"You say you want a revolution..."
LookingGlass
Can anyone tell me if The Beatles songs are as *startling* to first
time listeners today, as they sounded to first-time listeners back
when they were first released? I remember being *blown away* with each
new record/song/album...without fail...!!!
I know that must be a near impossible question to answer, but I
thought I would throw it out there. Anyone ever witness a teenager
today hearing The Beatles for the first time? A teen liking *modern
popular music*...that between 1950 and 2009. I mean...how do you think
some kid would react...without prior knowledge, to a Beatle song
slipped into his collection of *tracks*...???
Or is it strictly a *nostalgic* event...the music, dated. Do The
Beatles still *sing*? I am aware that small children LOVE a lot of
Beatle songs.
(Don't they teach this stuff at college today?)
RichL
I can tell you my own kids' reactions, as limited as that information
might be.
It took a while for the Beatles to grow on them. We had the advantage
that nothing like the Beatles' music had ever been heard before. By the
time my kids were growing up, the Beatles' influence was *everywhere* in
popular music, although it's not immediately obvious. When they got old
enough and sophisticated enough to see and hear and understand that, the
Beatles then grew on them pretty quickly.
But no, I don't think it's the same as when we were kids, the *sudden*
impact.
It would be interesting to get PJ's reaction on this...or Sean's, if he
comes around again.
LookingGlass
>
> I can tell you my own kids' reactions, as limited as that information
> might be.
>
> It took a while for the Beatles to grow on them. We had the advantage
> that nothing like the Beatles' music had ever been heard before. By the
> time my kids were growing up, the Beatles' influence was *everywhere* in
> popular music, although it's not immediately obvious. When they got old
> enough and sophisticated enough to see and hear and understand that, the
> Beatles then grew on them pretty quickly.
>
> But no, I don't think it's the same as when we were kids, the *sudden*
> impact.
>
> It would be interesting to get PJ's reaction on this...or Sean's, if he
> comes around again.
Thanks Rich...but I have to disqualify you and your family...YOU are
biased...!!! AND, you have probably INFUSED your Beatle fanatacism
into their little souls.
Sorry. :o)
Stephen X. Carter
<goldenc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Thanks Rich...but I have to disqualify you and your family...YOU are
>biased...!!! AND, you have probably INFUSED your Beatle fanatacism
>into their little souls.
Therein lies the paradox in this question.
Anyone reading this newsgroup is more than likely to be a serious fan of
The Beatles. If they have kids, then even if you've been restrained,
the kids are certain to have heard of them, and heard their some of
their music (etc), so finding someone who meets the interesting criteria
will be next to impossible.
--
steve.hat.stephencarter.not.com.but.net
Nothing is Beatle Proof!!
Mr Kite posters and more at http://www.zazzle.com/mr_kite*
Mr Kite posters and more at http://www.zazzle.co.uk/mr_kite*
globular
Probably best not to start with Please Please Me if you're trying to
impress a new person who prefers recent female vocal 'pop'.
Robert (enterprise)
several years back. I had quite a few Beatles albums before, and I had
heard quit a few of the more popular White Album songs (Blackbird, Back
in the USSR, etc). But I've got to say I was surprised by quite a few
of the songs I hadn't yet heard. Of course I had heard people talk about
the infamous Revolution 9, but I still wasn't prepared for what I heard.
Many of the songs had a harder, sometimes angrier edge to them. Yer
Blues springs to mind immediately. Also the diversity of styles was
quite surprising. Country, music hall, experimental, blues, hard
rock/early metal. At the time I wasn't sure what to make of it all.
Didn't quite seem like the Beatles I had gotten to know. Now I love
most of the White Album, and appreciate it's diversity. Actually,
that's probably one of the things I love most about the Beatles. So
many artists (especially today) tend for the most part to stick to one
style. The Beatles did so many types of music, just about all of which
was great. The White Album isn't my favorite Beatles album (I rank it #
5), but I'd probably choose it to be my desert island album.
PS. I also remember being blown away when I heard Eleanor Rigby for the
first time. The orchestration, the melody, the lyrics. I loved it all
instantly.
