Merry Christmas from the Cleavers & everyone at Boomtown America! We hope Santa doesn't give you the business this year.

While we all marvel at the astounding success the Beatles had when Beatlemania broke big throughout the world – landing multiple songs of theirs in the charts simultaneously, what makes their success even more remarkable was the number of hit songs they wrote and gave away to other artists.

At one point in early 1964, the Fab Four had 14 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 (a record never beaten during the era of physical media). John & Paul were absolutely on fire creatively, penning a virtually inexhaustible stream of catchy ditties.

Their manager, Brian Epstein acquired other acts to promote. Invariably, he would ask the boys if they could contribute a tune or two to get these new artists launched properly. During this time, Lennon & McCartney weren’t writing with anybody but the Beatles in mind. So, they simply selected any of a number of songs they had written, intending to record themselves. Some of these include:

“I’ll Be on My Way” – Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas

The first of the Epstein acts to get the Lennon/McCartney treatment. This song was actually the B-side of Kramer’s first single. A cover of the Beatles’ “Do You Want to Know a Secret” was released as the A-side.

“Bad to Me” – Billy J. Kramer

For his follow-up, Kramer got an original Lennon/McCartney tune.

“Tip of My Tongue” – Tommy Quickly

Epstein really thought Tommy would become a major recording star, but it wasn’t in the cards. This Lennon/McCartney composition is all he’s remembered for today.

“Hello Little Girl” – The Fourmost

Another Epstein act that had minor success in the UK, but failed to crossover to the States.

“Love of the Loved” – Cilla Black

By far, the most successful of Epstein’s stable of talent after the Beatles. A fellow Liverpudlian, the former Priscilla White went on to a long career as a cabaret singer in the UK, remaining active and recording well into this century.

“Like Dreamers Do” – The Applejacks

Clearly, a song the Beatles thought about releasing themselves as their own version of this song finally saw the light of day on the Beatles’ Anthology CDs.

“I’ll Keep You Satisfied” – Billy J. Kramer

Kramer was the Epstein act that had the most success stateside after the Beatles. But his career stalled after the initial British Invasion lost steam.

“I’m in Love” – The Fourmost

A very pretty little pop song, but truth be told, this sounds more like a Beatles album cut than a hit single.

As John & Paul became accustomed to hearing their tunes performed by others, they did begin to write with other artists in mind. These tunes included:

“A World Without Love” – Peter & Gordon

The first non-Epstein act to be graced with a Lennon/McCartney composition, this duo had an inside track. Paul was dating Peter’s sister, actress Jane Asher. And, in fact, most rock historians believe Paul did most of the actual writing for the Lennon/McCartney material this duo recorded.

“One and One Is Two” – The Strangers with Mike Shannon

A minor bit of pop fluff the lads were probably wise to give away.

“It’s for You” – Cilla Black

A big hit in Britain, this Lennon/McCartney song remained virtually unknown in America until Three Dog Night recoded a rather inventive cover of it for their debut album.

“Nobody I Know” & “I Don’t Want to See You Again” – Peter & Gordon

The hits kept coming as long as John & Paul were supplying fresh material. Rumor has it the second tune was written by Paul as a message to Peter’s sister after a particularly nasty fight. (Although the couple would remain together until Jane allegedly caught Paul in bed with another woman in the Asher family home.)

“From a Window” – Billy J. Kramer

A hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Woman” – Peter & Gordon

Paul wanted to see if he could write a hit record without people knowing he was the composer, so this single was released crediting a “Bernard Webb” as the composer. The song was, indeed, another hit and McCartney was unmasked as the actual composer. This was notable at the time because it was the first tune where credit was not shared by John & Paul no matter who had really done the writing.

“Step Inside Love” – Cilla Black

A lovely ballad and one of her biggest hits in the UK, definitely written especially for her by John & Paul.

“That Means a Lot” – P.J. Proby

Proby had a few hits in the UK, but never managed to really get a foothold in America. It wasn’t for lack of effort. Proby was a frequent guest in the early days of Shindig.

“Cat Call” – The Chris Barber Band

This is a real obscure little gem. Written by McCartney in 1967 and given to a group known for mushy, middle-of-the-road instrumentals. It sounds vaguely like some strip club music from the early 1950’s (note the title) and does feature McCartney providing a few cat calls of his own.

As the band finally fractured, John & Paul went their separate ways as songwriters, but continued to provide material for other artists. A few of the more notable tunes include:

“Come & Get It” – Badfinger

A tune written for the movie The Magic Christian, which co-starred Ringo, Paul called a band known as the Iveys (signed to Apple Records) into the studio and produced the session himself. The band renamed themselves Badfinger and went on to a nice little string of hit records in the early 1970’s.

Pernina – Carlos Medes

A McCartney love song you’ve probably never heard. Written by Paul and given to singer Carlos Mendes while Paul was on holiday in Portugal in 1969.

“I Am the Greatest” – Ringo Starr

John wrote this specifically for Ringo. The recording session featured 3 of the 4 former Beatles, John, George & Ringo as well as Billy Preston & Klaus Voorman.

“Goodbye” – Mary Hopkins

While today, Hopkins is regarded as a “one hit wonder” for her recording of “Those Were the Days,” she actually had a second hit with this song, written for her by Paul McCartney, who also produced it (as he had produced “Those Were the Days”).

“On the Wings of a Nightingale” – The Everly Brothers

When Don & Phil Everly ended their long feud and began recording together again in 1984, Paul McCartney was one of the composers who repaid the musical debt he felt he owed the duo by writing this song especially for them. Produced by Jeff Lynne (ELO, Traveling Wilburys), in another, better world, this should have become a huge hit.

