yeah - but gonzo, does it have a good beat and can you dance to it? 
Missy
I have to agree with you completely Peggy. In High School, my locker was totally covered with pictures of “my boys”. My then boyfriend (now husband) has always known that he’s had to compete 
But my musical choice was in direct contrast to my friends’ who had pictures of Madonna, Michael Jackson, and George Michael in THEIR lockers. I’d like to think that I was the one with the better taste in music
Where’s ad? I wonder if she liked the Beatles too? She must have, her being my LLT and all that.
I was watching a story on the news the other night. Apparently, some stage producer from Stratford, Ontario has hired the Bare Naked Ladies to put the whole Midsummer’s Dream to modern music, and they were singing this particular tune.
To put the Beatles/Monkees debate in perspective, the Beatles were the leading wave, whereas the Monkees were merely a reaction to that wave. The vid clip is a good example of this. Someone paid some top American commercial song writers to emulate the Beatles (not too hard for someone with the chops), but the Monkees never at any time led the way with new musical stylings of their own, just copies. That’s not to say that the Beatles were wholey original, but their treatment of the music was their own.
djm
Yes it is for real. I think with a bit of detective work you could probably track down the album unless I was hearing the tapes from a concert. When I heard those words I was driving and almost drove off the road I was laughing so much. Of course, they could be the words he had in mind all along. Alternatively, he might have invented them on the fly to amuse the band or it might have been an obscure band in joke.
But yes, that’s what he sang. 
ad loved duran duran. haha. 
Absolutely no comparison…the Beatles were by far the best. Question is…who was the better song writer: Paul or John? I liked the thoughts that came out of John head, but I preferred the way Paul could play and could write music. They were a great combination and the songs they collaborated on show it.
Of course she did. John Taylor made that band, btw (and ad would totally agree with me )
Awww…it’s about earnest kids just starting out in life. What are you, a cynic?
p.s. I used to play the Monkees for my kids when they were little…nowadays I have no Monkees on my iTunes, but quite a few Beatles–much more depth and staying power there, but the Monkees were fun. I remember watching the show when I was a kid.
They were better as a team. Some, if not most, of their solo written songs suck. Each have catchy elements but are deficient. McCartney’s solo stuff can be so syrupy that you want to puke. Some of Lennon’s anthems are the height of limousine liberal hypocrisy. I suppose Lennon is the better though as an individual song composer though McCartneys melodies are better. They were both whiny.
I think Baby Boomers overrate the Beatles in the long run because they are so socially intertwined with the times. They did have a brilliant few years in crafting their music hall-cum-rock stuff sound, though. I was a pretty big fan, played and sang the tunes on the guitar and so on. But I also liked the Kinks, Stones, Animals, Who, etc who actually played rock-n-roll.
I think that if you zoom out a bit, you find that there was some kind of simultaneous explosion of post-Industrial musical expression around the world in those days, each resulting in some pretty exciting music: Surf Music in Calif, Elvis (though earlier), the British Invasion, Bossa Nova in Brasil. I remember once reading the 1965 was some kind of peak year for GM, too. Something about those days…
But in going ga-ga over the Beatles, I have come to feel that it was some kind of cultural treason in the long run; to like them singing Long Tall Sally when I am a native of the country where that genre came from. I remember vividly people wanting to look and be British because of 'em. A lot of black Amercian musicians sure felt stiffed. Heck, Ricky Nelson and Pat Boone had already done it within the country, for that matter.
At Casa de Weekender, you are much more likely to hear Dick Dale, the Ventures and the Lost Legends of Surf Guitar than the Beatles when its time to spin the retro clock back. I like the sense of discovery of the new toy: the electric guitar.
I’ve read about the credit issues over their songs. Paul probably did write 80-90% of the songs on his own, it’s just that they had a deal to use both their names. Now Paul wants to make it known that he alone wrote great tunes like Yesterday, The Long and Winding Road, Hey Jude, and a ton of other ones. You can listen to their styles and tell the difference.
I don’t think they were whiney or syrupy. Come on, don’t just broadly classify them, name those tunes!
I prefer the Dillards. Y’know, they did a sit-com in the 1960’s too!
Man, this is bad. I’m actually going to agree with Lorenzo on something. Sorry, L.
McCartney has a true gift for coming up with catchy riffs/tunes. He is absolutely braindead when it comes to lyrics, so I guess I kinda agree with Weekender, as well. Lennon had his moments. It would be a mistake to worship everything the Beatles did blindly, but a big loss to totally discount them. L&M admitted to writing separately even in the 60s. That is no big revelation.
For you folks who are big afficionados of retro, I am trying to find out who did “Sleep Walking”, the surf-sounding instrumental with the slide guitar going. I would like to try working this one out on UPs, but can’t remember how the whole tune went.
Thx,
djm
I’m going to have to pull a cranberry here and say that you aren’t giving enough options in your “poll” In MY opinion, George was the best song writer in the Beatles. You have “Piggies” and “Taxman” just to name a couple. He was brilliant. It’s too bad that he was not given more license to write on their albums.
Hmmm…I don’t know…George was MY Beatle and I adored him, but even I couldn’t get into his double album All Things Must Pass solo stuff (which I still have, by the way).
Susan
Why doesn’t anybody like Ringo Starr? 
drummer…
don’t forget the “r” there, Denny!
A major interview with John Lennon paints a different picture, more in line with what Lorenzo has said. Of course, it’s an interview with John Lennon, so who knows how reliable it is.
Lennon went through a large number of songs from the Lennon-McCartney catalog and indicated that, in large part, songs were written solely either by Paul or by John or with one of them writing most of the song with a fairly minor contribution by the other. Usually very minor. In any case, Lennon was clear that there was very little actual collaborative song-writing. The interviewer would go through all of these songs and Lennon would say “That was Paul’s.” “That was mine.” and so on. I recall that when the interviewer asked about “Fool on the Hill,” Lennon said that was Paul’s song and it was one he really wish he could say he wrote. And, he was right to wish that, of course, given that “Fool on the Hill,” is the finest song in the Beatles catalog.
But, again, who knows? I’m not sure I’d regard Lennon as the most reliable informant in the world. Maybe Paul has confirmed this independently–I don’t remember.
Dale
Ooops. Did I spell it wrong? Wouldn’t be the first time.
Who knows then… maybe it was the influence of George Martin or somebody…