records and their jackets.  Would a corporate conspiracy really publish clues all over the place?



The car accident supposedly took place in 1966, about the same time as the Beatles were being bigger than God or Jesus.  The clues are first seen on the Sgt. Pepper album of 1967.  It is a fact that the cover, seen above, depicts a funeral scene complete with flower arrangements and mourners.  The four Beatles shown as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band stand next to their younger selves.  These younger Beatles appear to be mourning and it has always been assumed they were mourning their old selves.  After all, they weren’t the same band anymore.



Clue hunters first focused on the yellow flower arrangement in the shape of a guitar (blow-up #1 above).  If it is looked at from the perspective of where the Beatles are standing, the neck points to their right, like it would for someone playing it left handed.  It also has only four strings, making it a bass.  Paul was the only left handed Beatle and played the bass.  Blow-up #2 shows a detail on the far right of the album cover.  Many see this as a model car plunging off of a cliff on fire.  Remember, Paul supposedly died in a car accident.  Finally, the guy standing behind Paul (blow-up #3) has his hand raised over Paul’s head.  I’ve heard all sorts of interpretations for this from it being a sign of someone who has passed, to a blessing, even a depiction of a halo, proving Paul is in Heaven.  Let us next open up the gatefold album jacket to see the picture below.



The patch on Paul’s arm is somewhat obscured by wrinkles but many clue hunters saw the initials as “O.P.D.”  This almost had to stand for “officially pronounced dead.”  What else can it stand for?  It is a real patch and it is shown next to blow-up #4 below.  It is actually the patch of the Ontario Provincial Police.  Maybe it should stand for, “officially pronounced /pȯl/,” the phonetic pronunciation of his name.

Blow-up #4 and the original patch


The final clue can be found on the back of the album, shown below.  Paul is standing back to the camera, shown below.



The next cover we must look to in order to find clues of Paul’s premature demise is Abbey Road.  This album came out the year that the rumor started, 1969.  Clue hunters will tell you that the picture on the front (shown below) again depicts a funeral.  John symbolizes angels and heaven dressed in white.  Ringo is dressed like a funeral director and George, in denim, is the grave digger.  Paul is obviously dressed as if he is being laid out, complete with bare feet.  In his hand is a final cigarette before he moves on to the next world.  He is also out of step with the other three.  They all have their left foot forward; Paul has his right.



Finally, if you look closely at the license plate on the Volkswagen, the second line of print reads, “28IF.” (See blow-up #5 below.)  That supposedly stands for, “IF Paul was alive, he’d be 28 years old.”  The fact is that when Abbey Road came out, Paul was 29 years old, not 28.

Blow-up #5


There were also clues to be found in the music itself.  At the end of Strawberry Fields Forever, off of the Magical Mystery Tour (1967), John mumbles what is supposed to be the words, “cranberry sauce.”  The clue hunters say he is saying, “I buried Paul.”

The clue hunters still weren’t satisfied so they began playing Beatles records backwards looking for further clues and of course they found them.  On the White Album (1968) there is a song, Revolution 9.  The entire song in an avant-garde discordant cacophony of music, sound and words, and some of the music is backmasked, recorded onto the record backwards.  (More on backmasking later.)  All of the words are recorded forward with none of them backwards.  The song opens with John Lennon repeatedly saying, “Number 9…  Number 9…  Number 9…”  It is clean, distinct and with no mumbling or slurring of the words.  When played backwards, it does sound remarkably close to, “Turn me on dead man…  Turn me on dead man…  Turn me on dead man…”  It is just unnatural enough to leave no doubt that it is just a coincidence and not an intentionally backmasked vocal track.

There is another song off of this album that holds a supposed backwards message, I’m So Tired.  At the end is a bit of mumbling that when played backwards (maybe after smoking a joint) some say sounds like, “Paul is a dead man. Miss him. Miss him. Miss him.”  I’ll play all of these songs during my show Sunday night.  When I get to the parts in question, I’ll play them backwards and forwards a few times so you can hear.  I’ll only play the first bit of Revolution 9 backwards and forwards and not the whole song.  I really have no desire to submit you or myself to over eight minutes of torture.

Both of these examples are coincidental and were not put their intentionally.  There is an unnaturalness to speech played backwards that is present in the above examples when they are played backwards.  When played forward, even the mumbling, does not possess that unnaturalness.  I must point out however, that members of the DJ Maya Fan Club have found that if you play a portion of the refrain backwards from We Are Family, by Sister Sledge, it states, “Ashra Lang is Maya’s and Sue’s lovechild, really she is, really, really, really.”

