OFF: 10 MOST HATED

[Paul Mather]

On Tue, 23 Mar 1999, Stuart Hamilton wrote:

=> Ah, now, just become something is lodged in the collective international
=> psyche doesn't mean it has merit.  After all, how many people still
=> remember the words to "Agadoo", "Y Viva Espana" or "The Birdie Song".

I disagree; on a prosaic level, being memorable makes it inherently
above the ordinary.  Then there is the question of whether something is
lodged in the collective international unconscious in a positive or
negative light (overall).  Hitler and Pol Pot are lodged there, but
negatively so to all but a small minority.  Similarly, I'd wager that
the three songs you mention above are remembered with derision or
dislike by most that do remember them (and I'd doubt that many here in
the USA would remember how the tune went, let alone the words).

The Beatles, I'd contest, are viewed overall in a positive light.  What
is more amazing is their consistent staying power.  Their albums
continue to inspire new listeners and musicians, and both young and old
alike tend to name them amongst their "faves."

=> musical magpies who took the best elements of true innovators and
=> converted them into an easily palatable commercial whole.  Which is in
=> itself a talent of sorts.  But in the sixties, I would pick The Byrds
=> over everyone else.  We shall have to beg to differ.

It all looks so easy in retrospect, doesn't it?  The Beatles knew
everything they tried would work first time, with no effort on their
part.  It was easy-peasy to knock out such easily palatable commercial
material as "I Am the Walrus," "Tomorrow Never Knows," "Helter Skelter,"
and so forth.  Nobody panned "The Magical Mystery Tour" film, and
everyone loved the White Album.  The Beatles didn't do anything
innovative in the studio.  They never turned around the WHOLE PARADIGM
of how bands and their work are perceived.  They were not a SEISMIC
EVENT on the rock 'n' roll landscape.

And, of course, the Beatles were the first and only band to take diverse
influences of their predecessors and contemporaries and meld them into
their own unique sound.  Nobody before or since has done that; everyone
but the Beatles play 100% ORIGINAL music and ideas.

I know, sounds a bit daft, doesn't it?

Cheers,

Paul.

NP: The Beatles, "Get Back" sessions.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time"
        --- James Marshall Hendrix