What Brian Epstein had managed the 1967 Beatles?
I just remembered something I thought about
that is another angle that may help you
younguns and olduns who've forgotten what
the pre-Beatles era was like to understand
what I'm saying.
Let's say you're a disk jockey or someone
else working for a major radio station in
London England in 1963, and you're approached
by a young agent named Brian Epstein.
Brian is excited to tell you that he's just
signed up the hottest band in England.
Not only that, he tells you, they're
going to go down as the greatest band in
rock HISTORY!
He assures you that hundreds of millions of
teenagers and preteens are hungry for their
music. They're going to go ape for The Beatles,
he tells you. Every girl from 8 to 18 will
not be able to contain her excitement --
they will all spend every second of a
Beatles concert -- SCREAMING.
The world tours will break all records. Their
singles and albums will dominate the charts.
They will put the music industry into a
growth phase that will last over 40 years.
They will inspire a host of imitators and
truly creative musicians.
Their hair will change the way men around
the world grow their hair for over 40 years.
Their interest in Indian music will turn
an unknown sitar player into a pop star.
(What the hell's a sitar? you think.)
Their interest in Indian meditation will
introduce an entire generation to mysticism
and in the guise of being a New Age that will
continue to be big business for over 40 years.
They'll be so loved by teenagers in the Soviet
bloc that they'll be an influence leading to
the downfall of communism.
By this time, you're rolling your eyes, but
this Brian Epstein is certainly enthusiastic
about his new group, so you tell him,
"Enough already, let me hear one of their
songs."
"Sure. By the way, all the songs they record
are so great, both sides of their records
are A sides. Radio stations will play both
songs."
Yeah, right, you think as a disk jockey.
Wouldn't it be confusing not to know which
side of a record is the A side? Probably
means they're both crap.
But Brian Epstein pulls out a .45, puts in on
the turntable, drops the needle onto it and
out comes . . .
"Strawberry Fields."
What would you have done back then in -- remember--
1963?
Probably called security to throw the bum out.
Would kind of idiot would think teenagers
wanted to listen to a bunch of weird sounds
and words. "Nothing is real" ? -- give me a
break.
"But Lennon-McCartney are going to go down in
music history as one of the greatest songwriting
teams of the century," Epstein insists.
Where was the love? The broken heart? The
buried sex appeal? How could they dance to
it?
"Wait!" Brian Epstein pleads as he pulls out
a PR still.
You look at the photograph of The Beatles,
amazed at how weird they look.
Beards and mustaches. Hair down to the middle
of their backs. Wild, colorful clothes too
fancy even for a mod like you.
This just convinces you even more that this
Brian Epstein is a maniac. He had "Beatle"
mania all right -- of a possibly dangerous,
psychotic kind.
Only a deranged person would think that 4
guys with beards and hair longer that many
women could be teenage idols.
"OK, if you don't like that, I'll just flip
it over." Epstein starts playing "Penny
Lane."
It's as weird to you as the other one.
You start backing away, wondering how long
it will take the security guards to arrive.
And that Brian Epstein had seemed like a
cool guy at first.
He pulls out another photograph, a vast
collage of The Beatles in bright band
uniforms surrounded by cut out pictures of
celebrities and fruit.
"Here's the jacket for their first album."
Epstein tries to shove it into your face
as you keep backing away.
"It's uses the fictional frame of an old
band called Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts
and they plan to have the London Philharmonic
Orchestra play backwards at the end. It'll
revolutionize music."
Finally security arrives and escorts Mr.
Epstein out to the street. You leave orders
that he's never to be allowed into the
station again.
Whew, that was a close one. Lots of crazies
out there.
That's how much music and the world and
us teenagers changed between 1963 when The
Beatles started recording and
1967 when Sgt Pepper was released to
vast popular and critical acclaim and
revolutionized music.
There's no way that 1963 or 1964 could have
handled The Beatles of 1967 -- their music
or their appearance.
