"I hate The Beatles. So there." Topic

I hate The Beatles and I hate John Lennon, but I've come to realize that most of that has nothing to do with their actual music, which was somewhere between fair and good.

No, rather it's their fans that really turned me off of them. I literally just had a guy compare John Lennon to Jesus Christ. Seriously, I'm not making this up. We were discussing the week-long "Bed-In" where Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a whole week in bed to "raise awareness" or some other stupid thing like that. I pointed out that, with his fame and wealth, there were so many better things that he could have done -- and which would have actually involved personal sacrifice -- when this guy pointed out that the most powerful thing he could have done was "spread the message of peace and love". Then he said that Lennon was walking in the same footsteps as Christ.

I didn't live through the 1960's, but really, the whole Lennon cult thing must have really taken some people in. I don't get it, and having people put me down as being some uncultured troglodyte doesn't sit well with me. Was it the combination of LSD and whatever else you kids were taking those days? Why the cult of personality, and why the worship of these four young men with bad haircuts?

Here endeth the rant.

It was my Duty in the 60s and 70s to buy every single Beatles album as soon as it came out, and play it until I wore it out.
I did my Duty.
Thinking back then, I realize that I never liked them. I was just being a conforming non-conformist. I didn't really enjoy the albums I felt duty bound to buy and listen to.
I thought John Lennon was a full of himself horse's .
I thought that "Imagine" was one of the most pompous "I'm better than you are" piles of garbage ever. It had a lot of competition for that title in the 60s and 70s.
The worst thing for me about Lennon getting shot was that for years I couldn't say what I really thought about him.
Post Beatles, I came to really appreciate George and Ringo.
A girl I knew who really loved John dismissed Paul as a composer of "cute little ditties". On that we agreed.

I liked The Who much better.

Rolling Stones.

Well, Lennon once said "we're (the Beatles) more popular than Jesus Christ", so no surprise a fan should mimic

Don't hate the Beatles but if never heard another song wouldn't bother me, now the Stones I think I hate.

Well someone thought they were pretty good.

Let's run the numbers,

1.6 billion
The number of Beatles records (singles) sold in the U.S.

600 million
The number of Beatles albums sold worldwide.

177 million
The number of albums sold in the U.S.

11.4 million
Number of copies 1, the re-mastered catalog of Beatles hits released in November 2000, sold between 2000 and 2010. It was the best-selling album of the decade.

4.5 million
Number of copies of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sold in the UK.

2.3 million
The number of copies The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) box set sold in its first five days of release in 2009 in North America, Japan and the UK.

855,473
Number of copies of The Beatles Anthology Volume 1 that were sold in the first week of release in November 1995.

3,000+
Number of times "Yesterday" has been covered. It's the most-covered song of all time.

1,278
Number of weeks Beatles material spent on Billboard charts.

Plenty more amazing numbers here,
link

"The Beatles' gift was for harmony, and their vision was above all of harmony. And harmony, voices blending together in song, is still our strongest symbol of a good place yet to come."
link

I am a Beatles guy and I always will be. I had selected Beatle's songs performed at our wedding. I will have the same at my funeral. I love the Who, Dave Clark Five and of course the Stones.

The Beatles transcends them all. The greatest musical ensemble in history. Five hundred years from now as all of us are forgotten. The Beatles will still be listened to by generations of new fans.

As my wife says all the Beatles wanted to do was hold my hand. The Rolling Stones had something else in mind. I never cared about John Lennon's politics. I just cared about his music and Imagine was his masterpiece.

What do statistics mean when it comes to the Beatles?
It means that a lot of people don't agree with me. That's all. It doesn't mean they're right; it doesn't mean that I am wrong.
As I said above, I bought everything because it was almost compulsory. And now, I don't care for them. Not as if I did then, but my mind is clearer now.

You're about 50 years late. Allan Sherman said it better.

YouTube link

Wyatt

I wasn't born until 1968, so missed the early hype and didn't get the later hype as I was too young.

That said, I quite enjoy their early work. The later stuff, when they started taking drugs and thought they were something more than entertainers, I don't care for.

My interest in the Beatles comes and goes. I can easily avoid their music for months or years and suddenly a tune comes to me and I'll be humming their hits for weeks.

It's an oversimplification, but the Beatles did a lot of musical exploration and evolution, dragging the people along with each new release.

You could say that if the Beatles were always changing, the Stones were all about consistently giving people the same well-oiled music over and over.

The Beatles are a bit like Jazz, you need to understand music and how it works to really appreciate what they did on the musical level. But then again understanding all the intricacies of music doesn't mean you will automatically tap your foot to a Shoenberg composition.

Like I said, my interest comes and goes.

They never did anything for me but then I'm a bit younger. I probably feel the same way about the likes of Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Dimebag Darrell as the oldies seem to feel about the Beattles.

Generally I think we all just love the music of our mis-speant youth while I can like other music nothing ever really replaces the music of my teenage years.

Too busy trying to earn a living for a (then) young
family, paying mortgage, etc. back in those days
to pay much attention.

Nowadays – meh…

Only my opinion but some Beatle songs I really like, some I think are okay, and some I feel are awful. As for John Lennon, I can't say I'm a fan. He got a bit (translated: a lot) too full of himself.

As for Paul McCartney, however, I thought he was a class act. A friend of my youngest son & daughter received a pride of Britain award a number of years ago and at the award ceremony Paul McCartney heard that it was this friend's sister's birthday so during a break he went over to the table where this young lady (I think 12 at the time) was sitting and sang her Happy Birthday. That always stuck with me as a nice gesture that he didn't need to do.

