by Steve Briody 
I am very much looking forward to attending DHPAC’s Beatles “Let It Be – 40th Anniversary” Tribute. I was going to do the standard proverbial interview with good friend Paul Barkan of the popular Beatles tribute band Mostly Moptop for their upcoming show at Dix Hills Performing Arts Center on Sat., March 20 at 7:30pm ET. However, when speaking to all the band members, I noticed they had some particularly clever interview material consisting of a “written conversation” between the band members. I think you’ll enjoy their Beatles references…hopefully you’ll do a better job of catching them all than I did!
Below the interview, I have posted footage of Moptop’s rhythm guitarist Anthony Pomes explaining how he plays the slide part from George Harrison’s “For You Blue” on the LET IT BE album with . . . a 9-volt battery? (See video attached to this blog – I was fascinated about this.). It’s a terrific “behind the scenes” segment.
I HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE SHOW. I say “Hello” . . . and “Good-bye.” Here’s what I was given:
Secret Mostly Moptop Conversation #45…
Anthony Pomes (A) – Hey, fellas, Let it be is 40 this year
Eddie Franz (E) – Let it be known, gentle folks
John Tabacco (J) – Life begins at 40, they say.
Paul Michael Barkan (P) – Hey, why don’t we structure a show around this?
A – I was thinking the same thing – we could call it Let It Be(Fore) . . .
E – You mean like Fab Four . . .
A – No, Sir Edward, I mean like “Before and After” – like before I became Fat Elvis, you remember
J – I remember those days – you were much lighter on those fretboards…
P – But there must of course be horn parts and strings and the like?
E – I like horns – especially in my car –beep beep, beep beep yeah!
A – OK, Eddie, yes, we’ll perform DRIVE MY CAR
J – And what about FOR NO ONE?
P – Well, we hope we don’t end up playing for NO one . . .
A – Me, too, although I’m told we’ve already sold 51 percent of the house – and we haven’t even started rehearsing yet.
P – I me mine oh my, that’s confidence, lad!
A – Yes, they love us yeah yeah yeah at the Lennon Center.
J – But what else – what are you after with the “after”?
E – You were going to tell us “before”…
A – Give me a chance – and some peace – I’ve got it, let’s structure a show around the different songwriting styles and evolutions of those five young men from –
P – Five?
A – Yes, don’t you remember Stig?
J – Uh oh, he’s getting referential again!
E – You know, these rehearsals are starting to feel like plays…
P – “If music be the food of love . . .”
A – “Play on!”
J – Didn’t the Captain & Tenille write that?
E – No, it was Roy Clark.
P – How darest thou defile the almighty Bard?
A – It Don’t Come Easy, y’know?
E – Maybe I’m Amazed . . .
J – WHAT IS LIFE?!
P – Instant Sanka’s gonna drink ya!
A – But back to the point . . .
J – Hey, Harry Nilsson wrote a musical called that…
A – Yeah, he knew Lennon pretty darn well – they was just a bunch of pussy cats back then.
E – Why don’t we just play what sounds good?
A – You mean like “She Loves You”?
P – And “Things We Said Today”?
J – And “Yesterday”?
E – And “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”?
A – Help! It’s all too much – let’s just agree that the show will take us and the audience through the sound and the fury of Beatles songmaking . . .
P – And wrongwaking . . .
E – And strongtaking . . .
J – And longraking . . .
A – Yes, as in “The Long & Winding Road,” which will be the emotional center of the entire show, which will be exactly 999 minutes long . . .
J – Whoa, too long, how about 909?
A – Yes, we’ll play that too – but only one after . . .
E – And not a second time . . .
P – But we will play that too because there will be other musicians…
A – Yes, let’s bring five other people into the group because then we’ll be number nine number nine number nine . . .
J – Hey, Paul, that’s significant . . .
P – That it is, Johnny, that it is . . . numbers mean everything.
E – Especially loud ones . . .
A – And fast ones . . .
J – And good ones . . .
P – And FOR NO ONE – it’s all settled, Mostly Moptop will play at Dix Hills Performing Arts Center at Five Towns College on Saturday, March 20, starting at 7:30pm ET . . . $25 a seat.
A – Yes, and since so many people love The Beatles, this sincere endeavor of music and word and magic will be a wonderful way to start the first day of spring . . .
J – Let it be as warmly received as it was woozily conceived . . .
E – Like a newborn baby . . .
ALL FOUR in unison – Yes yes yes . . .
*****
Looking forward to the show! It’s the little nuances that really seem to make a difference in a tribute band’s authenticity, and you guys really seem to have that down pat.
Thanks, for the insight, Elliot!
Yeah, it is one thing to see someone cover a Beatles tune. It is another thing to see a professor who studies Beatles music take the stage with fellow performers to recreate the Beatles experience.
Kind of like music history you can sing to.
I can’t wait to see Mostly Moptop. The other Beatles shows that I saw at DHPAC were out-of-this-world. The synergy of the John Lennon Center, the music school, and our collective love for the Beatles seems to create magic.