re: The Beatles: does their music hold up?

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Luckily I'm not much of a sheep. I ask the hard-hitting questions like "hold up, are The Beatles actually any good?"

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Beatles appeal to me is that they have a whole library lot of good, listenable tunes. Most bands to good to put out a good album.

They aren't my favorite band producing my favorite music by a long shot, but the sheer volume of work, good work...is astounding. They were also able to change with the evolving times and do it pretty seamlessly.

Does anyone else in here love the beatles but want to kick Paul in the face if he comes out with another song?

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They are usually at the top of the lists because their impact on culture went beyond music. .

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Do you realize you're agreeing with me?

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They don't usually. They weren't great technical musicians by any means. But notice, you said they don't blow YOUR doors off. Again, opinionated.

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Cool. I like The Beatles more than Buddy Holly. So do a lot of people. Opinions.

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Why do you keep emphasizing the word opinion? Did you think somebody was confused about that?

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Cool again. I do.

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And I'm happy for you, and I want to hear more. How many friends do you have? How many are into the Beatles?

You see the reason I put in a sentence about being a sociable person wasn't so that y'all will think I'm cool And it certainly wasn't so that I could get a dick reply from a dick. It was to illustrate that I'm not talking about a group of five people. That the anecdotal evidence I have to offer about people's OPINIONS on The Beatles' music comes from a large enough sample size of a diverse enough group of people over a long enough time period and in enough geographic locations, that it would unreasonable to view it as anything other than a trend.

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I don't see how you not knowing any HUGE Beatles fan is moving the discussion along

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Do you get it now?

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Well you must not get out much. I've heard "Good Day Sunshine" and "All You Need is Love" both on commercials within the last week

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I must have missed those commercials because I was out.

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I always hear their songs on the radio.

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You must have gotten lucky. This one guy told me their songs were too expensive for radio.

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Their catalog is pretty expensive if you didn't know. It's not like you can just hand over a few hundred bucks to use their music.

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Well I figured prices might have dropped after MJ kicked the bucket. Oh wait...that isn't how music publishing works.

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Cool again. You think perhaps these film companies, commercials, etc. thought it might be cheaper to use other music besides the Beatles?

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No, I don't think that at all. And if you actually believe that this is the reason you don't see Beatles music in movie soundtracks or the like, then either (a) you have no idea what you are talking about, (b) you are a moron, or (c) both.

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a time when there was an emergence of downloadable music and just an overall easier access to music, a Beatles' compilation album outsold every album

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I think that's because it wasn't available on iTunes. Try to find a helpful metric for us if you don't mind.

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From 2000-2010, a time where kids who's parents weren't even born when the Beatles broke up, a time when there was an emergence of downloadable music and just an overall easier access to music, a Beatles' compilation album outsold every album. A BILLION records sold. That's nearly 1/6th of the world's population owning a Beatles record.

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I just read a study that approximately 1/6th of the population is too old to intelligently speak on the question of whether music aged well...well, you know, because they're old and all.

Oh, and that compilation album made a great stocking stuffer for my dad. Well, that's what he said. But he was listening to Roy Orbison at the time, so I don't really know.

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(b) Katy Perry had 7 number 1 hits on her last album.

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Not in 63-70 she didn't.

Think about all the other music made in that time period.

Also, I take it you aren't a musician?

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Also, I take it you aren't a musician?

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I take it you're not a golfer?

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And, no, I'm not a musician.

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gotcha

The difference is this: In 200 years, will serious music afficionados know something about Zeppelin, Hendrix, and most of these other artists? Probably. But the Beatles will be part of the cultural heritage, and the average decently educated man on the street will know who they were. The same way most people know of Beethoven and Mozart, whether they know anything else about classical music or not.

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I think their music still holds up

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Agreed.

Maybe this has been said the last 5 pages, but i didn't read all post. "music holds up" is an expansive question, but i can't name many artists outside of Elvis that came before the Beatles that still has such a large following.

Yes, many bands AFTER are regarded highly (stones, zep, etc.), but the Beatles were first. And part of the brilliance of the Beatles were the fact that they did it first. They turned the "alternative" music of the day into "pop".

Their influence is heard in modern day pop culture 40 years after their last hit. Whether its movies, music, commercials, books, etc.

I challenge you to name an artist of any kind that has not listened to the Beatles and has an opinion, one way or the other.

Unfortunately, I just got back from dinner and drinks and I'm too tired to deal with this thread. But right off the bat I can think of dozens of responses that are irrefutable and win any conceivable e-contest. Plus I'm one smart motherfricker and have an incredible wealth of knowledge regarding popular music from the 1930's to the present.

Let's just say this for now. You have to consider the historical and cultural context in which The Beatles came to be. After they were given free reign, they did things collectively that hadn't been done before (although they borrowed a lot). It is not an overstatement to say that they changed popular music.

If you're talking about personal preference, there's really no use in discussing the matter because that's just individual taste. For example, there are three Stones albums that I revere above any other albums ever recorded, but I also think The Beatles created some individual tracks that are beyond anything the Stones ever did or thought about doing.

Maybe some other time when I'm rested (I am, after all, over 25), I'll be in the mood to educate you.