MURRAY THE K (the 8th Beatle)

chingnchime · Post by **chingnchime** » Sat May 06, 2006 8:25 am

I'm sure most of you have seen THE FIRST U.S. VISIT, and Murray's ravings. Not knocking him really, just wanted to comment on how completely out-of-place he seemed in the Beatles 'world'.
In the film John calls him a '******', British slang for someone who mas*urbates a lot. Murray thinks he says 'wacker', obviously not knowing what the term means, and starts repeating it over the air as John secretly enjoys the moment.
When the Fabs use the term 'gear', meaning cool (or whatever)Murray again misses the actual context, and starts repeating 'It's THE gear!'
He's wearing one of those Cossack hats that ALMOST looks like a Beatle haircut (poor Murray), because the 40-ish balding DJ is trying desperately to fit in. Of course we all know he WAS one of the most popular DJs in history, but the generation gap swallows him whole in this film. He starts calling himself the 5th Beatle, and one wonders just how far he thought THAT would go. I figure after Brian, Neil and Mal, Murray gave himself a shot at that title.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sat May 06, 2006 12:56 pm

HAA! yea, 'the K' was one strange dude... the ultimate self-promoter. His web site states: "The Fifth Beatle? Yeah, yeah, yeah, that’s what everyone seems to remember.".... hmmmm, they only remember it because he tried to claim it over and over and over.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Sat May 06, 2006 2:39 pm

What about Stuart? Woudln't that knock Murray to at least 9th?

britye · Post by **britye** » Sat May 06, 2006 5:22 pm

Yea Stuart, Tony Sheridan ( even though they backed him as the Beat Boys on an album, which when they became famous was re-released as Tony Sheridan and The Beatles) Roy Young a pianist in Hamburg, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton. I miss anybody? If you listen to Paul & Ringo on the Anthology DVD they dug Murray, cool baby

chingnchime · Post by **chingnchime** » Sat May 06, 2006 8:33 pm

Yeah, i kinda forgot ol' Stu, Pete and whomever else, so Murray's really the 11th or something. Whatever. On the DVD in the extras section we see Paul briefly standing w/ Murray after a night on the town, and Paul's spewing forth some overemphasized DJ patter. Murray actually looks impressed. And you've got to hand it to Murray several years later when his girlfriend/partner was the sexy brunette chick on GENERAL HOSPITAL, Jackie Zeman.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Sun May 07, 2006 10:51 am

Beat Brothers..... the German record producers didn't want to use the word Beatle because it sounded too much like "peedle" (sp?) which is a German slang for penis.

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Sun May 07, 2006 10:59 am

C'Mon... Murray is the 5th Beatle. Ringo said that he had a lot to do with their success in late 63 early 64.

Was Jackie Zeman really his girlfriend? Way to go Murray!

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Sun May 07, 2006 3:49 pm

I thought Lennon did say "wacker," not "******," though I'm sure the meaning is the same. Murray's big goof was calling Love Me Do "Love You Do," which got that reaction from John (okay, so he probably though Murray was a wacker a minute after he met him. "Wank" may be fairly recent parlance. "wacking" as in "wacking off" has been around forever. "******," I'm not so sure. Guess it's time to consult the Oxford English Dictionary of brit-pop slang. One wonders how much Murray had to do with instigating the heavy Beatles promotion at that time on his station. And whether payola was involved.

alanz · Post by **alanz** » Sun May 07, 2006 4:02 pm

[Insert Rutles' Bill Murray the K joke here]

chingnchime · Post by **chingnchime** » Sun May 07, 2006 5:13 pm

Actually, according to the IMDb Zeman was his wife. But they've been known to miss. Murray was a bit older than she.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon May 08, 2006 6:18 am

In "The Beatles At Shea Stadium" Murray is emcee, and he goes through his spiels, and generally has his own act. There's one scene that my friend and I will pantomime to each other just to get a laugh. It's Murray dancin', holding his hat on. A closeup of his foot action has him appearing to trip over the cords crossing the stage. He certainly got himself into the fabs circle, however briefly.
BTW, there's a good article in the Liverpool Echo about George Martin being the REAL 5th Beatle (my opinion as well). It's a short, but good read. http://www.icliverpool.co.uk/beatles

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon May 08, 2006 6:32 am

Murry was at the helm of their first visit here at least visibly probably because his station was #1 in NY, he played them incessantly and I'm sure (as most people in show business are) a self promoter. I was 11 then and knew about him, he was all over the place and was known as the 5th Beatles back then, who knows if he coined it or the papers did. I'm from Ma. and knew about Murry the K, he was the biggest rock DJ in the biggest city in the US. I believe he was in the right place at the right time but had the talent and energy to bring it off. Don't knock poor old Murry.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Mon May 08, 2006 7:30 am

He certainly was old. And he said "baby" more often that Austin Powers does.

studiotwosession · Post by **studiotwosession** » Mon May 08, 2006 7:32 am

Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologize for the rug:

www.radiohof.org/discjockey/murraythek.html

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Mon May 08, 2006 10:51 am

"BTW, there's a good article in the Liverpool Echo about George Martin being the REAL 5th Beatle (my opinion as well)."

That was going to be my vote for the 5th.