‘People get fiercely protective about their personal Beatles…’
We’ve all gone a little mad in lockdown I think. One friend of mine keeps buying hats. Another is learning the harmonica. One acquaintance found himself weeping in the bathtub after buying a faulty exercise bike. OK, so full disclosure, all of the above are actually me, but another way I have gone mad is a rekindled obsession with the Beatles. After initially becoming enamoured in my teenage years, my love for all things fab four had cooled over the years but Jack Pelling and Robin Allender’s excellent podcast brought that long forgotten passion roaring back to the extent that I am currently working through every Beatles solo album as well as all ten hours of the Anthology series documentaries. It’s been a wild few weeks…
Your Own Personal Beatles sees the assured hosts inviting a series of comedians to discuss their own personal relationship with the greatest band of all time. Guests such as Elis James, Josh Widdicombe and Jon Ronson reveal surprisingly poignant relationships and origin stories for their love of the Beatles, and elsewhere, John Robins delivers some of the worst Beatles takes ever recorded, so there’s that too.
I always thought I was a pretty big Beatles fan, with a pretty extensive knowledge too, but this podcast made me realise there is so much more to discover about John, Paul, George and Ringo, and there has never been a better time to plunge headfirst into the world of walruses, diamonds and strawberry fields than now.
It often feels slightly corny to suggest that that song got me through a breakup or Mario Kart allowed me to cope with the death of a beloved family pet, but this podcast, and the passion that it reignited for a band once so close to my heart, has genuinely got me through lockdown number three. I guess this missive is my own personal Beatles…