July 2019 Static Live Magazine

The Decade of Eternity The Decade of Eternity
By The Reluctant Genius
Led by primary songwriters Lennon and
McCartney, the Beatles built their reputation
playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over
a three-year period from 1960, initially with
Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio
of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, who
had been together since 1958, went through
a succession of drummers, including Pete
Best, before asking Starr to join them in
1962. Manager Brian Epstein molded
them into a professional act, and producer
George Martin guided and developed their
recordings, greatly expanding their domestic
success after their first hit, “Love Me Do”, in
late 1962. As their popularity grew into the
intense fan frenzy dubbed “Beatlemania”,
the band acquired the nickname “the
Fab Four”, with Epstein, Martin and
other members of the band’s entourage
sometimes given the informal title of “fifth
Beatle”.
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This upcoming year marks the 60th anniversary of the
beginning of perhaps the greatest rock band; maybe even
the greatest band ever. It seems even today, no matter
where you are - an elevator, a shopping mall, a sporting
event - you’re going to hear a song by the Beatles. In fact,
it’s almost hard to imagine life without their music.
There’s a movie coming out (Yesterday) that explores that
exact premise - What if there were no Beatles band and
what if someone had the songs in their head and decided
to make the music that nobody ever heard before? In last
month’s issue, we explored the idea of memories and
where you were when you heard a certain song. If you think
Elton John had a lot of hits and memories that went along
with them, you don’t even know the half of it.
Even though The Beatles started in 1960 it wasn’t until
1963 that they actually broke through musically and
became an instant phenomenon over in Europe and soon
to be as well in the United States and then around the
world. In fact, take this into consideration: From 1963 to
1970 The Beatles created one of the largest collections of
chart-topping hits ever known to man. To this day, they still
hold many records when it comes to releasing
songs/EPs and it’s almost unimaginable to think
that anyone could ever compete with what the
Beatles did in just seven short years.
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Decade of Eternity The Decade of Eternity
One can only guess how many movies, books, and social
media sites are out there about Liverpool’s Fab Four but
one thing’s for sure - they will be in the history books
forever and most likely nobody will ever be able to match
their level of success in such a short amount of time
Here’s a quick rundown of what the band accomplished
in the same time as most of us spent in high school and
college:
The Beatles formed in Liverpool in 1960 and were one
of the first English rock & roll bands. The line-up of John
Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison (Pete Best) and
later Ringo Starr had to be regarded as the most influential
band of all time. With a sound rooted in skiffle, beat and
1950s rock and roll, the group were integral to the evolution
of pop music into an artform, and to the development of the
counterculture of the 1960s.
The Beatles started off as a simple cover band. They
incorporated elements of classical music, older pop, and
unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways,
and they experimented with a number of musical styles
in later years, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music
to psychedelia and hard rock. As they continued to draw
influences from a variety of cultural sources, their musical
and lyrical sophistication grew, and they came to be seen
as embodying the era’s socio-cultural movements.
The rest is history, as they continued
to grow musically until 1970 when
they broke the hearts of millions
by spitting up. If all of that wasn’t
enough to impress the toughest of
critics here’s the list of their number
one hits!!! This can be disputed as it
depends on where you do your fact
checking:
Hey Jude
Come Together/Something
I Want to Hold Your Hand
She Loves You
Let it Be
Love Me Do
Help!
A Hard Day’s Night
We Can Work it Out
Get Back
All You Need is Love
Yesterday
Ticket to Ride
Hello Goodbye
I Feel Fine
The Long and Winding Road/For You Blue
Penny Lane
Paperback Writer
Eight Days a Week
Can’t Buy Me Love
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