Beatlemania all over again?

16 Responses

  1. James Percival says:

    Roger, I am almost exactly the same age as you and became a Beatles fan in the mid 70s too.

    I think that you provide some really interesting analysis. The trouble is that terms such as interest are very difficult to measure (newspaper or tv articles?), and data on new fans also difficult to record.

    The only really reliable way would be to look at record sales. More data is now available but I do question the reliability of some of it. Nevertheless, in the outline that you provided two events really stand out:

    1- the death of John Lennon which resulted in a massive wave of interest. I have come across a figure of 60m album sales in the early 80s which is a colossal amount if true.

    2- the Anthology project which also resulted in huge sales figures. These sales were also extended by hte earlier success of the BBC recordings with big world wide sales, and, as you mentioned, the colossal sales for 1. Thus the second half of the 90s was a huge time for the Beatles and was reflected in many of the end of millennium polls which demonstrated the ongoing appeal of the Beatles (and Elvis).

    Since then things have gone quieter and I think we ought to accept that as the baby boomer generation grows older they won't necessarily keep on buying the same products again and again. Besides, do we have figures for world wide streaming sales? Album sales will probably never be as high as the peak years of the 80s and 90s for any artists.

    Finally, this 1 project really excites me and I look forward to the remixes. I thought that the YS soundtrack was a big improvement and I was disappointed with the 2009 remasters (although I still bought them all!)

  2. Unknown says:

    Dear Roger,
    I have a question regarding the Beatles 1 & 1+ Blu Ray bonus disc. The description mentions that the 1st disc of 27 tracks has been remixed in stereo & 5.1 surround. Does that mean i should assume the Bonus disc of 23 tracks will be treated the same with new stereo & 5.1 surround mixes as well?
    Thank you
    Tony LoGuecio

  3. Gabor Peterdi says:

    Well I think The Beatles will slowly become a calssical composer type of thing. Everybody will be able to whistle some of their tunes and there will be scolars scrutinizing every detail, but the average Joe will have not much idea about them. Those first generational fans will soon die and the mantra of 'we were there so it's our music' will fade out with them. They'll turn into history but that's how it is. All Things Must Pass.

    PS. But we the fans will stay loyal until our dying day, will be buried with those songs inprinted in our cells, wearing our T-shirts and Beatles belt buckles and attend their every show in the afterlife. John and George are already tuning…

  4. Edward R says:

    What about the impact of Beatles Rockband. Got my kids hooked and now word perfect on fab songs. Also the Vegas show.

  5. Martin says:

    In the 90s a lot of new Beatles fans came through Oasis. No, I am not saying Oasis are as good as The Beatles, but through Noel and Liam's open love of The Beatles and their influence many younger fans got into the Fab Four. I recall a large poster in Manchester city centre around 1995. It featured Liam Gallagher with a beard and the words 'The Beatles 1967-1970' Painted in blue on the palm of his open hand. Can't remember what the poster was for, but the Oasis/Beatles thing was big at the time….

    A similar thing was Paul Weller and The Small Faces. In his 90s renaissance, Weller sang the praises of Steve Marriott and Co. Weller also never made a secret of his love for The Beatles.

  6. James Peet says:

    I became a fan of the Beatles in November 1982, after hearing Love Me Do (then in the charts following a re-release for its 20th anniversary). I was 11. Now, I have just about everything, a few nice rarities, a lot of books and general "stuff". I think that these newly polished videos will help keep the Beatles popular, as their sound recordings still gather new fans. Whether this continues long-term, I'm not sure. We are getting nearer the time when (sadly) the Beatles will be deceased and this may mean them slipping quietly into the background or it could spur on yet more fans and new Beatles product. Who knows? I'll die a Beatles fan and that's the only thing I can predict!

  7. Anonymous says:

    what got me into the beatles was seeing the complete beatles on tv in 83 or 84.it's a great documentary on the group.it was made in 82.so many kids today are into dubstep and rap and hiphop and techno.and it's just awful.they are not into the beatles.

  8. James Percival says:

    In terms of record sales the first cds in 1987 must also have led to a massive increase in numbers given that it was a well-known phenomenon that music fans tended to buy their favourite vinyl albums on cd. In that respect both the high price of Beatles cds compared to comparable artists such as the Stones and Zeppelin, and the long delay before the remasters came out, probably hurt further sales a bit.

    As I mentioned new fans are difficult to measure. I became a fan aged 11 due to a music teacher at school who played us a lot of songs off the red and blue albums. I had a friend at school who became even more obsessive than me, and several other more casual fans. My formative years were during punk and heavy metal but 'underground' there was still a lot of interest in the Beatles. My own children, aged 9 and 7 hear Beatles songs at school, but don't really have much interest as yet. It may well be the case that fewer and fewer new fans will emerge, but there will always be some.