RichL
True...to an extent. They all went through their little rebellious
phases, however, when even a passing mention of The Beatles induced eye
rolling and head shaking ;-)
My oldest (the music producer) still dislikes the Beatles! But he's
become a fan of George Martin, oddly enough.
AllaBest
> True...to an extent. They all went through their little rebellious
> phases, however, when even a passing mention of The Beatles induced eye
> rolling and head shaking ;-)
>
> My oldest (the music producer) still dislikes the Beatles! But he's
> become a fan of George Martin, oddly enough.
I SO hear you on these points, Rich!
I am known by friends and family as the one who LOVES The Beatles!
As a result, my daughter recently informed me when I related how a
particular song ("1985") would always miraculously put her to sleep,
when she was a baby as I would dance her around in my arms at the end
of the day in the evening, that ALL of The Beatles songs make her
sleepy and that her husband is under strict orders to turn a radio off
if the station should play a Beatles song.
Oh, well... I personally think this is taking the rebelliousness of
youth too far.
LookingGlass
wrote:
>
> I'm 28 now, and I remember getting the White Album on CD for Christmas
> several years back. I had quite a few Beatles albums before, and I had
> heard quit a few of the more popular White Album songs (Blackbird, Back
> in the USSR, etc). But I've got to say I was surprised by quite a few
> of the songs I hadn't yet heard. Of course I had heard people talk about
> the infamous Revolution 9, but I still wasn't prepared for what I heard.
> Many of the songs had a harder, sometimes angrier edge to them. Yer
> Blues springs to mind immediately. Also the diversity of styles was
> quite surprising. Country, music hall, experimental, blues, hard
> rock/early metal. At the time I wasn't sure what to make of it all.
> Didn't quite seem like the Beatles I had gotten to know. Now I love
> most of the White Album, and appreciate it's diversity. Actually,
> that's probably one of the things I love most about the Beatles. So
> many artists (especially today) tend for the most part to stick to one
> style. The Beatles did so many types of music, just about all of which
> was great. The White Album isn't my favorite Beatles album (I rank it #
> 5), but I'd probably choose it to be my desert island album.
>
> PS. I also remember being blown away when I heard Eleanor Rigby for the
> first time. The orchestration, the melody, the lyrics. I loved it all
> instantly.
Thank you for your comments Robert.
Even the folks who where there for a *first listen* in the 60's (like
me) were at times shocked to hear each successive Beatle album. Often,
you would read or hear..."WHAT have The Beatles gone and done this
time. Certainly, I was shocked and knocked out when I first heard
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER...wow! From then on, it was always the
unexpected.
AllaBest
I agree! SHOCKED and KNOCK OUT every time!
LookingGlass
>
> True...to an extent. They all went through their little rebellious
> phases, however, when even a passing mention of The Beatles induced eye
> rolling and head shaking ;-)
>
> My oldest (the music producer) still dislikes the Beatles! But he's
> become a fan of George Martin, oddly enough.
Actually Rich...I figured it was something like that around your
house.
But you made a curious comment..."We had the advantage that nothing
like the Beatles' music had ever been heard before."
Could you elaborate on that please.
LookingGlass
>
> Therein lies the paradox in this question.
>
> Anyone reading this newsgroup is more than likely to be a serious fan of
> The Beatles. If they have kids, then even if you've been restrained,
> the kids are certain to have heard of them, and heard their some of
> their music (etc), so finding someone who meets the interesting criteria
> will be next to impossible.
>
> Mr Kite posters and more athttp://www.zazzle.co.uk/mr_kite*
Agree...but hoping for the *serendipitious* accidental hearing.
LookingGlass
>
> As a result, my daughter recently informed me when I related how a
> particular song ("1985") would always miraculously put her to sleep,
> when she was a baby as I would dance her around in my arms at the end
> of the day in the evening, that ALL of The Beatles songs make her
> sleepy and that her husband is under strict orders to turn a radio off
> if the station should play a Beatles song.
>
> Oh, well... I personally think this is taking the rebelliousness of
> youth too far.
Thanks Robert...that's actually kinda funny.
LookingGlass
>
> I have two anecdotes from the current front lines. (4th gen?)
