Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 12:50 am Post subject: We love them, yeah, yeah, yeah......, oh yeah?
Today kicks off the 'International Beatles Week'.
"No!" I hear you cry, "Oh yes!" I reply.
Would somebody please explain to me what all the fuss over the Beatles is all about please?
I mean, what is it exactly that makes the Fab Four so fab?
Average songs, lower than average singing voices (no really, I sing better than Paul and John put together!) and you couldn't exactly describe any of them as 'pretty boys'.
And while we're on the subject, would somebody please explain the appeal of Elvis as well?
Again, average songs, average voice and even though he was a pretty boy in his younger days it didn't take very long for one too many cheeseburgers to put that to rest.
I know I wasn't around in the time of Beatles and Elvis snuffed it just as I came along so this isn't a generational thing.
Other stars of that time I think are brilliant, like Sandie Shaw and Mama Cass - pure gold!
But I really don't 'get' the hooha about The Beatles and Elvis.
they brought in new music which brought about changes in the society of the day.. that's what created the ear of Elvis and the era of The Beatles
When there is a first then it cant' helped but be seem as something to be remembered and often celebrated _________________ as a babe drinks from its mothers breast so too does man milk mother earth
I was a boom baby born just after the war. The country had come through really tough times and was re-building people had work and money for the first time and the younger generation where going somewhere and the opportunities were there to be taken.
You had crooners and big bands and it was dull dull dull and all American and then someone opened the blinds and let the sun in.
The Beatles literally exploded onto the scene and at first as with all things they shocked the olds but they really rocked the young people.
The atmosphere of excitement and change and going forward was tangible in the sixties and the Beatles lead the way.
They changed everything and suddenly people began to believe that ordinary people could change the world.
If you think that I am over the top here that is because you had to be there to appreciate it.
I used to go every Friday night to the Leyton Swimming Baths along with hundreds of other kids to hear the bands and chase the girls.
they used to have new bands and we would see people who later became famous.
The Beatles first record was released the previous weekend and that Friday we went along to the baths as usual.
We hadn't taken account that the Beatles were booked in to perform as we hand until that time never heard of them.
We arrived to find a queue so huge that for the first time ever we could not get anywhere near the place and missed them. Such was the impact of one single record.
They were of their time and light years ahead of anything else around.
I am pleased that I was born when I was.
But you had to be there.
I hope that a new Beatles appear soon becuse this generation of health and safety babys need some help and something to look forward to and I see nothing for them. _________________ Please visit our main site
Maybe it is a generational thing and maybe you're right - you HAD to be there.
Like I say, the Beatles were way before my time and when I listen to their music now I think "Why do people think this is so good?" their music wouldn't even get into the charts these days.
Ok, so maybe I've softened up a bit on The Beatles since Hobbs' post - but that still leaves Elvis.
Surely things weren't so bad after the war that his dredge was seen as a glimmer of hope?
'Blue Suede Shoes?" oh please!
I'm with Raymond on 'The Beatles'. I don't really like them that much...if at all. I definitely wouldn't go out to buy their album. I do like Elvis though
I suppose it just comes down to personal taste really. My Dad likes Pink Floyd and to be perfectlt honest with you I'd rather push hot needles into my ears than listen to a single note of that stuff.
Same goes for any rock music, any rap music and definately any country and western!!
I suppose it comes as no surprise to anybody but the type of music I listen to is Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, Kylie Minogue and Madonna.
I'm not sure why I like them - I just do
I suppose 'my people' have always had a bit of a soft spot for brassy birds.
But it is about different tastes, and that's fine - that's how it should be.
But I don't see any 'International Shirley Bassey Week' coming up any time soon.
I like pretty much all those you say Raymond. I do like a lot of different styles of music. Very few I don't like, probably punk being the only one I can think of right now, and I would contend that punk isn't so much a form of music as a form of rebellion in the shouted form.
Pink Floyd yes, you have to be in the right mood really. It's good music to listen to while doing something else, sort of let it flow over you. I don't mean drugs either as is commonly said with Floyd. I mean something like clearing the old memory drawer, or tidying up etc. great having it flow over you. _________________
i think dave summed it up...........after the carnage of ww2 and the prevailing rigid society of the times then elvis and the beatles were a breath of fresh air-with attitude..........listen to heartbreak hotel (it's the only elvis song i like) .it must have been mindblowing at the time!!!!!
the guitar is incredible...........
around this time songs like 'rumble' by link wray were banned for being sexual!!!!!! it was an instrumental ffs!!!!!!
the beatles learned their trade and eventually became excellent songwriters taking ideas from other musical genres.ie the cadence at the end of eleanor rigby...........
i agree that a lot of it has not stood the test of time and the singing was pretty weak...........
my all time fav is jimi hendrix.followed by bowie.
other favs-smiths,sisters of mercy,siouxsie,david sylvian,joy division
i hate (c)rap and country too..........
perhaps its an age thing but current bands like florence and the machine,kasabian,killers just have nothing imho
I can't stand rap but at least they have something to say.
Yeah - and it's usually something violent.
Rappers are the worst kind of entertainers. They go on about how angry they are and how dreadful their lives are and how hard done by they feel in society - and then they go home in their expensive cars to their 16 roomed mansions and spend the day next to their private swimming pools.
At least with people like Kylie you get what you see. Happy, positive, fun. Bubble-gum pop may not be to everyone's taste but at least it doesn't pretend to be anything it's not.
Quote......
Rappers are the worst kind of entertainers. They go on about how angry they are and how dreadful their lives are and how hard done by they feel in society - and then they go home in their expensive cars to their 16 roomed mansions and spend the day next to their private swimming pools. ...........
Bob Dylan
Pete Seager
Box Car Willie
All country and western singers and on and on have done the same thing.
They are singing the lives of others but in the first person.
That is why they make lots and lots of money, they relate to people.
The only one I've heard of in that little 'Hobbs Hall Of Fame' is Bob Dylan - and even then I couldn't tell you any of his songs.
Don't diss Dame Shirley in front of me Hobbs!!! You'll loose! Every time!
If you actually listened to 'I Who Have Nothing' it's actually about a woman who is in love with a man.
The man, it is hinted, is extremely rich and only goes around with gold-digging little whores who are young and pretty.
The woman singing (in this case, Dame Shirley) can't compete because she is neither young nor a whore.
Nowhere in the song does it mention about her own personal wealth.
The Beatles are goodish, Yellow Submarie and Hey Jude, and i like the famous photo, but the Stones are much much much much better, as are the Floyd, ahhhhh Pink Floyd, good times _________________ I give you, the Waffle King
You haven't heard 'Hey Jude' until you've seen Dame Shirley sing it live.
In fact, just as an act of pure kindness from my heart to yours, I'll allow you people a brief glimpse into my world.
But be warned - this following video is of the highest quality camp and glamour.
If any of you (especially the men) start to show any signs of things that you are not used to, like glittering fabulousness or sparkling wit, stop watching immediately and go and do something hetrosexual.
Watch some football or look under the bonnet of a car. That should bring you back to your sense of normality.
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