I Want to Hold Your Band
In truth, it’s hard to see how the winner could really be
anyone else but the Beatles. They weren’t the first pop
megastars (Elvis, Rudolph Valentino, Sinatra, to name a few), nor
do they have the best selling record of all time (that would be,
according to the most recent Rolling Stone, The Eagles
Greatest Hits). Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was running
things in the recording studio before John, Paul, George and
Ringo did. So what is it they did, exactly?
Well, they transcended, really. Those seven people (the Fabs,
their producer George Martin, their manager Brian Epstein, their
road manager Mal Evans) mirrored, were influenced by and
influenced popular culture all at the same time. They
smashed boundaries great and small (everything from recording in
a studio after 10pm to breaking the three-minute length of a
single). I know someone who maintains that the Beatles are one of
the great examples of synergy and group dynamics ever – that
here is one of the great examples of the whole being greater than
the sum of its parts, and that this is an MBA thesis waiting to
be written. If you read their history, one’s mind boggles at
the circumstances that created this little piece of history.
Here are some interesting Beatle factoids:
- Their manager agreed to take 10% of the profits for
Beatle merchandise, leaving the manufacturers to keep the
remaining 90%. He couldn't believe people would buy
Beatles merchandise, and lost them millions of dollars in
the process.
- They recorded their first record in a little over 14
hours.
- The time that elapsed between "Love Me Do" and
"Tomorrow Never Knows", the first track they
recorded for their Revolver album (and what some
critics consider the first hard rock recording), was a
little over three years.
- Sales of Beatles records in 1998 amounted to 50% of
Capitol Records’ revenue, almost 30 years after they
split up.
It’s a really remarkable and somewhat improbable story.
They’re not a band – they’re icons, and are still
icons long after The End – the recent attack on George
Harrison was front-page news. There are tons of great bands,
great songs, great live acts, great producers, great PR and great
managers. The Beatles had all that, and something else ineffable.
If I knew what it was, I’d bottle it and sell it. Next time
we’ll leave them off and see who comes out on top. The
playing field wasn’t really level this time.
By the way – I’ve seen at least two "I Hate The
Beatles" websites. Whether you love the Beatles or hate them,
you should go visit those websites – you’ll either
laugh or cheer.
(Lawdog's additional comments):
I was truly surprised at the Police finishing second. I like
them but do they really merit a second place? Anyway, I got some
emails asking why people like Frank Zappa and Neil Young and the
like were omitted and I really don't know the answer. I thought
the nominees covered a wide variety of styles and represented a
good cross-section of music history.
My personal choice was Prince or glyph or O-|-> or the
Artist or Rumpelstiltskin or whatever he is calling himself these
days. I was telling the Gist that I think Prince is an
unequivocal musical genius on par with composers such as
Beethoven. I think he is the most diverse musician I have ever
heard also. I told the Gist that the difference between his
choice, Billy Joel, and my choice, was that Prince could do what
Billy Joel does, but Billy Joel can't do what Prince does. Having
said all that, he has the biggest freaking Messiah complex in the
world. He so wants to influence culture in an unprecedented way
that he is grasping at straws. Changing his name to an
unpronounceable symbol? Voiding his marriage because he doesn't
believe in contracts? Just freaky stuff. That doesn't detract
from his musical ability though. He is one of the best guitar
players in the world but that's just a small portion of his
ability. He can play all the other instruments, sing all the
voices, compose it all, produce it, and go from R and B to funk
to rockabilly to hard rock on one CD. I say he is da man.
This poll was fun. Flatcat did a good job I thought on both
the nominees and the commentary. He will be a regular contributor
going forward. Not that this was some sort of test but I just
wanted to let you know.
The new poll heads back into the regions of space. We want to
know who is the hottest Star Trek babe? Will Seven of Nine run
away with the total or will there be an upset of galactic
proportion? Tune in Thursday, same Scoop time, same Scoop channel.
Comments and suggestions to lawdogusc@hotmail.com.
You can also write Flatcat at flatcat90@hotmail.com and
the Gist at the_gist@hotmail.com.
Previous
Poll Topic: Best Musical Artist/Band (Rock and Roll)
|
| The
Beatles |
 25.4% - (214 Votes) |
| The
Police |
13.3% - (112 Votes) |
| Elvis
Presley |
10.1% - (85 Votes) |
| Led
Zeppelin |
7.2% - (61 Votes) |
| The
Rolling Stones |
5.3% - (45 Votes) |
| Metallica |
4.5% - (38 Votes) |
| Bob
Dylan |
2.8% - (24 Votes) |
| Prince |
2.7% - (23 Votes) |
| Nirvana |
2.6% - (22 Votes) |
| Bruce
Springsteen |
2.4% - (21 Votes) |
| Chuck
Berry |
2.4% - (21 Votes) |
| The
Eagles |
2.2% - (19 Votes) |
| The
Who |
2.2% - (19 Votes) |
| Jimi
Hendrix Experience |
2.2% - (19 Votes) |
| The
Doors |
2.1% - (18 Votes) |
| Queen |
2.1% - (18 Votes) |
| Kiss |
1.9% - (16 Votes) |
| Rush |
1.9% - (16 Votes) |
| Billy
Joel |
1.5% - (13 Votes) |
| James
Brown |
1% - (9 Votes) |
| The
Sex Pistols |
1% - (9 Votes) |
| Bob
Marley |
0.5% - (5 Votes) |
| Stevie
Wonder |
0.3% - (3 Votes) |
| The
Beach Boys |
0.3% - (3 Votes) |
| Ray
Charles |
0.3% - (3 Votes) |
| Grandmaster
Flash and the Furious Five |
0.2% - (2 Votes) |
| Aretha
Franklin |
0.2% - (2 Votes) |
| Sly
and the Family Stone |
0.1% - (1 Votes) |
Total Votes: 841 |