This list is by no means complete. Half the fun is discovering some of the songs Lennon & McCartney gave away for yourself. But any dyed-in-the-wool Beatles fans should certainly have all of these in the personal record collection.

On Dec 9, 1961, the Beatles play the Palais Ballroom in Aldershot, UK to a crowd of just 18 people.

The appearance had not been advertised because the local newspaper refused to accept the promoter's check. After the show, the Beatles became a bit rowdy, getting themselves ordered out of town by the local police.

There is a new type of scam that is becoming more widespread on the internet: phony customer service numbers.

Say you find a suspicious charge on your PayPal account. You Google “PayPal Customer Service Phone Number.” The number you find on the search results page may not be the genuine number. It could be a number that leads directly to scammers, who will tell you “of course,” they can get that suspicious charge removed if you’ll just confirm your credit card number. Or provide your Social Security Number for identification purposes.

Fraudbusters recommend these steps should you need to contact any business’ customer service:

1. Go directly to that business’ website and find its customer service phone number. (Not always easy, but it can be done.)

2. Don’t ask devices such as Siri or Alexa to find such numbers. Those devices are easier to fool than you.

3. If you do use a search engine, always check the URL and make sure it doesn’t contain any misspellings.

4. Refuse to give your SSN to any customer service rep. They really don’t need that to identify you.

5. Never give anyone you don’t personally know remote access to your computer.

Just as nursing a broken heart can have real negative consequences on the health of your heart, doctors are now urging caution as anxiety over COVID-19 is on the rise, especially for those of us in the Baby Boom.

Worry about the virus leads to stress on your heart and that’s not good for your health, even if you never come in contact with the virus. Stress causes your heart muscles to weaken, leading to an increased risk of heart attack and heart failure.

What can you do to minimize your risk? Experts say meditation, exercise and staying inContact with friends and family members – even if it’s only by phone or text. Let’s all stay healthy as we head into 2021!

Aunt Bee says there's always room for one more at the Taylor table. Gomer says, :Hey."

A stone-cold favorite of so many people, some have called it the greatest record ever. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” was a record that needed a lot of things to break right to make it out of the studio and onto a record– and they did.

Phil Spector was already a legendary producer in 1964. But nearly all of his hits had featured young black female singers (most notably Veronica Bennett and Darlene Love) singing behind his famous “Wall of Sound.” Spector wanted to try a production that featured male singers.

The Righteous Brothers had been performing around Southern California for a couple of years – first as part of a quartet called the Paramours and then as a duo – named by an audience member who shouted, “That’s righteous, brother!” at one of their shows.

Spector had his singers, now he needed a song. He called two of his favorite composers, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil. The husband & wife team had already written a number of hits for Spector and other production teams in the early 60’s.

Mann says he and Weil decided to create something that started slowly and built, like “Baby, I Need Your Loving.” Mann even came up with the opening line, “You never close your eyes when we kiss anymore,” He says he actually took a line for anther song he wrote (“I Love How You Love Me” – the Paris Sisters) and tweaked it. Then he and Weil poured all the memories of various unhappy love affairs into crafting what became initially two verses and the chorus. But they were stuck coming up with a bridge.

They played the song over the phone to Spector (Mann & Weil were based in New York, Spector was in Hollywood). Spector loved what he heard and flew the couple out to L.A. to collaborate on completing the song. 

Spector started fooling around on the piano with a musical figure he took from “Hang On Sloopy.” Weil came up with the line, “Baby, I’d get down on my knees for you.” To finish the bridge, Spector just started singing a lot of whoas. Mann & Weil wanted to create lyrics where Spector put the “whoas,” but Spector said no.

So, they brough in Bill Medley & Bobby Hatfield and played the song for them with Mann singing the lead and Spector adding the harmony. When they were done, Medley replied, “Sounds good… for the Everly Brothers” and was ready to turn the entire thing down. Spector convinced the duo to wait until they heard the instrumental track he’d put together.

A few weeks later, Spector had most of his instrumental track put together. The Righteous Brothers listened and thought they might be able to do something with the song. But there was one more problem, Spector didn’t want Hatfield singing on the verses, only the chorus and bridge. So, Hatfield had to be calmed down and talked into agreeing to the session.

For inspiration, Medley says he focused on how he felt when his girlfriend (who eventually became his wife) had dumped him for a period that lasted six months.

The guys worked on the song for 4 hours a day for several weeks before Spector was satisfied. But now he had another problem. The record, as produced, ran 3:45. This was in a time when most pop records clocked in at 2:30 with some not even making it to 2:00. Spector’s solution was ingenious if a bit devious. He simply lied about the running time.

He had labels printed that claimed the song clocked in at 3:05. The trick worked. In no time, the song was racing up he charts, launching a string of hits for the Righteous Brothers and eventually becoming the song with the most radio airplays ever!

BTW – Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil are still married. Talk about a Lovin’ Feelin’!

Come on. How could anybody else compete wth this?

Flu season is here again. Here are 4 things the pros say can help you avoid flu this winter:

1. ) Get a Flu Shot – Experts advise everyone over 65 to get their annual flu shot. Check with your doctor, there are many ways to get this shot without it costing you any money.
2. ) Use a Humidifier – Viruses love dry air. And winters, especially in northern states, tend to be dry. Those in the know say you should set your humidifier at 40% humidity or higher for maximum benefit.
3. ) Get Plenty of Sleep – This tip can have additional benefits in every area of your life. Also, a cooler bedroom can help you sleep by stimulating the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
4. ) Consider a Vitamin D Supplement – Check with your doctor of this. Our bodies produce vitamin D when our skin is in contact with direct sunlight. There’s less of that during the winter months. Also, as we ag, we tend to produce less vitamin D, which helps out immune system, so a boost may be in order.