Dirty Laundry

Beatles Remastered, Beatles Remembered, Beatles Re-magnificent!!!!

All right, get your licks in. That’s a horrible title for a blog. Absolutely cheesy. Yes, I can hear the throngs shouting in my ear. But it’s what came to me on the spur. Not every piece of hay can be spun into gold. I’m sorry…

Now, onto the blog:

They don’t call me Don “Late to the Party” Calame for nothing. Well, “they” don’t really call me that but they would if they had any sense. Yes, I’m several months too late with my review of the Beatles Remastered CDs (and I can’t wait to hear what my publisher has to say about my new vampire novel) but I figured since I don’t have any entries in my music section (I was being very optimistic with all my wonderful Dirty Laundry categories. Like I had all these great things to say about Movies, and Music, and Hockey, and Nonsense, and everything else on this great big planet we call Earth, when, really I barely have time to write these rambling meanderings. Okay, I’m just vamping here - in fact, put that on my tombstone: “He vamped” - no, wait, I take that back. That might be misconstrued. Let me come up with something less open for interpretation. Don’t you just love parentheticals? You can write whatever you want inside these little swoops and it doesn’t have to have anything to do with what you were writing at first because it’s all just an aside and… What? Okay, I’ll get on with it) I figured that I’d make this my very first “Music” blog.

My wife and stepson like to tease me (or, at least, I think (hope?) it’s teasing) that The Beatles are overrated. They have a good laugh over it because they know it will irritate me. And even though I know they are joking, it still gets under my skin. Like The Beatles could ever be overrated. That’s like saying the letter A is overrated. It’s not overrated. It’s perhaps the best letter in the alphabet. Alphabet even starts with it for goodness sakes. Not to mention that it’s the very first letter of the actual alphabet. It’s number one. It’s the only letter that can chant that at a sporting event and be completely sure that it’s indisputable.

Okay, now I’m just getting silly. But that’s because I can’t believe just how amazing The Beatles Remastered CDs sound (how did you like that segue? Pretty skillful, huh? Yup, I make a living at this writing thing. Gives you hope, doesn’t it?)

If you are a Beatles fan, these CDs are a no brainer. And if you are not a Beatles fan, then these CDs are still a no brainer. Because, like Darth Vader in Star Wars, they will turn you (Wait, I can’t be the only one, right? Dark Side fan? No? Cooler outfits? Better light sabers? More interesting parties?) Strap on a pair of headphones, plug the headphones into your CD player or computer, pop a Beatles remastered CD (with the old 1987 CDs nearby for comparison), turn up the volume (but not too loud, because, your ears and all), press Play, and sit back for the next three and a half days and listen. The 1987 CDs actually don’t sound that bad. But the remasters? It’s like putting on 3D glasses during Avatar, it’s like cleaning the dust off your computer screen (you’re allowed to do that, yes), it’s like adding salt to your food.

The music is that much more vibrant. Clear. Amazing. Christmas was good to me this year. Well, my family was good to me this Christmas. And that’s because I am thirteen Beatles’ albums richer. And even though thirteen is an unlucky number in some circles, in this case thirteen is the luckiest number of all.

Thank you, and goodnight (or good morning, or good afternoon, because, really, I don’t know when you’re reading this. Or IF you’re reading this. Well, I guess if you just read that then… anyway…)

Posted by Don Calame on 1.24.10 at 09:42 pm in Music. (1) Comments