What Made the Beatles Unique? A Personal Perspective

 

 

Photo by Fedor on Unsplash 

One of the social media groups I frequent posed a thought-provoking post on the Beatles. The post was accompanied by images of four other bands--the Beach Boys, the Monkees, ABBA, and Oasis--with image of the Fab Four superimposed in the middle. The post contained the provocative title, Four Bands That Could Have Been Bigger Than The Beatles (But the Universe Had Other Plans).

Okay, it's not that provocative. It's the kind of question that always comes up in fandom: Who could have been more popular than X? The poster briefly discussed each of the four bands what might have kept them from topping the Beatles. The reasons were often inane but had a ring of truth (e.g., the sibling rivalry of Oasis).

But what did make the Beatles unique, after all? Why were they so overwhelmingly popular t--a total of 20 U.S. Number One hits, still a record after more than half a century!--and why has their popularity endured? Why were they more than just a musical act, but a phenomenon that shaped clothing, culture, and attitudes for several generations since?

Here is a slightly modified version of my response. 

The only thing these four bands--the Beach Boys, The Monkees, ABBA, and Oasis--have in common with the Beatles, that I can see, is that they most were quartets. They were also very popular for a time, but so were a lot of other bands. So, what made the Beatles unique? Larger brains than mine have pondered this question. I can only speak from personal experience.

 

The Good Ol' Days--Now and Then

I discovered the Beatles almost a decade after they broke up. Paul was still active with Wings, and George had just released one of his rare hits, "Blow Away." John and Ringo had largely "retired." But the Beatles represented a glimpse into the past when things were "better"--the proverbial good old days that nostalgia always promotes. They were Jesus Christ and '50s Elvis, yet they were not my parents' idols. They were my own. When Lennon released Double Fantasy, it was like the Second Coming.

 

Music and Charts--Got to Get You Into My Life

 

It helped, of course, that they had good songs that stood the test of time. "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" sounded as exciting in 1979 as they must have in 1964. And there were the incredible feats of chart success: The Top Five songs in the US for one week in 1964. At the time, only the Bee Gees came close with their huge Saturday Night Fever and Spirits Having Flown success--six number one hit singles in a row.

 

Bigger Than Jesus? Imagine

 

The Beatles came close to being all things to all people. They were cute and cuddly but also controversial. They worked within the confines of the pop music genre but also expanded it. They took creative risks that seemed both spontaneous and calculated. They were part of the musical establishment and rebelled against it. They toured until they chose not to. They kept their mouths quiet about politics until they chose not to. They refused to perform at the big events at the time, such as Monterrey and Woodstock, because they didn't want to. They were proxies for those of us who wanted to be rich and famous but control our own lives.

 

 Living by Proxy--Hello Goodbye

 

It truly seemed as if the Beatles could do no wrong. Even when Paul was busted for marijuana possession in Japan in 1980 (resulting in 10 days in jail and a cancelled tour--which must have cost a lot of money), it was not the scandal that would be used to wreck careers today. It just kept the Beatles story interesting, like a fourth season plot twist of a Netflix show. No other band captured the public's imagination by embodying so many contradictions: fraternal loyalty versus independence, mainstream music versus artistic growth, conformity versus rebellion. The Beatles found harmony in the contradictions of modern life and made fans dream of what was possible in their own lives.

 

What's your take? Do the Beatles still resonate with you? If so, why?