Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine How Many Beatles-Free Days?

You don't have to apologize, Rick. Not everyone does love the Beatles--as I once found out when I used one Beatles reference too many in conversation with a co-worker who was about the same age as the Beatles. I had assumed that everyone her age would universally agree that the Beatles were "important" if not aesthetically pleasing. Yet she let me know in no uncertain terms that she thought the Beatles were silly.

My mother, who was only a few years older than the Beatles, recalled that when they made their landmark first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, she had gone shopping at a local mom-and-pop store. When the owner--an elderly lady--asked her why she wasn't home watching the Beatles, she shrugged and said, "ehh."

Then, there was the 29-year-old co-worker of mine who shared her birthday with Ringo Starr. When I mentioned this to her, she at first looked pleased. Then she turned to me and said, "Ringo Starr? Wasn't he in a group?"

So, yeah, some people get along just fine without falling in love with the Fab Four.

I have to admit that I've never really caught "Beatlemania" myself. I can appreciate their importance on an intellectual level, but I don't really get the same sort of visceral connection to it that I do a lot of stuff from the same period/milieu.

Don't get me started on how massively overrated Zep are, though.

I'm always amazed when people a lot younger than I am dig the Beatles or any other artist from the '60s and '70s. Yet this past semester, I had a student who's 18 or 19 and loves the Beatles and Pink Floyd. Of course, part of their appeal is that he's able to share their music with his father. Another part of it is that he's a musician and is able to appreciate the music on that level.

I was six when the Beatles broke up and didn't discover them until ten years later. But that was the era of Paul McCartney & Wings, John was still alive, George had a hit with "Blow Away," and Ringo was famous for being Ringo. That the individual Beatles were still famous and still making hit records cemented their mystique.

And then there were the TV specials, a made-for-TV movie, and magazines showing girls screaming as the Beatles tried to perform simple love songs. There was the ubiquitous music itself and cover versions by Aerosmith ("Come Together"), Earth Wind & Fire ("Got to Get You Into My Life"), and Elton John ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"). The Beatles were indeed something special.

They represented a sort of youthful hope in the future, as John F. Kennedy did to an earlier generation. So long as the Beatles were alive, there was hope that they would get back together. If they could mend their rifts, there was hope that anyone could. Lennon's death destroyed that illusion, as had the death of the earlier John. However, the Beatles' music has lived on ever since. It still speaks of hope, optimism, and universal love. One does not need to be a Beatlemaniac to appreciate those qualities.

The Beatles are so ubiquitous that it really does take a cover for me to get any sense of what I like and don't like about them.

I admit that I get exasperated with fans who carry on like nothing of consequence happened in popular music after they split up, but that's a common affliction not limited to one band or one age group, so...

I've wondered if it's the ubiquity of the Beatles that reduces their impact for me.

On the other hand, no matter how many times I hear "Tuesday Afternoon" in a credit card commercial, I still get that tingly feeling from anything Justin Hayward sings.

<forgive me in advance if you've posted with me forever and have heard me recount this story several times before, including on the classic "Who Are You?" thread on the old DC Boards...>

When I was growing up, I always associated the Beatles with songs like "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and just figured that was the only type of music they ever made.

Then, Nike put "Revolution" on their commercials. I loved the sound and couldn't believe it when I found out these same Beatles were behind that song! It really opened my eyes to what they were capable of, and I very quickly bought a compilation cassette tape (remember those? ) Beatles: 1967-70 that contained "Revolution" and tons of other songs from the era. I played that frickin' thing to DEATH!

I later bought the companion tape Beatles: 1962-66. While I enjoyed that one, too, I was really more drawn to the later stuff and bought "Sgt. Pepper", "Abbey Road", "Magical Mystery Tour", the White Album and "Let It Be", some on cassettes and others on this newfangled dealy called CDs.

