Our string quartet was recently asked to play a wedding reception. The bride-to-be had seen us perform locally, and I was excited to hear from her and to book the gig.
She had one stipulation though.
"NO Beatles please!"
I laughed to myself and thought "man, there must be a good story behind that!"
I asked her about it. She replied that her fiance simply did not like the Beatles.
Wow. I felt like I had spotted a thought-to-be-extinct creature in the wild. I quote from the Rolling Stone album guide concerning the Beatles - "Theirs is the final, great consensus in popular music - not liking them is as perverse as not liking the sun."
Now I quote Mr. Burns from the Simpsons - "Since the beginning of time, man has longed to destroy the sun!"
Actually, I have met one other person who did not like the Beatles (and I am talking DISlike here. Obviously the Beatles are not everyone's favorite music). This guy was an artist, and he expressed his opinion to me one day. I asked him for a reason. He responded with the universal criticism people use for any artist they do not like.
"All their songs sound the same."
????!
He did add this qualifier - "...except the song 'Eleanor Rigby'....I kinda like that one........but I prefer Herman's Hermits."
Perhaps my friend's parents or grandparents lived in the South, after John's infamous and misunderstood "bigger than Jesus" comment, and perhaps they attended mass burnings of Beatles records and paraphernalia. Perhaps, at the request of several voices in the South in the 1960's, my friend's parents bought up the Herman's Hermits catalogue and got their kids hooked on the safe stuff.
And perhaps my friend has a brother, and he is getting married soon?
What shocks me is the consistency of people I meet who are into hardcore music, or "screamo", always claim that they hate The Beatles. I think it may be a herd mentality thing from the couple of people I have asked but I have a feeling there are some people in those groups who genuinely dislike them. The funny thing is The Beatles music is so commercialized some people won't even know they're listening to them. Whether its Tv, radio, internet, and elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteScreamo people don't like Helter Skelter? OK, OK....it's not my favorite, but surely it has its place in the eventual development of Screamo?
ReplyDeleteYeah, it would be funny for someone who doesn't like the Beatles to like a song in a commercial....which was like the Beatles.
I have a friend who is like that sometimes. "I don't like (a certain band), but I like this song and this song and that song. But I still hate them."
Man, I JUST watched that Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns says that about wanting to burn the sun and that is THE LINE that got me cracking up. Its like you know me so well bro!! You know the right quotes to quote! As far as all Beatles songs sounding the same. . . . . . I cannot imagine a more ignorant comment. Seriously, help me imagine one! :-)
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