>
> One girl, 10, has an older father who is a professor and Beatles
> fanatic. He takes great care with her cultural education in many
> areas. She goes to the opera, studies ballet, etc. She's a real
> daddy's girl and has been able to talk Beatles since she was about 6.
> She is not a big fan of the pop music of her own era so far - the type
> of kid who can hang with the adults at a spookily young age.
>
> The other, also 10, has a Dad who is out of Beatles age range, but
> still a fan in a PBS kind of way. She *is* a big follower of current
> tween pop music/fashion. She doesn't like the Beatles on principle,
> resents being told anything about them, and will announce this for
> effect at parties.
>
> Miley Cyrus recently saying she was a big John Lennon fan threw a
> wrench in this MO temporarily. Now she maintains that she does not
> know who John Lennon is any more than she knows who John Mayer is
> (another Miley favorite). In reality, she does know who he is in raw
> terms - earlier than I knew his name as an individual, in fact,
> because it is now often mentioned in school. But I figure that's fair
> since Miley seems to like JLs music more than the Beatles.
Thanks PJ.
(Miley Cyrus...???)
RichL
I meant *you and I* -- the first generation.
LookingGlass
>
> > (Miley Cyrus...???)
>
> Hannah Montana = Miley Cyrus. (Father is Billy Ray Cyrus - of 90s
> country crossover "Achy Breaky Heart" Fame. Also had a mullet. ;-) )
>
> Miley as Hannah outsold the Beatles on her "Best of Both Worlds" tour
> a few years ago. Miley is Huge. You can buy Hannah Montana orange
> juice if you feel the need. IIRC, she's already a billionaire, but
> maybe I'm thinking of the Olson twins. She's now transitioning to
> being Miley and seems to be pulling it off.
Oh I KNOW who Miley Cyrus is...I just meant...Miley Cyrus...???
David W
news:c97addec-3d27-4a89...@z10g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
>I wonder...
>
> Can anyone tell me if The Beatles songs are as *startling* to first
> time listeners today, as they sounded to first-time listeners back
> when they were first released? I remember being *blown away* with each
> new record/song/album...without fail...!!!
>
Interesting question. Hard to answer accurately. I can tell you that my
seven and nearly three year old girls could both identify Beatles when they
saw or heard them before they could identify other artists.
The older one was a bit surprised to find out all the bedtime songs I sing
her were not made up by me on the spot but were in fact written and/or
performed by Tom Waits, The Beatles (together & as solo acts), Phil Ochs,
Elvis Costello, Bob what's-his-name-oh-yeah Dylan, Kate Bush, Allan Sherman
(Hello Muddah Hello Faddah, not Pop Hates the Beatles), Bob Geldof, The
McGarrigles, William Blake, Eric Bogle, David Bowie... . Note: what I sing
at their bedtime is not a completely representative cross section of what we
listen to at home. It's limited a bit by what I can handle with my limited
far-less-than-operatic vocal range and by what lyrics I can remember with my
far-less-than-mensa mind. Lately I'm having to limit a bit on subject
matter as well. Bogle's 'My Youngest Son Came Home Today' suits my range
well but the subject matter is starting to inspire questions not easily
answered at bedtime. Same questions the dinner hour news shows are
inspiring.
The Beatles music did have a huge impact on me when I first heard them as a
teen in the eighties. The difference between me in the eighties and teens
in the sixties was probably basically that they experienced that impact much
more collectively than I did. About four of us in my school experienced it
together (before moving on to sludge-a-billy eventually). In the sixties it
would have probably been the inverse, four kids in the school not
experiencing it and the rest feeling the impact. The impact for me probably
had to do with living in Canada's outback where we really weren't well
exposed to a lot of what was going on culturally. Now with the internet
even kids up there get more than the week's top five of anything to choose
from. It's a different world now. Isn't it always though?
8>/
David W
... and the prize for most egregious overuse of hyphenation in a usenet
message goes to...
LookingGlass
<addy_only_to_report_spm_no_message_sent_to_it_will_be_s...@hotmail.com>
wrote:
Thank you for taking the time to compose this *radiant* post. :o)