The Bridge with Peter Mansbridge - Rethinking The Beatles Almost 60 Years Later

Episode Date: December 7, 2021

This is fun. The new documentary made from archival film by director Peter Jackson about the Beatles just months before their breakup is rich in content.  How rich?  George Stroumboulopoulos is our guest in this really fascinating interview about the "fab four".

And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You are just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. We've got something special for you today, and we'll get to it right after this. So in your neighborhood, do you have an auction house? And when I say neighborhood, I mean in your kind of community or close to your community. They seem to be springing up all over the place now. And most of them are online, given the nature of our world these days. And because they're online, it doesn't really matter where they are. You can still bid.

And if you're successful, you just have to figure out how to get it from wherever the location of the auction is to your house. Well, I spend perhaps more time than I should looking at all the things that are available at different auction houses. And every once in a while, I say, hey, man, I'd like that. And then I think, well, yeah, but do I actually need that? And the answer is almost always no. But every once in a while I get tempted, and I'll make a bid online, and then I'll watch. Usually with these things, the online auctions,

they go online about, I don't know, five, six days before the actual final moment of the auction. So it starts off really slow when you figure, wow, I can get a real bargain. Look at that. I can buy a sofa for a buck. I don't need a sofa, but it's only a dollar. Of course, by the time it gets to the crunch, it's gone up.

It's a couple hundred dollars or $300 or whatever. So first of all, you've got to get used to that. Don't get fooled by the opening bids on things. But there I was. I guess it was just last week or maybe two weeks ago. I was flipping through one of the local auction lists of the various things for sale. And there's always,

you know, like a couple of hundred things. So it's, it's a good way to spend an hour looking at dishes you don't need or silverware or what have you. Anyway, suddenly I come across this thing, 10 Beatles album. dishes you don't need or silverware or what have you. Anyway, suddenly I come across this thing, 10 Beatles album, a buck. And they have them, they have pictures.

And there you have, sure enough, those are the actual albums from back in the 60s. You know, Revolver, My favorite, Meet the Beatles. That was, I think, the very first one. That was the one with the, it was kind of a black cover and just their faces, the four of them, three on top and one on the side.

And we used to sit in Billy Sheffield's basement back in Glebe and listen to the Beatles. Martin McDonald, Billy Sheffield's basement back in Glebe and listen to the Beatles, Martin McDonald, Billy Sheffield, all these friends of mine from high school. We'd listen. I can remember in 19, it was probably around November of 1963,

which was a big month. It was JFK assassination, but it was either November or early December of 63 that Billy Sheffield said, you got to listen to these guys. They're huge in England and they're going to be huge here. And sure enough, we'd listen to that album. We'd listen to it over and over and over again.

And then it was only a couple of months later that the Beatles arrived in North America and they played on the Ed Sullivan Show two Sunday nights in a row. And it was huge. Everything was big. And they took off. And everything was about the Beatles

for the next few years. And it was one big album after another. And 10 of them were for sale on this auction bid. For a buck was the opening. So, of course, I went right in there. I thought, oh, I bid them all. I bid five bucks. That didn't last long.

Anyway, I checked today to see what they actually ended up selling for, and it wasn't really that much. $90. Now, I don't know what condition those albums are in. Maybe they're in terrible condition, but the covers looked okay, and you could probably make something out of that if you were so inclined. So that's the backdrop for what I want to talk about today. I don't know whether you were a Beatles fan.

I don't know whether you were kind of my age, so you lived through the 60s, whether it was such a dominant part of everything that happened in that decade, or whether you are much younger but still influenced by the Beatles. As many bands, even today, are influenced by what happened back then.

Well, if you are any of those things, you've probably been tempted to watch, if you are any of those things, you've probably been tempted to watch, if you have the streaming service, I think it's Disney+, if you have that streaming service, to watch the new Peter Jackson directed documentary. It's almost eight hours long. Three parts.

Of the Beatles in 1970 when they sat down to make an album. They had this studio for like two weeks before they were going to do a live show. And it was supposed to be all

new music. So they had to create a dozen or so new songs. And some of the most biggest hits they ever had were created during those dozen days. And this film, much of it's been kind of hidden away in the archives somewhere. Most of it having never been seen before except by a few people.

