Kieran.Stories

I had a fairly not-fab end to 2025.

In terms of The Beatles, I’m in a fallow period. I’m emptying my head of those Beatle idioms and anecdotes. I never stop loving the songs but I often find the discourse overwhelming. The announcements surrounding Sam Mendes’ quartet of films did it for me. I was intrigued to hear what my favourite Beatle people would say about the films, on podcasts and the like, but the films started to feel so daunting. There they are, on the horizon: four massive films. Hot Paul Summer. Digitally aged Harris Dickinson outside the Dakota. Digitally aged Paul Mescal telling everyone ‘it’s a drag’.

I did enjoy the latest (I hope not last) series of Your Own Personal Beatles by Robin Allender and Jack Pelling. It was their most un-Beatle series yet, although the podcast has always used The Beatles as an anchor to discuss music in general. In this series I was particularly drawn to the Pick a Song section in which the pair pick apart a Beatles or solo Beatle track. Jack gets quite technical with the music, while Robin often takes the discussion into a more abstract place. Sometimes that dynamic flips. What’s clear is that, musically, they both know their (glass) onions. They disagree frequently on what works and what doesn’t in a song, which is refreshing. The best episode this series, in my opinion, was Ruth Husko’s. Jack’s brief but powerful Tom Jones impression was worth the price of admission alone. What’s this, Scotch mist?

Their Christmas special with Joe Wisbey got me through a sleepless Christmas Eve night, which I spent worrying about January. That’s what podcasts do at their best: the voice in your ear, engaging you without asking anything of you.

I wrote a post last year on the podcast’s controversial Beatles opinions, which you can read here. There weren’t as many this series, but I wanted to collect my favourites below. It’s still a great podcast and I’d recommend you give it a listen, Beatleheads. KBO.

David Bazan AKA Pedro the Lion

[Rubber Soul] sounds like the 50s, whereas Revolver sounds like the 60s to me.

Ollie Judge

I think I prefer the Guns N’ Roses version of ‘Live and Let Die’.

Mark Brown

I actually think she’s (Linda McCartney) a beautiful singer.

Ruth Husko

Ringo is really fit.

Elly Tindall

My least favourite [Beatle] song… is ‘Hey Jude’.

Phil Wang

[On Sgt. Pepper’s…] The album is annoying, the song is annoying, the album cover is annoying. The aesthetic is annoying.

Tom Sheehan

The horns on ‘Got to Get You into My Life’ are too Billy Cotton Band Show.