A Beatles Thread: 25 years of listening to music....

Oddly, I've heard people geniunely argue that the Beatles created rap. And Punk.

Well yes, of course. I can't imagine anyone actually hating their music, I hate what they stand for moreso than anything else.

It's odd that this topic came up, because i've been working on an essay entitled I Hate The Beatles for a few weeks now.

Right, but the person who started this thread is talking about listening to them, and coming back and listening again after having heard much else.

I think they were very, very great, but that's not to say I like everything they recorded.

I have nothing new to say about them though.

(NB in the last year or two I've really got into the Beatles.)

I've heard the latter ("Helter Skelter" also --- evidently -- invented metal to some folks' minds). But how could anyone suggest they created rap?

but anyway...

a band with an almost godly knowledge of, simply, what sounds GOOD, and how to play and produce it to sound that way. Just listen to the progression of early "Strawberry Fields Forever" demos on one of the Anthologies

one thing about the beatles, whether you love, like, hate 'em or just don't care, is that they had a remarkable understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. virtually every outtake, alternate take and working version from the anthology series is WORSE than the officially released version, making it pretty damn clear how deliberately they worked toward something with every damn song. in just about every case, the released version is the RIGHT version, which is quite an achievement in itself. smart young lads they were.

You really need things spelled out for you, don't you:

Not to be rude, but is anyone else fucking sick of Alex in NYC and his Killing Joke fixation?

Entirely OTM. One of my closest co-worker listens exclusively to the Beatles, goes to Beatles conventions, wears Beatles t-shirts, drops Beatles-related allusions into casual conversations. It's maddening. I mean, hey, it makes her happy -- and who am I to decry that? But, y'know.....I mean, get one life, as they say.

Are you Allan Sherman?

My daughter needs a new phonograph.
She wore out all the needles.
Besides, I broke the old one in half.
I hate the Beatles.
She says they have a Liverpool beat.
She says they used to play there.
Four nice kids from offa the street.
Why didn't they stay there?
What is all the screaming about?
Fainting and swooning.
Sounds to me like their guitars
Could use a little tuning.
The boys are from the British Empire.
The British think they're keen.
If that is what the British desire,
God Save The Queen.
No daughter of mine can push me around.
In my home I'm the master.
But when the British come into town,
Gad, what a disaster.
Little girls in sneakers and jeans.
Destroyed the territory.
'Twas like some of the gorier scenes
From West Side Story.
Of course my daughter had to go there.
The tickets are cheap, she hollers.
I was able to pick up a pair
For forty-seven dollars.
When the Beatles come on the stage,
They scream and shriek and cheer them.
Now I know why they're such a rage,
It's impossible to hear them.
Ringo is the one with the drum,
The others all play with him.
It shows you what a boy can become
Without a sense of rhythm.
There's Beatle books and T-shirts and rings,
And one thing and another.
To buy my daughter all of these things,
I had to sell her brother.
Back in 1776
We fought the British then, folks.
Parents of America,
It's time to do it again, folks.
When they come back, here's how we'll begin,
We'll throw 'em in Boston harbor.
But please, before we toss 'em all in,
Let's take 'em to a barber.

On the other hand, I don't see the point of this thread, when there are already so many Beatles threads here already, and it's not hard to find out where different people stand regarding the band.

Fact!

Also, I admit it, this thread was not necessary. I guess I'm just curious to see if some of the older people (who've been exposed to many many more bands than I have) have resigned themselves to the fact that the Beatles are the best they're likely to hear. Pointless thread? Maybe.

I don't give a rat's ass about the beatles.

Sooooo you don't like the Beatles, I gather?

Regardless of whatever one's inidivudal tastes may be, I can't really fathom anyone having a negative reaction to the Beatles. I just can't imagine it. I can completely understand being put off by the deification the Beatles have enjoyed over the ensuing decades, but the music itself? Who could argue with it?

"Hey Bulldog", "I Am the Walrus", "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Taxman", "Dr.Robert", "Helter Skelter", and many more......I will never get tired of.

let us never speak of this again.