And it is a film that tells the story of how those songs were made. Basically by just letting the film roll through all the hits and misses, through the different versions of songs that are so familiar to us today. You know, like Get Back and Let It Be and a whole bunch of them. So, obviously, I found it fascinating, this film. There are parts, long stretches, where it seems there's nothing really

happening here. They're just kind of sitting around, Ringo tapping on the cymbals, the high hat, Paul and John sort of being Paul and John, George being not too happy about a number of things. Keep in mind, this was all taken literally months before they broke up. So as I said, I don't know whether you've witnessed this. I don't know whether you've watched it. But obviously, I would highly recommend it.

But I wanted to get a different sense. I wanted to get a different take. I wanted to kind of get an understanding of what somebody who actually understands music is thinking about it all. So I thought, who should I talk to?

And you know who I decided? Strombo. George Strombolopoulos. Good friend. He's in LA now he's back and forth he goes back and forth from Toronto to Los Angeles and Vancouver

he's doing all kinds of things he does a special show with Apple Music he's doing films he's directing films he's producing films. He's directing films. He's producing films. He's starring in films. But he's still a music guy at heart. So I decided

I'd track him down. And because George is a friend and no matter how busy he is I dropped him an email and bingo, he said absolutely. So when we come back, my conversation with Strombo about the new Beatles documentary. Right after this. so george what have you thought of this beatles documentary the from what you've seen so far i have loved it so much peter there's a couple of things about it. One, I'm not surprised I'm enjoying it. What is a little surprising to me is how emotionally connected to this I feel. It's before my time, but, and I've heard these songs like all of us a million times,

and we've heard the interviews, and we know the backstory or some of the mythology, but to be in the room in this moment, and you know, as I do being in the rooms leading up to interviews or big moments, how a lot can be gleaned from the empty spaces and the pauses of the energy in the room. Being a part of all that is incredible. And to be there with the greatest and of all time, that's's i i find myself getting a little emotional there's that part where you know when paul is just messing around it takes about a minute and 15 seconds before he gets to what will eventually be the chorus of get back for the first time and i'm just like how did he go from that to that in a minute and 15 seconds well that is the thing that blows you away before i before i

get to that first of all i love that you're saying you liked it so much because i can remember once talking to you about something about the 60s and you went oh you guys in the 60s get over it that was ages ago leave it alone this is the new wave. This is the new era. Forget about the 60s. So it's great to hear you saying this. I don't remember exactly as you're characterizing that, but I get your point. Well, it was you and I were talking about politics and how and how the way of doing it has definitely changed in time. But one thing that I think we know to be true, Peter, is as we listen to music evolve over time, and especially in what is pop music, it is getting a little narrower. Production beats are the same.

The vibe is the same. Often the lyrics are the same, bored from each other. I'm not casting an aspersion on it, but it is getting narrower in pop music this was a reminder of how pop music was actually widening and getting far more complex and far more interesting you're not seeing that with pop bands today you're not seeing that with radio bands today not even close and that was a fairly fast transition for the beatles because in the early 60s 63 64 65 there's their music was you know extremely popular but it was like two minutes long suddenly by the end of that decade it was much more involved much more you know much more music to it and much longer you know five six minutes hey Jude yeah

a very different kind of music than had been just a couple of years before so their transition was quick and unbelievably productive you know i mean there dozens and dozens of songs in a very short period of time and it's crazy to think that it's only seven years from the first record to the last record just seven years from the first to the last and yeah you know it's funny because all those early beatles tunes of course i listened to them and i liked them but i i never really connected with them when i was a kid but it was the beatles from hell on from 1965 to 1970 where i heard something in them i i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that i don't think you can be

in the white hot light of attention and temperature like they were without either being remolded or you know combusting and i think ultimately both happened i think the other part of it too peter i don't remember it i wasn't there but the mid-60s drugs entered the picture they started to get on a certain kind of drugs i think that helped and they went on those journeys and then going to india and i think i think they started to see the world was much bigger than the one that they had just fit into these two and a half minute pop tunes but i think there was a lot of stuff the amazing thing about them to me is that they were equally of their time and way ahead of their time that's a really unique position to be in as a band. What surprised you about what you've witnessed so far in this?

