I don’t blog as much as I used to.
I’m not really sure why – maybe I don’t have the time, maybe I don’t feel the need, or maybe I came to the realization that I don’t have enough things to say that matter enough to enough people. That my thoughts and words don’t influence anybody enough to warrant sharing them.
Influence…that’s the word that got me to fire up the computer and offer up an opinion to anybody who might be interested.
The word “influence” doesn’t bring about the same connotations today as it once did.
Influence, by definition, means “to have an effect on someone or something.”
In today’s world of social media, apps, algorithms, likes and dislikes anybody can become an “influencer.” All it takes is a cell phone and a couple of popular 30-second videos. The internet will do the rest.
However – the fame, glory and free gear are far from long-lasting. Today’s influencer is quite literally tomorrow’s “girl (or guy) tending bar and driving a ten-year-old Escort.”
Such is the fickle nature of fame in the 21st century.
But what’s on my mind today is not the influence of a catchy Tik-Tok video. It’s something a little more, dare I say, permanent.
It all began this morning while I was lounging about, perusing social media on my phone. I came across this meme which I promptly shared on Facebook.
I knew, as soon as I posted it, what sort of reactions it would garner, and, for the most part, from whom. I knew this because I often post things relating to my love of The Fabs.
The fact that I hold them in such high regard is often mistaken for a one-dimensional love. I assure you – it is much more than that.
In order to explain, I’ll have to give a little historical background.
I was born in 1960 (that was much more difficult to type than you can imagine!!). I was the fifth child of seven, having four older brothers – the youngest of which was six years older than me. It would be a gross understatement to say that music was popular in our home, so by little choice of my own I developed a love of music at a very early age.
In February of 1964, when The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show I wasn’t excited about it. I was, however, aware that something big was going on.
Over the following six years I became a Beatles fan, and the timing of it all, I believe, is a huge part of why they mean so much to me.
My formative years were spent learning their songs and watching them grow and change. When they broke up, I was confused. How could this be? The Beatles had been the most popular band in the world for nearly my entire life. I hadn’t known a time when they didn’t exist. It didn’t make sense.
Anyway – back to the point…
Influence.
As I said, when they broke up, I was around ten years old, and although I knew every word to every song, I was still too young to appreciate the enormity of their impact.
Throughout my life I have been exposed to, and developed great appreciation for all types of music. Quite often I tell people “I like all music, just some more than others.” And I stand by that statement. I do like all music, but I like rock and roll more than I like country. I like jazz more than I like rap. You get the picture.
In all those years The Beatles have always been my favorite.
I’ve read countless books about them, watched many documentaries, and listened to more interviews with them and about them than I can count. All of this fan-boying has, over the years, made me realize that they were so much more than a rock band.
And this is where my appreciation for them is often misunderstood.
When I post something like this…
…many people overlook the word important.
I try to explain it without offending anybody, but I think sometimes I fail – hence this blog post.
I felt I needed more than a sentence or two to get my point across. However, I don’t want to drone on for days about it (although I could) so I’ll try to wrap it up.
This post is not about whether the Beatles are better than The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica or any other band. That is all subject to taste. But one thing is for sure…every band since them owes them a debt.
What this post is about, is how much the world was changed by them.
People who have grown up never knowing a world without the internet may have trouble understanding the significance of it, but the influence of The Beatles went far beyond their songs. It was more than changing the clothing and hairstyles of a generation, and more than being the band that nearly every other band imitated.
Musically, at a time when technology was, by today’s standards, primitive, they revolutionized the recording industry.
Today it is nothing for a band to play shows for tens-of-thousands of fans. But when the Beatles played to 55,000 people at Shea Stadium in 1965 it was absolutely unheard of.
Their songwriting matured at a meteoric rate in the short time they were together, which ushered in a literal revolution in music.
It has been said that The Beatles were largely, if not solely responsible for empowering the teenagers of the 60s and for being the driving force behind the “awakening” of a generation. For those too young to understand the significance of that, you’ll have to google it, but suffice to say a lot of shit happened in the sixties because The Beatles existed.
Timing is everything, and The Beatles’ timing was almost cosmic. For four kids to come together (no pun intended) at that particular time, and do what they did is almost the stuff of fiction and fantasy.
In my opinion, they were the right stone, thrown into the right pond at just the right time, thus creating ripples we are still feeling.
As always – thank you for reading
blindoggbooks 
Lennon’s remark about “more popular than Jesus” was very true and insightful. They came along at the right time as the world was shrinking through the first stages of mass communication.
They were, indeed, four lads who shook the world.
Amen to that!
Never heard of them.
You need to get out more.