    I think the analogy with classical composers is a good one, Gabor, but how about parallels with the jazz greats? Although I am a Beatlemaniac, I do have very broad and deep musical interests and in my early 20s I really got into bebop and big band artists such as Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. Their records never sold in anything like the numbers of the Beatles, but they still sell and interest in collecting all their recordings is probably greater than ever. I am sure that a deep interest in the Beatles will continue for decades long after all the band members are dead; and as a cultural phenomenon this is only really starting. Already several university departments worldwide are offering courses in the Beatles.

  9. Unknown says:

    It will still be relevant. Why? Because music doesn't develop as quickly as it did before. Look at the music scene early 60's and again end of the 60's. We came such a long way. The Beatles career was really 63-69. Most band take that amount out of time to release the second album. In 77 punk came and the hippies were so old hat, why they were only 10 years old. Look back to 2005. Kids still listen to that, it's as relevant today and it's 10 years old Glam rock came in the 70's but was just a rehash of rock n roll. Disco was interesting but punk made it embarrassing to be a Beatle fan, yet years later we find out they were all closet beatles fans anyway. So we all went underground until oasis. Two cool lads who said bollocks to the lot of you, the Beatles were cool and still are. The great thing about the Beatles is they did everything. Mods in suits, dressing up, hippies, long hair short hair, ballads, rock n roll, heavy metal, everything I listen to now I can trace some influence there. My kids hear something and say that's a bit beatley!! Hip hop and rap are the only things that is new but that's become repetitive so what's next? Back to basics guitar bass n drums and who will the kids look to for influence? They go back to the excitement of rock n roll which leads them to the next development The Beatles and a whole new generation will do what the Beatles did, Nick a few chords a few melodies and so the cycle continues. There are only 8 notes. There is only so much you can do!

  10. Martin says:

    Great piece there, Alan. I recall The Stone Roses at the time of their iconic debut album in 89 showing their love for The Beatles. John Squire said his favourite album of all time was 'Revolver' and Mani was praised in the music press for his 'Beatles inspired basslines'. Squire also saw The Beatles as the yardstick, the ultimate inspiration. Squire said, 'I don't understand all these bands that say they are influenced by unknown and obscure artists, just to appear cool. We (The Roses) want to be as good as The Beatles or The Byrds, and why not? There's no point in aiming low.'

    Ian Brown also said of the Roses classic debut album, 'It is a great album, but it is nowhere near the five best Beatles albums. I would have loved us to go into Abbey Road with George Martin for six months and see what we could have done…'

  11. Martin says:

    Happy Mondays also loved The Beatles. Their early track 'Desmond' is a nod to 'Obla-Di-Obla-Da'(Shaun Ryder's favourite Beatles track) and the single 'Lazyitis (The One Armed Boxer)' contains lines based on 'Ticket To Ride.'

    Mondays drummer, Gary Whelan, was even known throughout Manchester as Ringo Starr. Such was his admiration for Richie and his drumming…

    Oasis did get a lot of younger people into The Beatles, but Manchester bands doffed their caps to the Fab Four long before Definitely Maybe…

  12. Terence Daniel Collier says:

    anyone want to see a brief clip of the amazing Two of Us video vimeo.com/9727284

  13. Martin says:

    Cheers for that,Terry.
    Is Bob still suffering with Thelma?

  14. Terence Daniel Collier says:

    As always! I'll take him down the pub tonight for a few pints to cheer him up! 🙂

  15. Thomas says:

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  16. Anonymous says:

    The Beatles may have become a religion/obsession for a large body of the ageing and well-heeled earlier generations of fans but there's a hideous 'ownership' aspect with artefacts of authoritarianism which really doesn't belong in Beatledom or any other fan community.

    Some might say this authoritarianism is perhaps just a subset of 'social media empowerment of audiences and public but it's a little more than that. A lot more than that.

    There's a desire to worship of one hand and a desire to usurp on the other.
    It's of the order of 'The Beatles are great but if I can get into their vault by any means, I'll do it'.
    It's a kind of 'survivalist Beatledom'. Its most vocal and arrogant figures have their own radio shows and wax forth their declarations of whether what Apple is doing business-wise is cool or not.
    We just witnessed a few of these figures almost being caught with their fat asses exposed when their warm-up to another bout of Apple-bashing (as per the hysterical scenes surrounding some commentary on 'The US Albums') was quickly wrong-footed by general and ecstatically favourable opinion on the 1+ sets forthcoming.

    I think it's time these would-be 'leaders' of opinion were shunned. Boycott their shows and let them know their opinion is to be challenged.

    I present this as an example of what's needed.

    Am I kowtowing to official Apple/Universal propaganda?
    Since there hasn't been any, NO.
    Apple's motives and operations are always OPINIONS in these people's heads (and sadly in their readers and listeners too) not facts, not research.

    I've just had enough of aging Beatlemaniac bullshit, from condemning ignorance in their grandchildren's generation and other forms of downright NASTY zealotry.

    It's time to tell a few fatboys to STFU

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