Talk:The Beatles' Decca audition

Total rubbish

total rubbish at the moment unfortunately. I've never seen so many tags at the top of the article, but each of them (and more besides) is spot on. Most obvious of all, it doesn't actually seem to say anything about the actual auditions. Should be drastically contracted and merged with History of the Beatles. Badgerpatrol 02:49, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Personal Experience

I met Dick Rowe briefly in about 1981. The version he told me was that he had gone to Liverpool to follow up on a recent visit by his assistant. He had gone to see two bands in the same night: The Beatles and The Tremeloes. He knew before he arrived that he could only sign one group. He thought that the Tremeloes gig had more of a buzz so went for them. He also showed me an unpublished manuscript of an autobiography, 'The man who turned down the Beatles'. With luck this manuscript may come to light one day. Ianerc 16 August 2006

official release?

the article states "The remaining ten songs from the Decca audition have never been officially released, although they have frequently surfaced on grey market and bootleg releases." however, this looks like an official release. is it? isn't it? Kingturtle = (talk) 04:47, 22 May 2012 (UTC)

Also this looks like official release. --juhtolv (talk) 19:27, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

I think that recordings of Decca Audition (and all other pre-1963 recordings such as 'Love Me Do' single) are now in Public Domain in EU because copyright protection for this tracks had expired. Therefore all new European releases of this material are legal (but not official because they are not approved by EMI and survived members of The Beatles). Unfortunally I can't find any sourses that can prove that I am right or wrong on this topic. Clearly this problem needs more research. (sorry for my probably bad English - I'm the Beatles fan from Russia) 2.60.176.164 (talk) 10:36, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

who turned the Beatles down at Decca?

Back in the 80s I met a guy called SHULMAN LIVESEY who is an accountant, born 1927.

He claimed that he was on the Decca Board and when the discussion was held which group to sign, the music directors votes were split 50/50. So the accountant was asked for his opinion and purely on business criteria his deciding vote went against the Beatles. He emphasised that he himself was not knowledgeable in pop music to take such a decision but that he solely made up his mind on the business advice provided by the other board members.

Now this may just have been some silly ploy to impress me and get my attention, on the other hand, SHULMAN LIVESEY is an accountant and a successful business man.

If somebody could confirm whether he was with the Decca Corporation in 1962, then I would say that this story be most likely true — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.114.144.16 (talk) 06:02, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Rejected Beatles Demo Tape Up for Auction

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rejected-beatles-demo-tape-up-for-auction-20121123

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/the-beatles/9695499/Rejected-Beatles-audition-tape-discovered.html

50.0.12.196 (talk) 01:03, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Lewisohn biography

Mark Lewisohn's recent biography puts the Decca audition into a slightly different light; he points out that it didn't make business sense to turn down the Beatles - the recording and pressing charges were all internal and the (miniscule) royalties were paid in arrears. It's been calculated that taking Brian Epstein out to dinner to tell him they weren't going to sign the band cost more than signing the band. Lewisohn has a theory that Epstein essentially turned down Decca; he didn't like the attitude of the producer or company and thought the band deserved better.

Apepper (talk) 18:20, 18 October 2014 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:The Beatles' Decca audition/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

This article has templates plastered all over it suggesting it needs cleaned up etc! It certainly needs a lot of work: sources, sections, possibly a photo of the old Decca logo of the time. It needs merged in any case, probably with History of The Beatles.--Mal (9 March 2006)

Substituted at 18:38, 17 July 2016 (UTC)

Sheik?

Question: Did the Beatles title their song "Sheik of Araby" despite Sheikh being the standard Romanization of شَيْخ Elmeter (talk) 17:56, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

Rutles Brian Thigh scene that was broadcast on NBC

The article cites the Rutles' All You Need Is Cash scene where Dan Aykroyd plays Brian Thigh, the record executive who turned down the Rutles. The version of the scene cited is from the "current" version of the movie that normally plays on the DVD release, and that is shown when the movie is now aired. However, a different version of that scene was used when the movie originally aired on NBC. This other version is available on the DVD as an "Easter Egg": in the second page of the DVD's chapter menu (the page with the Brian Thigh chapter), the legend "Let It Rot" above the main six chapters listed is a link to the NBC version of the scene. In this version, Brian Thigh coughs a lot more as the interviewer asks him questions. Most significantly, the final "point blank" question is different, precipitating this exchange:

Interviewer: What's it like to be such a jerk?

   Thigh: What?

Interviewer: Does it bother you being such a nerd?

   Thigh: Come on, come on, you can't call me that.

Interviewer: Does it concern you that people say that you're a twat?

   Thigh: Here now, come on.

Interviewer: A pillock? A berk? A man who has the brains of a duck, the business sense of a cretin, and the ideas of an idiot of three? [years old]

As the interviewer completes that line, Thigh gets up, and walks out of the picture.

Interviewer (as Thigh departs): Does it concern you that you have no business sense whatsoever? (with Thigh having left, turning to the camera) Brian Thigh, the man who—(offscreen sound of gunshot and thud)...who...turned down the Rutles.

Finally, the interviewer gets up to follow where Thigh left the picture, presumably to find Thigh fallen dead. 2601:541:880:38C0:B5E6:9E4A:6155:1979 (talk) 11:11, 3 August 2024 (UTC)