Backmasking…


Unlike the coincidental messages I spoke of above, backmasking is intentional.  Lyrics, music or speech is recorded and then added to the song in the studio backwards.  The speech has that unnaturalness when the song is played forward but when it is played backwards becomes clear, intelligible speech.  The Beatles were the first major artists to experiment with this.

I’ve already mentioned that Revolution 9 had backmasked instrumentation alongside forward instrumentation and voice.  This was like many of their efforts, which usually only involved music and never voice when backmasking, with one exception below.

The first album on which they experimented with backmasking was Revolver (1966), which just happens to be my favorite Beatles album.  (Remember, an important part of Beatles fandom was sharing all of your “favorites.”)  The first song they did this on is the only time they did it to lyrics.  The song, Rain, is a fun song and one I like very much.  At the end, you can hear some lyrics that clearly have that unnatural backwards sound.  When you play the song backwards from the end the music then has that unnatural sound but the lyrics can be heard clearly heard.  They are taken from the regular portion of the song and here’s the kicker.  Even though the music is distorted backwards, the lyrics still musically fit.  The Beatles are showing off the fact that the song is a sort of musical palindrome.  When I play this song on Sunday, I’ll play the end backwards and forwards a few times so you can hear this.

The other song from that album to feature backmasking is my second favorite Beatles tune, Tomorrow Never Knows.  This is a psychedelic journey with both forward and backwards instrumentation.  This song was my favorite Beatles song to listen to high.   I won’t play this one backwards and forwards since no lyrics are backwards.

There is one other song that I feel is worth mentioning here and it is off Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).  The song, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, was partially constructed using recordings of steam calliope.  These were cut into short sections and literally tossed into the air to mix them up.  They were then spliced together into whatever random order.  While not backmasking per se, some were spliced into the mix backwards and this was all random.  I will play this song during my show Sunday night along with all the others I’ve mentioned in this post.



Fun Fact…




In 1986, the B-52’s on the album, Bouncing off the Satellites, hid a backmasked message at the end of the song, Detour Thru Your Mind.  The song ends with that familiar unnaturalness of backwards speech.  When played backwards from the end, lead singer, Fred Schneider, can be heard saying, "I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you're playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle."  This was an obvious joking stab at the whole subject of backwards messages.



DJ Sue’s Vault…






Pictured above is a rather rare Beatles bootleg record containing never released material and other items, like a couple of official hard to get Fan Club releases.  I obtained it sometime in the 70’s.



Conclusion…




Most people believe that the Beatles broke up on 10 April 1970 (47 years ago today!), the day that Paul publicly announce he had quit the band and a month before the album, Let It Be, was released.  What most people don’t know is that John had left the band after the completion of the Abbey Road sessions back in August 1969.  This was kept secret in order to not affect sales of their upcoming release of Abbey Road.  What is also mostly unknown is that Let It Be (1970), their last album released, was actually recorded in 1968.  It was after the release of Let It Be that John was going to announce his departure but Paul beat him to the punch.  Most people think the Beatles remain intact until their last album was finished in what they thought was 1970.  The true timetable would remain secret for some time and is today still known only to the most diehard of Beatles experts.



While the Beatles were no longer recording, the band hadn’t dissolved and remained a band until 29 December 1974, almost five years later.  This was the date when the final lawsuit was settled and the dissolution of the Beatles made final. This has also remained a relatively unknown fact.



Regardless of which Beatle is your favorite, join me at AWT Sunday Night as I take you on a Magical Mystery Tour through time with the Beatles from 7-9 PM SL time.

A picture from their final photo shoot together in 1969.




“Stig, meanwhile, had hidden in the background so much that in 1969, a rumor went around that he was dead. He was supposed to have been killed in a flash fire at a waterbed shop and replaced by a plastic and wax replica from Madame Tusseaud's. Several so-called "facts" helped the emergence of this rumor. One: he never said anything publicly. Even as the "quiet one," he'd not said a word since 1966. Two: on the cover of their latest album, "Shabby Road," he is wearing no trousers, an Italian way of indicating death. Three: Nasty supposedly sings "I buried Stig" on "I Am The Waitress." In fact, he sings, "E burres stigano," which is very bad Spanish for "Have you a water buffalo?" Four: On the cover of the "Sergeant Rutter" album, Stig is leaning in the exact position of a dying Yeti, from the Rutland Book of the Dead. Five: If you sing the title of "Sergeant Rutter's Only Darts Club Band" backwards, it's supposed to sound very like "Stig has been dead for ages, honestly." In fact, it sounds uncannily like "Dnab Bulc Ylno S'rettur Tnaegres." Palpable nonsense.”



From the movie, The Ruttles [a Beatles parody] (1978)