How much fun they had. I think, you know, even Paul McCartney had said that when he was watching this back, he had rewritten the narrative in his head that him and John were at odds the whole time. And I think the fact that they enjoyed each other, watching George Harrison and Ringo pay attention to Paul playing to watch how all this came together, that no matter how split they had become and ultimately would become when the

four of them got in there with the music, that closeness that that was really... And, you know, man, I've interviewed so many musicians in my 30 years, and they all talk about, oh, the music, when we get together, we get that. I hear it, and I only believe them half the time, because you know that it's just the spin. But with the Beatles, they did the other thing. They forgot how close they were,

and they didn't spin the narrative of friends right at the end so to see that closeness uh i don't know why it warmed my heart so much but it really did i felt and also i think the thing that you and i knew to be true was seeing how george harrison could not continue in the beatles there's no way george harrison could continue in that band because he was way too talented and was way too they them but I don't think they got it just what kind of songs he could write right yeah you sense that through here that he doesn't feel appreciated that it's kind of a Lennon and McCartney band and he has ideas but they don't really want to listen to them yeah and i think that george martin the producer too at one point said that he he might have done a disservice overlooking george

in those early days as a songwriter um but but who knows who maybe we don't get the songs that weirdly some of my favorite beatle songs are george harris songs and his solo record that the um you know that all things must pass collection that came out that of my favorite Beatles songs are George Harrison songs and his solo record that the, you know, that all things must pass collection. I came out, that's my favorite solo Beatles thing. Cause it's the most ambitious I think in terms of its musicality and its scope, but watching the dynamic between the four of them and also knowing on every level, we'll never have that again. There will never be anything like the story there will

be big bands there will be massive stars there will be all that but that was a moment in time that world they come from doesn't exist that post-war world doesn't exist anymore the the fact that they did that with no social media just how big it cut like all of that is just a real it's a time capsule yet weirdly the songs are still perfect today when when we're witnessing the them sitting there the four of them sitting there and kind of coming up with stuff together um in their most you know constructive moments and their most innovative moments how untypical is that i mean you know uh successful bands you covered them you know all your musical uh reporting career um how typical was what we were witnessing to what usually goes on i mean creative stuff must happen in in different ways for

different groups but these guys literally seem to be actually making it up on the fly as they were sitting at their instruments absolutely as you as you say there are lots of ways that the creative process works with bands quite often what will happen is well remember when you have a producer or a songwriter and these bands just take somebody else's music the other way is that in the, there is a dominant songwriter and they'll bring a lot of the songs and the band tries to figure their parts out to it. And of course, with the Beatles, it was Lennon and McCartney. So that dynamic of we're going to jam until we figure it out. It was a little bit more prevalent then because the Beatles could afford the studio time.

So and in the 60s and 70ss bands definitely leaned into that kind of experimentation but and lots of bands do that we'll sit and they'll jam it out on the floor and try to figure it out there's usually sketches you know that mccartney and lemon you could hear they had sketches of songs there already what's rare is for i think it's rare for it to come as quickly as it did and i think it's rare for you know ringo is is often derided by people right uh and i whenever anybody rips ringo now i know this is an adult something i didn't know my 20s but whenever anybody rips ringo i think you don't know anything about music you don't know anything about music if you rip ringo star because for him to fit into that mix the way he did and there's little creative moments the way he plays the hi-hats the snare he does things that most

drummers wouldn't do it's not technically proficient but as a friend of mine once said Jeremy Taggart who was the drummer for Our Lady Peace it's who has the best ideas and what was amazing is that the joke is always ringo wasn't even the best drummer in the band but he still had amazing ideas and everybody in that band brought an idea to the table that was world class lots of bands have cool ideas and great moments not as many get to do it the way and maybe nobody ever did it like the Beatles that's the truth nobody ever reached that level where that little jam circle so quickly turned into songs that became iconic for decades we're still talking about them after all these years it's incredible

you know i i was always a ringo guy right from back in 63 64 ringo was the one that it was kind of my favorite in the band but you're right there was always this sense that oh you know he's just a cute guy and he was funny he had a great smile but he really couldn't play the drums when you watch this film you go he because he's in it the whole time he never leaves uh the the the other the other three get up and down all the time, but Ringo's sitting there or he's being, um, you know, at the drums, but he's very attentive and he picks up stuff like almost immediately as they,

as they're starting the, the whole get back sequence and even the let it be sequence, you know, he's on it like right away. Nobody's telling him to John's not saying, you know, do this Ringo or whatever. He's on it and he's on it, you this Ringo or whatever. He's on it.

