Uncut Rubber

All right... so here's my short essay on the Beatles' lasting fame which I wrote over the course of the last few days. I hope you...
1) enjoy!
2) will let me know what you think of it
3) won't mind that I posted this on the Last.fm forums as well

Here goes.


On Contemporary Beatlemania


Take a look at Last.fm’s overall charts for this week. What do you see?

A few decent bands – Metallica, the RHCP – who are only up there by “virtue” of their more recent (i.e. not-so-decent) work. A lot of modern crap – Muse, Coldplay, the Killers, Nirvana. But also, without fail, the Beatles.

It is not only because of these charts, but also because of what I have noticed in everyday life, that I have wondered, what is so special about the Beatles? Of all the great rock bands of the British Invasion – of all the great classic rock bands, actually -, why are they adored by all those naïve girls (and their slick boyfriends) who, for the rest, care only for what’s on the radio? Why, in other words, are the Beatles the ones to adorn the Last.fm charts and not, say, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Small Faces (who were never properly recognised for their greatness anyway), the Kinks or the Animals?

A lot of it probably has to do with the Mods – Rockers divide. For those who have never heard of Mods, nor of Rockers: in the early 1960s, British youth culture was split into “Rockers” with motorcycles, leather jackets and greased hair who listened to light, poppy rock & roll, usually from white artists, and “Mods” with scooters and smart suits who mostly listened to rough, unpolished blues music from black artists.

Both subcultures produced a lot of famous bands, most of which are now referred to as “British Invasion” bands. The Mod side had the Who and the Stones, as well as the Animals, the Small Faces and the Kinks, while the Rockers had… well, the Beatles.

The Beatles, thus, were from an entirely different cultural background than many other British Invaders. Of course, this had its effects on their sound and on their fanbase. The Beatles had naïve girls screaming at them in their day, and this phenomenon has apparently survived quite a few tumultuous decades. The Who, by contrast, were “ always very much a guys’ band”, as mentioned in the excellent documentary “Classic Albums: Who’s Next”.

But what was so different about the Beatles’ sound? Why did, and does, such a thing as Beatlemania exist, but have Stonemania, Whomania or Kinkmania never become manic enough for those terms even to be coined?

The most obvious answer is that the Beatles, at least in their early days, were a rock & roll band “light”. They put out an endless churn of carefree, “feel-good” tunes, many of which are still intensely popular today.
Now let’s compare this defining characteristic of the (early) Beatles’ music with aspects of other British Invaders’ work.

First, take the Rolling Stones. They never were a “light” band – on the contrary, the through-and-through Mod Stones cultivated a “rough-boys” image from the start. Still, they had their share of silly girls yelling frantically at them – but, like the Beatles, that only goes for their early career. And today, the Stones’ early work is not remembered half as much as the Beatles’ – rightly so, because the Stones played mostly covers in their early years. The Stones, rather, are remembered for their (original) work from the late 1960s and the 1970s – heavy, bluesy rock, often with bizarre lyrics about sex, violence and drugs. Small wonder, then, that the Rolling Stones are nowhere near the top of the Last.fm charts.

Then there’s the Who. They, like the Beatles, have made quite a lot of catchy pop tunes, but their sound was always notably heavier, and lacked the Beatles’ trademark multivocal harmonies and “oohs”. The same can be said of the Kinks.

The Animals started out as a cover band just like the Stones… and, unlike the Stones, never got past that stage. Their gritty sound, characterised by Eric Burdon’s mighty voice and Alan Price’s organ, is certainly enjoyable, but not good enough to warrant everlasting fame.

I shall not consider the classic rock deities from other categories than the British Invasion, such as psychedelic rock, hard rock or progressive rock. Pink Floyd, Cream, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and many other rock gods are so far removed from the “catchy pop tunes” category that it needs little explanation why their success has not lasted as well as the Beatles’.

Bear in mind, too, that all the British Invaders mentioned above, except for the Animals but including the Beatles, have changed enormously over the course of their careers, starting with simple, catchy tunes but eventually making very complex music indeed. In each case, I have dealt mostly with the catchy-tunes period because that is the part of the Beatles’ career for which they are still adored today: try and discuss the artistic subtleties of the Abbey Road album with one of those girls who have a few Beatles songs on their iPod amongst lots of modern pop-rock, and she’ll probably just stare at you in confusion and ignorance.

I have often caught myself being annoyed by the Beatles, or rather, by the kind of people who listen to them nowadays. But let us not forget that, for all their naïve-girl-friendly pop tunes, the Beatles were a great and hugely influential band who left a greater mark on the history of music than virtually any other artist, and wrote lorry-loads of absolutely beautiful music. As long as you ignore the Beatlemaniacs, the Beatles aren’t all that bad.

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I hope that you will understand I do not mean to cause offence, and that no wolfbirds will be sent upon me as a result of this post.
Yours sincerely, Uncut Rubber

 

RickenbackerBassPlayer

This is awesome that you put it together. I always thought the Beatles were funny because they are some of the worst musicians (compared to other greats), but in my opinion some of the all-time best song writers.

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"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." - Ludwig Van Beethoven

janyoung101

Interesting essay! I definitely have to agree with the guy above that the Beatles were hands down some of the best songwriters of our time!