Supposedly, the Kink's record company was really frugal with them, and prevented Davies from really producing their music the way they wanted to. It's interesting to think about what might have happened had the Beatles been stuck with some similar situation, or if Epstein had not been around.

I have to admit, I agree with this sentiment. I haven't been coming into contact with that attitude enough lately to be really pissed off by it, though. It's not like I read Rolling Stone (though I remember being put off by their all-time top 500 some years ago), Geir doesn't usually get a lot of support here on ilm, none of the sites or blogs I visit do any 60s cannon worshiping, etc.

Maybe some day I'll "get" what's so great about them, but it's not a high priority for me. I'm generally much more interested in more current music.

Hahaha

see also S & the Bs "dear prudence" (a sort-of hit), Monsoon "Tomorrow Never Knows" (not a hit, but great)

Dr C is correct abt the bealtes being off the map in the late '70's-early '80's in the uk. There was this band who's single (IIRC called "101 damn-nations" - not carter usm, & google does not help here) got hyped to fuck back then, but didn't hit. They were total beatles fetishists, and their whole act at the time was just - weird.

...which led the way to all kinds of Beatles tribute shows in the late '70s. First concert I ever saw was the Mahoney Bros., a Central Jersey Beatles tribute band. (They also did originals, which were more like subpar Badfinger.)

In the US until Mark David Chapman, it was like the Beatles were only taking a long hiatus after Abbey Road. Surprising that the situation was completely different in the UK.

I saw the band *APPLE* at the first ever New England Beatles Convention! Musta been 1978 or so. I was just a kid. I was, by far, the youngest kid there. Apple played, and I got to see the Magical Mystery Tour movie. That was the highlight of my day.

Norman, I *think* that was Scarlet Party. They were hyped hugely for about 5 minutes in 82-ish. I remember seeing them live (they sent them out on the Univ tour) and they were wearing red Sgt Pepper jackets. You're right, it was just plain odd at the time. There was a sense of 'that's been *done*, why would anyone want to do THAT again?'

Or ZZ Top. Or ...

in 1980, i suffered from a terrible case of adamant-itis. i know, i know, they were pirates, but still...

Also, most/all of these bands were clinging desperately onto the jam's coattails.

also "love me do" was reissued on the 20th anniversary of its original release in 1982 and went top five. at the same time there was a minor rash of old-school beatle soundalikes, the most successful of which was "danger games" by the pinkees, played to death by radio 1 and hyped to number eight in the charts.

I had a quick flick thru Terry Rawling's 'Mod- A Very British Phenomenon' last night to see what the likes of The Chords and The Purple Hearts had to say. It's as I thought - these guys were pretty much soul boys who were energized by punk, then picked up on The Who (Quadrophenia!), Small Faces, The Creation etc. Pretty much the same as Weller. The Beatles don't figure. I don't think anyone realised how much of a Beatles fan Weller was until Taxman, but also you have to remember that Sound Affects was also sounding a bit like Wire, Joy Div etc, so people recognized the stealing of the Taxman riff, but thought it was a bit of a one-off.

do you like the beatles, marcello? i can't recall you ever saying.

The Jam - how I love them. I remember starting a C/D thread waaay back on ILM, and being taken aback by the loathing.

The reason why I played "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" by Frank Wilson at the top of my Clear Spot programme last year was because it was our wedding song.

I've always found that punk statement "no more beatles, stones, etc" silly.

We were big on Lincs so we probably did make it to the Cleethorpe WGs - will have to check the old diaries 'cos we did go to a lot of 'em.

In the NME's 1985 Top 50 Albums list, two of the Top 10 were recorded in the '60s - Velvets' VU, and Sam Cooke Live At The Harlem Square Club. In the same year the NME updated their All-Time Top 100 Albums list - soulboy nirvana.

There was a fair amount of media kerfuffle when the 20th anniversary of Sgt Pepper rolled around and the Beatles' back catalogue came out on CD.

Well, there wasn't really any need. Most was fresh in memory, detail was covered in books, and stuff that wasn't was known only to a select few that were keeping the info to themselves.

eh, still sad, Morrissey?