And he's on it. And it sounds great. It sounds great. And it becomes iconic. With electric guitarists, there's always this debate about who is the greatest. And I think what we tend to do is we look at the one who can shred the most, who stands out the most. But there's another school of thought, which is which guitarist makes the song the best not who has the most technical proficiency that you know a lot of these shredding guitarists look at the edge from you too and they don't put him in the category

of the jimmy pages the tom morellos and all that which which i and i understand why but if you listen to what the Edge does when he constructs a song, he is a part of that song. That song doesn't exist without him, but it's not about showing off. It's about ideas, and it's about it's a totality. When I watch this Get Back series,

and the Ringgold thing is really important, it's he does exactly, he elevates the song, but it's not about him there's weirdly there's nobody in that band showing off on the song when you actually hear the song it all works those four guys that all work really well together usually in these big bands you're going again ready for the big solo i'm ready for the this i'm ready for the that and i love all that too i'm a zeppelin guy first and foremost but when you hear somebody who can make the song sound better and it's already incredible that's what

i think about ringo phil selway the drummer for um for radiohead same thing he does exactly what he needs to do elevates the song but doesn't take over that's what great drummers do in my mind you have the other kind of drummers who it's about the show. And I get that, but you didn't need to be that in the Beatles because it already had, I mean, the third best songwriter in the band was George Harrison and he's one of the best songwriters ever.

And he was the third best songwriter in that band. Ringo didn't need to do more than what Ringo did. You know, when you go back through the kind of the history of rock um in terms of rock bands there are very few that have have managed to stay together the whole time you know i guess the stones are the the classic example of one that that's being able to manage that kind of group dynamic uh and even in this film and it, you know, they've only been together for, I guess, less than 10 years by that time. You can see that it's starting to fall apart.

And you can almost understand why it does. It's not like they dislike each other, but there's kind of a tension there in the way they're making music together. The kind of group dynamic what do we learn about the group dynamic in general not just the Beatles by watching this I think I think what it comes down to in a lot of respects is people grow in different ways and of course the environment will dictate how you grow I don't think very many people ever had that the environment that the beatles had because they were inventing this essentially and i think they all and what we know now what we have language for now is everybody talks about coping mechanisms and everybody talks about taking care of themselves what we're seeing

in that band and you see with lots of bands is the Beatles recognized they didn't need to do this. They all had enough confidence to know they would be fine on their own. And I think that's an important consideration. A lot of bands, when they start to fray at the edges, it's hard because this is their thing. And as big as the Beatles were,

John Lennon had felt like he had outgrown the Beatles. And I think Paul McCartney would have stayed in the Beatles, but he felt like, well, he's Paul McCartney. He can go do his thing, too. George knew that he was ready and Ringo was going to do whatever Ringo was going to do. So I don't think they were afraid that they would lose their identity. Maybe they were, but I don't get that sense at all. So that's why I think the tension that you're feeling comes from a confidence of knowing that they have outgrown this. And I think the tension was what was causing that.

The outgrowing is what's causing that tension. A lot of other bands don't have that freedom in the future that the Beatles were going to have for sure. But I don't even think there's a comparable because of what they were doing. if you think about rockabilly rockabilly music is the last pop music ever that wasn't inspired by the beatles in some way shape or form all the music's different i talked to keith richards about this the other day because i've seen them um the stones play a show and i've seen the stones play a lot they're usually fine once they were amazing this

last show i saw was one of the best concerts i've ever seen in my life and and they're all in their 70s plus dude they're almost eight they're almost 80 they're almost 80 it was it was shocking how good the show was and i and i said to keith i said look i've seen you lots but there was something different about this and he said there was they lost you know they lost charlie and it was hard for them to lose charlie and i think they realized what they had together so he said i look at my guy he was talking about mick out there dying for us and he was and it's my job to back him up and it's his job to back me up and he goes that's when we feel our closest as when we're on the stage now that and of course we pulled apart in a lot of different ways but they know keith knows it's the rolling

stones i think mick would have been fine going on his own but keith knows it's the rolling stones that keep them and i think the loss of charlie really affected the way they interact with each other the the beetles at that point were all still alive they were all still young that's the other part they were all still young and they're the other part. They were all still young. And they're like in their twenties when we're watching this stuff and you have to keep pinching yourself saying they're in their twenties. They're in their twenties. Exactly.

I think, you know, a little while later they were going to get back together. There was a lot of real talk about a reunion from the Beatles into the seventies. And Oh my goodness, how great would that have been? Because John probably would have been on the road and maybe he's still alive and and who knows what would have happened but the the group dynamic is

so strange drugs plays a big part in drugs ego money jealousy there's all these things that that create the alchemy that can destroy a band it's why you two are so special that it's the same guys after all these decades. Up until the passing of Dusty, the CZ Top, the same three guys for decades. The Stones have been able to do it because it's really the Mick and Keith show and Ron Wood is. Ron Wood now.

