Paul McCartney

What happened to the supermodels of the 1990s?

14 October 2023 9:00 am

‘What advice would you give to your younger self?’ has become a popular question in interviews in recent years. It’s…

James Bond and the Beatles at war for Britain’s soul

17 September 2022 9:00 am

‘Better use your sense,’ advised Bob Dylan: ‘take what you have gathered from coincidence.’ John Higgs is a master of…

Glastonbury has become a singalong event for OAPs

2 July 2022 9:00 am

‘Well, it’s just not Glastonbury, is it?’ said my daughter aggressively, when told that our yurt featured an actual bed,…

Old rockers with a Peter Pan syndrome

28 May 2022 9:00 am

What do the following individuals have in common: a political activist from Suffolk; a chartered psychologist from Oxfordshire, who enjoys…

More mesmerising than it should be – Disney+'s The Beatles: Get Back reviewed

4 December 2021 9:00 am

My late friend Alexander Nekrassov loathed the Beatles, which I used to think was a wantonly contrary position akin to…

Why the mid-1960s was the golden age of pop music

4 December 2021 9:00 am

On a Monday evening in May 1966, Paul McCartney and John Lennon visited a nightclub called Dolly’s in Jermyn Street.…

It's amazing how little insight Paul McCartney has into the Beatles' genius

27 November 2021 9:00 am

The Paul people are out in force these days. A New Yorker profile, a book and a new documentary have…

As pretty as anything he’s written in four decades: McCartney III reviewed

23 January 2021 9:00 am

Grade: A-   The greatest songwriter of the 20th century, or just one of the top two or three? Who…

The Beatles perform in Liverpool prior to signing their first recording contract: George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and original drummer Pete Best. Photo: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

The greatest Beatle? Pete Best

30 March 2019 9:00 am

Which of the Beatles would you most like to have been? Not either of the dead ones, presumably. Nor the…

The Heckler: love your music, Macca, just not sure about you

7 May 2016 9:00 am

It’s slightly galling, after years of sticking up for Paul McCartney, to read a new biography of the bloke and…

If you want to know how music really works listen to Classic FM not Radio 3

7 May 2016 9:00 am

He’s been billed as the new Pied Piper but it’s going to take a while for Tom Service to quite…

David Bowie once praised Hitler… but he was always changing his tune

16 January 2016 9:00 am

I was desperately worried that you hadn’t read or heard enough platitudinous drivel about David Bowie — and therefore felt…

Meet Feng Shang Princess, the (lousy) Chinese restaurant in a boat

9 January 2016 9:00 am

The Feng Shang Princess is a floating Chinese restaurant on the Regent’s Canal in north London, which flows from Little…

Why I’m stepping down after 28 years as The Spectator pop critic

10 October 2015 9:00 am

Pop's place in culture has changed drastically. Marcus Berkmann explains why, after 27 years, it is time to step down as The Spectator's pop critic

Beat generation: the indispensable Ringo Starr in 1964

Ringo's no joke. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him

4 July 2015 9:00 am

Ringo’s no joke, says James Woodall. He was a genius and the Beatles were lucky to have him 

Do your patriotic duty and shoot wild boar

17 January 2015 9:00 am

It’s 15 years since I first wrote an article about the threat to the nation of the wild boar; but…

Why do we care about the mutts from Manchester and not the chickens from KFC?

27 September 2014 9:00 am

Our attitude to animals and their suffering is bonkers

And the prize for most fatuous awards ceremony goes to...

15 February 2014 9:00 am

Awards ceremonies grow ever sillier and more self-important

All I want next Christmas is new Christmas songs 

11 January 2014 9:00 am

Three months until spring. Four months until the start of the cricket season. And only nine months until the radio…