Anthropology Travel
that is another angle that may help you
younguns and olduns who've forgotten what
the pre-Beatles era was like to understand
what I'm saying.
Let's say you're a disk jockey or someone
else working for a major radio station in
London England in 1963, and you're approached
by a young agent named Brian Epstein.
Brian is excited to tell you that he's just
signed up the hottest band in England.
Not only that, he tells you, they're
going to go down as the greatest band in
rock HISTORY!
He assures you that hundreds of millions of
teenagers and preteens are hungry for their
music. They're going to go ape for The Beatles,
he tells you. Every girl from 8 to 18 will
not be able to contain her excitement --
they will all spend every second of a
Beatles concert -- SCREAMING.
The world tours will break all records. Their
singles and albums will dominate the charts.
They will put the music industry into a
growth phase that will last over 40 years.
They will inspire a host of imitators and
truly creative musicians.
Their hair will change the way men around
the world grow their hair for over 40 years.
Their interest in Indian music will turn
an unknown sitar player into a pop star.
(What the hell's a sitar? you think.)
Their interest in Indian meditation will
introduce an entire generation to mysticism
and in the guise of being a New Age that will
continue to be big business for over 40 years.
They'll be so loved by teenagers in the Soviet
bloc that they'll be an influence leading to
the downfall of communism.
By this time, you're rolling your eyes, but
this Brian Epstein is certainly enthusiastic
about his new group, so you tell him,
"Enough already, let me hear one of their
songs."
"Sure. By the way, all the songs they record
are so great, both sides of their records
are A sides. Radio stations will play both
songs."
Yeah, right, you think as a disk jockey.
Wouldn't it be confusing not to know which
side of a record is the A side? Probably
means they're both crap.
But Brian Epstein pulls out a .45, puts in on
the turntable, drops the needle onto it and
out comes . . .
"Strawberry Fields."
What would you have done back then in -- remember--
1963?
Probably called security to throw the bum out.
Would kind of idiot would think teenagers
wanted to listen to a bunch of weird sounds
and words. "Nothing is real" ? -- give me a
break.
"But Lennon-McCartney are going to go down in
music history as one of the greatest songwriting
teams of the century," Epstein insists.
Where was the love? The broken heart? The
buried sex appeal? How could they dance to
it?
"Wait!" Brian Epstein pleads as he pulls out
a PR still.
You look at the photograph of The Beatles,
amazed at how weird they look.
Beards and mustaches. Hair down to the middle
of their backs. Wild, colorful clothes too
fancy even for a mod like you.
This just convinces you even more that this
Brian Epstein is a maniac. He had "Beatle"
mania all right -- of a possibly dangerous,
psychotic kind.
Only a deranged person would think that 4
guys with beards and hair longer that many
women could be teenage idols.
"OK, if you don't like that, I'll just flip
it over." Epstein starts playing "Penny
Lane."
It's as weird to you as the other one.
You start backing away, wondering how long
it will take the security guards to arrive.
And that Brian Epstein had seemed like a
cool guy at first.
He pulls out another photograph, a vast
collage of The Beatles in bright band
uniforms surrounded by cut out pictures of
celebrities and fruit.
"Here's the jacket for their first album."
Epstein tries to shove it into your face
as you keep backing away.
"It's uses the fictional frame of an old
band called Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts
and they plan to have the London Philharmonic
Orchestra play backwards at the end. It'll
revolutionize music."
Finally security arrives and escorts Mr.
Epstein out to the street. You leave orders
that he's never to be allowed into the
station again.
Whew, that was a close one. Lots of crazies
out there.
That's how much music and the world and
us teenagers changed between 1963 when The
Beatles started recording and
1967 when Sgt Pepper was released to
vast popular and critical acclaim and
revolutionized music.
There's no way that 1963 or 1964 could have
handled The Beatles of 1967 -- their music
or their appearance.
Anthropology Travel
posted by RickStooker at
11:36 AM
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