Sorry 'if you didn't live through the sixties" you have no concept of the effect the Beatles had on both music nd society.

Trying to "understand" the Beatles now is like a virgin trying to explain sex if you haven't done it you have no idea.

Then again if you didn't live through the 1960s you probably don't care. My old man tried to tell me they where a great time for music personal I thought most of his music sucked. I tell my kids the late 80s and 90s was the best time for music they look at me like I'm mad and think my music sucks. They, in turn, will tell my grand kids that the 2000 teens where the best time for music and my grand kids will think their music sucks…

Not a fan of the Beatles much either. They lack something. Like an edge. I don't know. I will agree The Who was/is a much better band. I won't go out & say the best band of that era, but definitely in the top half dozen IMHO…

Damon.

Sorry 'if you didn't live through the sixties" you have no concept of the effect the Beatles had on both music nd society.

Don't try that tired argument. I did live through the sixties and believed that they were overrated.
Maybe my first turn at rejection was when during my first semester in college, the Earnest and Caring People tried to fight against whatever it was that was bothering them by using "Let it Be" as the theme of the Movement.
I think it was a backlash against "In loco parentis" which was having a popular professor come down to the police station to bail out the drinks. Seriously.
That's when the Moptop Lads from Liverpool became even more full of themselves than usual.
I refuse to take anyone seriously who says that "Imagine" changed their lives. John Lennon was an obnoxious person who did not deserve this hero worship.

I liked the Beatles for the most part, but only bought one album at the time (A Hard Day's night).
I recently got the best of compilations.

I really never get why anyone liked John Lennon, he seemed a bit full of himself, and I didn't much like his solo music.

I am a big fan of the Beatles (and John is my fave of the bunch)…

Let's make a generalization and suggest that there will not be many Beatle fans amongst a population segment that enjoys military history and gaming.

I was never a "Beatle maniac" like some,but enjoyed, and still do, a lot of their music . Their lifestyle of course was another issue that I never saw.

Saying this the effect that Beatle mania had on general culture like music, dress, attitudes etc was important and the fact that a discussion on a group that played 60 years ago can attract so much attention says a lot more.

Beatles Haters: Play Abbey Road, the music of a band falling apart. Hear George Harrison's best compositions, strangely remembered as the third best composer of this band. Listen to Side Two, a bunch of pieces thrown together yet amazing in its continuity. I don't think there is anything in the world like it

I am a huge fan of the Who, Stones, Pink Floyd, and lots of Progressive rock bands. Were the Beatles overplayed? Yep! Will they still be played in 100 years? Probably.

Just my .02

Let's make a generalization and suggest that there will not be many Beatle fans amongst a population segment that enjoys military history and gaming.

Please do not tell me what I think. I find that very insulting.

Beatles Haters: Play Abbey Road, the music of a band falling apart.

This is equally insulting. It implies that I haven't given it any thought.
Yes. I have listened to it. I bought it the first day it came out.
The second side is lazy and self indulgent. "Why should we bother to put any work into producing and editing this mess? We're the Beatles!"

As for "a band falling apart", Fleetwood Mac's Rumors is far superior.

As a kid in the '60s I watched the Beatles Saturday morning cartoon. And you couldn't turn on the radio without hearing them. I think they wrote and performed a lot of great songs and I still enjoy their music. Oddly though, I never, ever bought a Beatles album.

As to their politics, I was never a fan, but I could say the same about many well-known artists who became activists.

"The Beatles' new record is a gas"

Rap on, brother, rap on.

I was a young adult in the '60s and remember it as exciting,, full of change and horrible all at the same time. I liked the Beatles music then and now. It was a big part of the "soundtrack of my life." Their lifestyle and political leanings were NOT my 'cuppa.' In my view Paul and George matured and John go stuck in the Hippy era. That said the one album I'd probably choose if required is the Stones' "High Tide and Green Grass."

I find that I consider the reputations of many "great bands" to be well beyond my appreciation of them. This has caused me to avoid them- changing the station when I hear a song start. This includes the Beatles, Stones, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, and Springsteen

The Dead? Oh man, you are missing so much.

I grew up with 'Beatle Mania' and never really saw the point.

I enjoy many of their songs (even 'sing' them to my self at times when doing other things) – however when I select music to listen to I generally chose Classical.

While they may still be listening to the Beatles and other bands of that era and today in 100 years, I'll wager that they will still also be listening to Beethoven, Vivaldi, Telemann, and the others.

Of course, if you are listening to the Beatles or other groups you may well be listening to Classical – no copyright on the music of a composer dead for 200 years…

The Beatles are doing pretty well – first recordings in 1963, still being played 56 years later, I think that 100 years isn't going to be a problem!

Was just born when the "Fab Four" got to the USA. Liked Ringo's sense of humor.

I DON'T Hate the Beatles, they just don't blow any wind up my skirt and never have.

Besides's I've been a Deep Purple fan for 50.5 years and that will never change!

As a highly-impressionable 13-year old in 1964 the Beatles struck me with just the right notes of joy, sadness, hope, irony, humor and melancholy. Simple sentiments like "She Loves You" and "You're Going To Lose That Girl" where themes and tunes I could relate to at the time.

But now I'm into amazing songwriters like Laura Nyro and Del Shannon, people I ignored back in the day. My latest fave is Marilyn McCoo…I want to listen to any song where she sings the lead!