×

You've read your three free articles!

Register to get two more free articles plus an exclusive subscription discount, or click below to subscribe right away.

Register

Already a subscriber? Login in here.

ti icon

Features

The turning of the tide?

7 months ago

Writer:

Andrew Frankel | Ti co-founder

Date:

17 February 2026

At times it has felt like being Dick Rowe.

Often I’ll mention a name and back the Ti audience to know whom the hell it is I’m talking about, because explaining it is like having to talk someone through a joke you just told. It completely defeats the point of telling it in the first place. Most recently was in my Instruments of Torture story when I made some reference to needing to be Steve Austin to read the dials of a DB9. And I trusted you to know it was Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man with the bionic eye, not Steve Austin, retired professional wrestler, to whom I was referring. But Dick? Even I had to look him up.

He was the Decca Records executive widely credited (though he always denied it) with turning down The Beatles and responsible, at least in part for a memo that said amongst other things that, ‘The Beatles have no future in show business.’ So why have I felt like him for so long?

You've read your free articles!

How about signing up for a 30-day free trial, from which you can cancel any time? You’ll get full access to our new daily articles, written by the world’s best motoring journalists, plus our archive of almost 2000 articles, and exclusive daily and weekly podcasts – all ad-free. Click the link below to check out our monthly and annual subscriptions, and begin your free trial.

Subscribe

Already subscribed? Click here to log in.