Ringo diss was just a joke, Simon Cowell says

“American Idol” judge Simon Cowell has been the one stung by criticism from Beatles fans since remarking on CBS' "The Early Show" last week that were the group to come before him in a talent competition, “We would have said, ‘We'll take those three [John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison] but probably lose the drummer.’ Ringo, I'm afraid we would have said, is ‘bad news’.”

“I said it as a joke,” Cowell told The Times over the weekend. “It was a tongue-in-cheek interview. But the sensitivity surrounding the group shows how much the public still loves them. You make a joke about them and people get really upset.”

Cowell, for the record, was a die-hard Beatles fan growing up in England. 

“'She Loves You' was the first record I ever bought,” he said. He hasn’t, however, rushed out to get copies of the sonically upgraded Beatles CDs released last week. “I never saw them, but I bought most of their records…..They always sounded perfect to me, so I haven’t gotten caught up in having to hear the new ones.”

And what would Cowell, one of today’s key arbiters of what works and what doesn’t in pop music, have counseled a group that offered up a single that runs more than seven  minutes, a ballad in which the refrain is sung 19 times during the final four minutes, as the Beatles did in “Hey Jude”?

“They wouldn’t hear a peep from me,” he said. “The one group worldwide I always wish I had signed was the Beatles.”

-- Randy Lewis

Photos: Ringo Starr, left, and Simon Cowell, right. Credit: Associated Press

Comments

[steve t]

You have to remember Simon Cowell is all about POP,something that is catchy and that will sell loads but may not be remembered for very long,he is the king of cheese.Its all about him and he making money,thier is not much quality just music for those that don't think for themselves and like to be told what is good.

[MissWendy]

Some serious back-tracking going on here. He says how much he loves the beatles but didn't seem to have them on his list of records he'd take to a desert island on the UK's Desert Island Discs show. the records he chose were:

1. Mack the Knife Performer Bobby Darin
2. This Guy's in Love with You Performer Herb Alpert
3. She Performer Charles Aznavour
4. Unchained Melody Performer The Righteous Brothers
5. Danke Schoen Performer Wayne Newton
6. If You're Not the One Performer Daniel Bedingfield
7. Summer Wind Performer Frank Sinatra
8. Mr Bojangles Performer Sammy Davis Jr

"She Loves You" - the first record he bought? released in summer 1963.....when cowell was not even 4 years old!! Pull the other one!

Another shameless publicity grabbing comment to boost his X Factor show's failing ratings in the UK I suspect.

[Rose]

I've never watched American Idol, but I have heard all about "Simple Simon's" harangues and nastiness. When he finally sails into the sunset no one will remember his name or his bitchiness, but the world will always remember Ringo.