For a while the Beatles and John Lennon solo music was just about all I'd listen to. Before I got into them, all I cared about was whether the music sounded good. But with the Beatles I cared a lot more about the musical choices and especially the lyrics.

Later I branched out into metal and other classic rock bands, but the Beatles are probably still pretty much my favorite if my back's against the wall. Really, the only others that compete with them for my affections are Metallica and System of a Down.

Heck, I just realized I'm wearing my t-shirt of the Abbey Road album cover as I type this!

*Goes to the closet and pulls out my Abbey Road tee shirt and puts it on. We're twins, Chief.

When the Beatles retrospective album "One" was released in 2000, I made a conscious decision not to buy it. I owned enough Beatles music, right? Somebody was just cashing in again, I thought. Knowing what a huge Beatles freak I am, my sister bought it for me for my birthday any way. Thank goodness. Listening to their number one hits, in order, gave me a renewed sense of just how much they evolved in such a short time. Here's a promotional piece for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZFxthKAVj0

Also, for anyone going to Vegas, I can't recommend "Love" at the MGM highly enough. Seeing it was one of the best entertainment experiences of my life.

WHOOO!!!

(Terrific album, btw! "And in the end...the love you take is equal to the love...you make!")

I passed that up, too, since I've got all the individual songs. Maybe the perspective and the mix might convince me to pick it up after all at some point. (For the record, I still buy CDs when I want them; can't imagine just having it digitally.)

Haven't seen it (heck, haven't ever been to Vegas! , but I own the CD and enjoyed the mix and the alternate versions a LOT! It's awesome!

I also loved the movie "Across the Universe" and all of the great covers of the songs they chose. Excellent vocals and cast that celebrate their music wonderfully. I own the soundtrack for that as well.

I used to get my Beatles fix by listening to my parents LP's on the old record player in the basement. They had most of the albums, not all...but most.

I think they still do actually.

A pretty little cover of "I Am The Walrus" , by jazz vibraphonist Freddie McCoy (1932-2009).

The Beatles came up in a joke today. The one about a guy entering a pub quiz in Liverpool without a clue when it came to general knowledge. He put down either "The Beatles" or "Steven Gerrard" for every answer. He finished second. Let's see how many more days until the next reference...

Still got the same shirt and wearing it as I sit!

Longevity! The T-Shirt as much as the Beatles

I forgave him all the crap solo albums.

I forgave him for not retiring even when his vocal range was mostly gone.

I even forgave him the facelifts that have left him looking like a chipmunk!

But I will not forgive Paul McCartney for trying to steal songwriting credit from John Lennon in his new book "The Lyrics."

"I've always believed that love is all you need." LIAR, you're the one mocking that very song in its final fade! Anyone with half a brain can tell that those na?ve yet utterly sincere lyrics are 100 percent Lennon.

Anyone with half a brain can also tell that at least half (the better half) of "A Day In the Life" is Lennon.

I may not even be able to listen to "Penny Lane" or "She's Leaving Home" or "Yesterday" or any of McCartney's own good songs anymore.

Stupid old wanker! He can go to hell for all I care!

When I saw the topic headline pop up with "How Many Beatles-Free Days? my first thought was 'It will depend on what Paul has put in "The Lyrics"'.

Not surprised to see it in FIckles' post.

In other news, John Lydon claimed in his court case, that technically there were no Beatles free days, as he created them, formed the Pistols from them, fired one of the other Pistols for even liking the Beatles that he had left behind, and went on to do even better Beatles things in PIL that is still on tour. Across the court room, the other Pistols wondered what other (never minfd the) bollocks Lydon would come up with next.

Speaking of Public Image LTD, my radio station, The Bridge 909, is currently playing "This is Not a Love Song." It clocked in at No. 562 of the top 909 songs of the '80s in a listener's poll.

He keeps getting BETTER!

"ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNSVGoPkiWk

Absolutely AMAZING story!

How Did Ringo Starr Join The Beatles? | Vinyl Rewind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ikMPx65V8