Have You Heard That New Group Called the Beatles?
One of the impressive manufactured phenomena of the entertainment industry is higly visible at the moment, with the Beatles` albums being reissued and selling prodigious numbers of copies. They are doing even better than the young forces` sweetheart Vera Lynn.
The Beatles, of course, four lads from Liverpool, were probably the most successful act in the history of popular music, and very talented to boot. But their albums, repackaged though they are, have never ceased to be available. So all the people who are going out of their way to buy them now could just as easily have done so last week, or last year, or ten years ago.
One chart that I saw this week had the Top Five places occupied by Beatles CDs. Quite an achievement, although perhaps not so impressive as when in 1963 they had the Top Five singles in the United States, where they had been hitherto unknown.
While that was going on, incidentally, I worked on a show by the Beatles (or rather two shows, because at that time a one night stand consisted of a show around 6pm and another about 9pm) at Southend Odeon. Standing a few feet away from John and Paul, I could not hear a word they sang, although I knew what songs they were singing because I could recognise the internal rhythms.
The most popular and well respected Beatles album is without a doubt "Sergeant Pepper`s Lonely Hearts Club Band". I agree that it is absolutely brilliant, but personally I like "Abbey Road" even more.
Posted by colin on Sunday 13th September, 2009 at 9:36am