He's so great. But I think that I don't know how the Beatles even survived as long as they did. They couldn't even hear themselves at shows. They would go to shows and it would just be people screaming for the whole thing but that's not it's really hard to comprehend you play videos to younger people oh whatever the beatles and you play them the madness and you go yeah like that went on for eight years and that's why they stopped doing concerts right that's crazy one of the

reasons they stopped doing concerts they could they couldn't even hear their own music. By the way, I'd love to be able to say, you know, I was talking to Keith the other day, and that must be nice. But I will say, I will drop one name. I was talking to Randy Backman, and I'm sure, has he ever told you the pizza guy story? I don't know if he has.

They were recording in Seattle. They were recording taking care of business. And they figured, they did it over and over and over again. And this is a Backman Turner overdrive, and they figured, okay, we've got it. That's perfect. And there's a knock at the studio door, and somebody opens the door. There's a guy holding like six pizzas. And he says, is this such and such a studio?

And they said, no, no, no, that's down the hall. And the guy says, I just heard you playing that back. You know, if you just get a little piano riff in that opening, it'll be much better. And they, yeah, thanks, thanks pal and they closed the door and randy's standing there thinking wonder why why don't we just try that and if you listen if you listen to taking care of business that piano riff is in there now so i kept waiting for the pizza guy to turn up in this Peter Jackson documentary, but nobody ever did.

He walked in to say, Hey, why don't you try this? And that was part of the beauty of the, of this group, right? I mean, there were all kinds of hangers on there and there were,

you know, George Martin was there and, and there were other people there, but it, it was, it was their music. That's a, you know,

that's a really important thing to add because, you know, add because with that great piano piece, the keyboard piece in Bob Dylan, how does it feel like a Rolling Stones song? I think it was Al Cooper who was just messing around playing and the people in the room said, oh no, don't do that. Bob doesn't want to hear that. Then Bob walked in and heard it and said, what's that? And they put that in the song. Um, you know, you remember that great documentary, the wrecking crew, everybody loved that documentary, but the backing band,

the session bands that played on every record, that, that, that documentary to me, Peter was a bit of a funeral because it made me realize how much all of my favorite albums were great albums, but the bands didn't do them the bands couldn't do them and it was other people who played and this is why i love that so much because it's just them and this is why i love the beatles so much because it's them yes bernard purdy and a couple other drummers came in and laid some parts down but it's the purdy shuffle you can't compete with that but the fact that as you pointed it was them they wrote the songs they made those they made them up on the spot and now we get to

see it all happen i i honestly i put it on the back i'll watch this whole thing a couple of times before it's done but i'll put it on in the background and and just as i'm doing things around the house i'll just let it play as if i'm in the studio. And I've read some of the criticisms of this. Oh, it's boring. Oh, it's whatever. Oh, it's this. And I just think to myself, how cynical have these people become? And how much do they miss the point?

This isn't supposed to be a Marvel movie. Thanos isn't there at the end. This isn't about, you know, this isn't another Bond movie. I love the last bond movie by the way but everybody so expects this to be fast and furious but what this really is is a window into four of the greatest to ever sit in the room together who invented all the stuff that we like now and that's not good enough for some it's like i read one headline and one paragraph of something somebody sent me i just i deleted the text and i said don't ever send me that again like i don't

need to hear somebody who doesn't get it that this is a window into something you'll never ever see again is what they created during that decade is is it still evident in today's music? Yeah, 100%. Even if the artists don't know it, the artists that they are inspired by have definitely come from the Beatles. I was doing a thing with, forgive the name drop, but it was for a show. We were doing a thing on punk rock, and we were trying to talk about the elements of punk rock the beginnings of punk rock and even for somebody today who wanted to get into punk rock and i was talking to dave girl from the foo fighters nirvana about it and he said you have to start with the beatles he said you have to start with

the beatles if you want to make punk rock today you don't have to sound like the beatles but you have to start with the beatles and everything comes from that or runs from it but it is defined by that even if they even hip-hop the the beastie boys paul's boutique album which influenced so many even if the new generation doesn't know it sampled the beatles like crazy on that record i mean i don't even know how they cleared those samples. So it's definitely evident. And I think what you're hearing is a lot of the electro pop music that's out there,

simple melodies, great hooks, but what it doesn't have is, I mean, you, you hit the word earlier, tension and dynamic. The actual group dynamic is the,

is the oxygen in the song. Anybody can write great songs. Anybody can produce great songs great songs and we they're the kids today are making incredible that weekend's music is incredible like he is making the best music in the world i think in many respects but when you look at a group dynamic the oxygen in the room is the tension and the dynamic with the four of them or the five and whoever's in a group i don't think we have anything like the beatles and i think that you can hear great music today but it doesn't sound as intense even their pop songs sounded desperate their pop sounds songs sound like they had to get those words out. You have to listen to it right now or you're going to miss it. Is that that thing?

