MILKING THE CASH COW

Here we go again. The release of The Beatles remastered back catalogue is being trumpeted as the second coming but really let’s not lose sight of what it really is – another cynical attempt to squeeze cash out of ardent Beatles fans . If people are honest, is it really worth forking out yet again to hear a bass line that you’ve never missed for 30 years?

The albums are again being put out at full price and yet again there are no “extra” tracks. What’s more, most of them could easily have been put out as “twofers”. As for the boxed sets, its defies belief that fans are being charged the equivalent of £16 each for mono albums that could so easily have been tagged on to the stereo versions.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of The Beatles, but I’ve not listened to the Please Please Me album for years and a digitally improved version of Twist And Shout isn’t going to make me listen to it over and over again now. An interesting point is the ‘new’ Let It Be: Wasn’t this released a few years back in the version that it was intended to be released in? I think most people will play the remastered versions a few times then put them back on the shelf to gather dust alongside the 1987 versions. Still it will keep the tills ticking over till the next money making scam. Do record companies still not understand why illegal file sharing is rife?

by Ken Ward
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