Without the Beatles

Nancy Sinatra was a huge Beatles fan. She came to London with Lee Hazlewood and met them in the 60s, picking up Swinging Sixties fashion at the same time from Mary Quant, Twiggy, and Jean Shrimpton. In this exclusive interview with podcast host, Des Burkinshaw, done in LA in 2012, Nancy talks about the Fabs, her father, Swinging London, culture, Mary Quant and her time working with Elvis.

The old music industry that the Beatles made possible, is pretty much dead. Only a few artists make money from selling CDs or vinyl. But a whole new generation of young musicians are finding the way to success is through YouTube and social media. Today's guests, both huge Beatles fans, have launched and sustained a career through performing live music on YouTube and social media. Performing a mix of their own material and fully live cover versions of songs by the Beatles, Paul Simon, Jim Croce, ELO and Fleetwood Mac. If you're a first generation Beatles fan and wondering what today's musicians make of the MopTops and other rock/pop classics, then this is the episode for you. Josh and Damon guide us through their careers and process but also tell us about their upcoming gig, performing the whole of McCartney's second solo album, Ram, live in Brooklyn in July 2026. But why Ram? Clue: it's big on TikTok.

Back in 2010/2011 we started collecting interviews for the Without the Beatles project. One of the first stories we tackled was how the Beatles were responsible for starting many other bands, including 10cc. Not only were they successful, and inspired others to make music, but the various members went on to do lots of other things too. Not least of those achievements came from Kevin Godley, 10cc's drummer. When he and bandmate Lol Creme left 10cc in 1975, they invented a new musical instrument, the Gizmo, and released several hit singles as a duo, Godley & Creme. They then became two of the biggest and most important music promo directors of the 80s, directing famous promos for Duran Duran, Visage, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, The Police, Herbie Hancock, and themselves - who can forget the video for Cry?Kevin Godley in conversation with our host, Des Burkinshaw, talks about the Fab Four's influence on him and culture more generally.

Back in 2010/2011 when we began the Without the Beatles project, we interviewed all four members of 10cc on how the Fab Four impacted each member. Today, for the first time anywhere, here's the interview with Graham Gouldman. Easily one of Britain's top 10 best and most successful songwriters, here he talks to Des Burkinshaw about his career, the 10cc dynamic, how tracks like I'm Not in Love came together, and how the Beatles changed society.

Eric Stewart sang A Groovy Kind of Love with The Mindbenders in the 60s. He recorded Neanderthal Man with Hotlegs. Became a worldwide star with 10cc. He is one of the few people to have co-written with Paul McCartney. He hasn't done many interviews over the years, but here he sits down with Des Burkinshaw for almost an hour, recalling how the Beatles impacted everything from his desire to write songs, to how Paul reacted in the days after John Lennon's death. This is a premiere of this interview. It was originally intended for Des' TV documentary but has been adapted for the podcast. It is why there is no footage of the interviewer as it was never intended to be used this way. The audio has been restored and cleaned up, but is otherwise exactly as recorded back in 2011/2012 in Steve Levine's home studio.

We're back for 2026 - with an hour-long interview with Al Jardine of The Beach Boys. In this very special chat recorded over two interviews in 2026 and 2016, Al reflects on Brian Wilson's passing, the impact the Beatles had on the Beach Boys had on each other, and talks about his current plans.Des Burkinshaw is the man with the questions. Note: A video version of this episode is available on youtube. In 2025, Al Jardine released a new 4-track EP called Island In The Sun which, in addition to the title track, includes a song called “My Plane Leaves Tomorrow (Au Revoir),” and features Neil Young on guest lead vocals. More info here: https://www.aljardine.com/musicAl’s current tour is a tribute to the late Brian Wilson and in addition to performing all of the big classic Beach Boys hits like “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” “Help Me Rhonda,” “Sloop John B,” “Fun, Fun, Fun” and “Surfin’ USA,” Al and The Pet Sounds Band will be including radio singles and rarities from The Beach Boys’ rich 1970’s catalog from the albums The Beach Boys Love You, 15 Big Onesand The M.I.U. AlbumThe Pet Sounds Band are Brian Wilson’s former touring band and are the same musicians who performed The Beach Boys’ masterpiece Pet Sounds for many years when Brian was on tour. Their music director is Darian Sahanaja, who was primarily responsible for helping Brian release Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE in 2004. The band also includes Matt Jardine, Al’s eldest son, who has received rave reviews for his beautiful vocals on classics like “Good Vibrations,” God Only Knows,” “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Surf’s Up.”The Pet Sounds Band currently includes:Rob Bonfiglio: guitarMichael D’Amico: drumsGary Griffin: keyboardsMatt Jardine: vocalsBob Lizik: bassJim Laspesa: percussionDarian Sahanaja: keyboardsDebbie Shair: keyboardsPaul Von Mertens: saxEmeen Zarookian: guitarFor a complete list of tour dates, please visit: https://www.aljardine.com/showsCheck out the other episodes of our podcast on Spotify or youtube, and visit our website https://www.withoutthebeatles.com

The Without the Beatles project in which famous artists and creatives discuss the direct impact the Fab Four had on their careers, started back in 2012.One of the first people we interviewed was Michael Palin. He found fame in the 60s as a TV presenter, before going on to become a performer and writer with Do Not Adjust Your Set, then Monty Python. He went on to have a stellar film career and a third career as presenter of the hugely popular travel series, Around the World...Michael was a good friend of George Harrison and benefited from George's role as the owner of Handmade Films.Here he talks about the Pythons, The Beatles, and George in particular.All our podcasts are available on YouTube too.If you enjoy this episode, please do leave a review or comment.Technical note: This interview was originally shot for a planned TV documentary. Des Burkinshaw, the interviewer was not wearing a microphone or featured on camera.Thanks to the wonders of AI we've been able to retrieve the distant sound of Des' voice from Michael's microphone and enhance it. It's not the clearest recording of his voice, but we guess most of you would rather hear Michael Palin than the interviewer in any case. We hope this does not interfere with your enjoyment.

In 2010 we kicked off the multi-decade Without the Beatles project, and were privileged to be invited out to LA, to Richie Sambora's home, for this interview. A few years later, in 2013, Richie quit Bon Jovi because of the pressures of touring. He said at the time that he couldn't cope with 18 month world tours, but in this interview he is still very much in the band and says he can never imagine leaving. In this insight into Richie's artistic life, he details how the Beatles affected everything - from his first memory to being the first thing he plays every time he picks up the guitar. This is the unedited interview tape - there's not too much in the way of hellos and goodbyes because they were done when the camera wasn't rolling, but we hope this format gives you a real insight into the man. All our podcasts are up as videos on YouTube too. Please subscribe if you can - the more people who subscribe, the more likely it is that YouTube will show the videos to other people. Youi're not just supporting our work but also supporting the artist in the video through publicity. You can find us in all the usual places.