I think that thing a lot of bands still chase. And I interview a lot of bands every day now for my new show and they all talk about the Beatles. They all talk about the Beatles. They talk about the Stones and the Who and the Clash for sure. And Zeppelin, of course. Republic Enemy.

But the Beatles? I mean, if i interview a band who's like i don't care about the beatles i just think oh my god i don't care about you anymore you don't have to like them but if you don't care about them i don't think you understand how the building blocks of songs happen and i think the beatles invented a lot of that and you still hear it you know george it's great to talk to you it's always been great to talk to you but i i would be uh i would disappoint a lot of people if i didn't get you to tell you're in la for this right now um i i would disappoint a lot of people if i didn't allow you to tell us what you're up to generally i mean you got your hands in so many different things right now. Tell us what Strombo's doing. I've been doing, I helped Apple launch a new radio station.

So they reached out to me a while back and said, we want to start this new station that plays the best music from all genres around the world. Do you want to come on board? And what's interesting is I was about to do another show. I had a new interview thing coming and I was excited about it. And it was coming together. And then Apple reached out and said, do you want to do this?

And I thought for a second in my entire career, the only thing I wish I did a little bit longer was this radio show where I got to play music in Toronto. And I thought, well, this opportunity doesn't come around too often. And they brought me on board to help them do this. It's in 165 countries around the world. They do it five days a week.

It's really, it's an awful lot. Keith was just on, but Bruce Springsteen was just on. And it's just talking to great musicians and artists and playing songs. So I'm doing that. But what I also started doing against the advice of everybody in my life, I started making movies. So while everybody's watching short videos on their phone i decided so i i produced a couple of indie features and i'm in a couple and i just directed a short uh and i have a new one coming and it's been really fun and you know you know peter it's like i learned and i think

people who are listening to you know this about me i learned an enormous amount from you and i don't think i'm certain i wouldn't be where i am today without you and your guidance over my career that is for sure but one thing i always really loved about you was how you were you were unapologetic about the things you liked and your curiosities and that's that's how i feel about when i make things so i thought i've done a lot in my career. I had a very blessed career. I get that. I want to make a couple movies. Let's just do that.

And people are like, that's stupid. Why would you do that now in your life? You're 49. Like, I know, but I'm going to do it. And I'm going to learn how to do it. And that's what I've been doing. So I love being bad at things. I love learning all the time.

I know how to interview people. I know how to play music on the radio. I know how to do that. But I love to learn and be terrible at things i love learning all the time i know how to interview people i know how to play music on the radio i know how to do that but i love to learn and be terrible at things so making movies has been a really really interesting experience that's what i've been doing a lot of and i've got a new uh i've got a new show coming which would be a crazy documentary series which we're really close to putting that deal together so i've been producing stuff as well and it's been a lot of fun i've been busier than I've ever been, but I've probably never felt as much fun as when I would be walking the hallways and I would just sit in your office and we'd catch up from it.

You know, it was back in one of those days where you started nicknaming me the bridge and that's how I got the name for this podcast. That's why I call it the bridge. That's right. That's right. That's right. I remember,

I remember it was around Christmas Christmas time as well when we were talking, and I said, you've got to do a podcast. We need a Peter Madgebridge podcast. It's fun. As you know, you can have a lot of fun in this medium. Listen, George, you take care, and congratulations on all these new things you're doing. It sounds great.

I look forward to watching them when I get the opportunity, and always to listen to you. Take care, bud okay you too brother be well strombo at 49 george strombo lopolis is 49 who can believe that mind you you can't believe I'm 73. A couple of old guys talking about the Beatles. I love it, though, because George wasn't even alive when the Beatles started. But he's great to talk to on this subject. And it was a treat having him on the program. Hope you enjoyed it as well. That's it for The Bridge on this day.

This Tuesday. I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back in 24 hours with Smoke, Mirrors and the Truth with Bruce Anderson. That's tomorrow. Thank you.