That title belongs to U2, of course and without question. But I have to also say that if you find nothing magical about The Beatles, I honestly feel sorry for you.
agreed, agreed. They were so overplayed in my household that I simply couldn't listen to them anymore after puberty. But over-hyped ... nope.
They were overplayed in my household before puberty too, but it was me that was playing them. I also made a pilgrimage to Liverpool (visiting Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane and other key spots) when I was a teen. And my sixth grade year-end project was on the "Paul is dead" thing. I no longer put on The Beatles. Like many greats who are so ingrained in me now, I don't have to put on the music to listen to it. I just call it up in my head. I do still listen to George Harrison regularly though (what a magician) and sometimes John Lennon as well. I also enjoy Wings on occasion.
The were of course highly influential, but for me they stand slightly apart from the holy triumvirate of Elvis, Dylan and The Beatles among whites who changed the course of popular music forever. Once you add in The Stones, you have to also think about The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Kinks and so many others. They were hugely important of course, but everything that happens in music today can be traced back to those three white acts and the blacks that influenced them.
Oh I definitely have U2 up there. I've tried to get into the Beatles several times, but it just never appealed to me. No need to feel sorry for me though. I have the opportunity to listen to what I like.
haha, funny, in sixth grade, I did an English paper on why Imagine is such a great poem. The next week, I "examined" Who are the Brain Police. The teacher was a hot, blonde 22yr old. I think I taught her Zappa and made an impression. puberty, FTW! Tomorrow Never Knows is my favorite Beatles song, and one of the few I will still listen to.
Yeah, I don't think it worked again. I couldn't get a date for his Summit appearance in '82, Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch. Had to go with a dude.
Cool. I don't proselytize for The Beatles or Dylan anymore. I used to, but my attitude now is that life is so long and both have so many great songs (and such radically different styles within their bodies of work) that most people will eventually come around to appreciating them. But, if not, no big deal. Taste in art and music is a very personal thing.
My oldest brother played Dylan as much as the Beatles. My middle brother who rebelled first and got me to spend my first $5 for lawnmoving to buy Freak Out, once told me when he was a freshman in college, "In the end, it [music] all comes back to Neil Young."
No disrespect to your brother as I love Neil Young myself, but I think that's something that every white college freshman says at some point -- if not about Neil Young then about The Dead. I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to become a sophomore until you've done so.
