Publisher at The American Bystander
is Blogmom of Hey Dullblog. His novels and parodies have sold 1.25 million copies in 25 languages. He lives in Santa Monica, CA, and runs The American Bystander all-star print humor magazine.
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The Beatles are my ultimate “fave rave,” as they might say on Ready Steady Go; their stuff has always, and probably will always, sound just right to me. (There are pictures of me circa 1970, a 1-year-old freaking out with pleasure over “Back in the USSR,” which proves two things:
a) It’s not just nostalgia, I have always genuinely LOVED Beatle music; and
b) not all of the White Album makes me want to send Therapists Without Borders back to 1968.)
There’s only one other person that reliably gives me the same flood of endorphins: Stevie Wonder. And only his stuff from about 1972 to 1975. In honor of this, I’m embedding him doing Superstition on Sesame Street.
Is there any group or person that really pushes your button as much as The Beatles?
I only like Finger Tips by Wonder but be that as it may, I agree 100% about the Beatles of course. No it is NOT nostalgia. My son heard them for the first time, when he was 2 years old. He was screaming in his car seat and I couldn’t get him to stop so I put in a casette of early Beatles tunes not because I thought it would do anything for him, but for my own sanity. I always turn to the Beatles music when I’m stressed or upset about something that is out of my control. Anyway All My Loving was the first track and about 30 seconds into the song he suddenly stopped screaming and got very quiet. I thought he had simply screamed himself into a stuporous sleep like toddlers sometimes do. But suddenly I heard this little voice say, “Mommy what is that music”? I told him and then I asked (somewhat puzzled because I thought toddlers only liked kiddie music) “Do you like the music”? He answered emphatically in the affirmative. From that day forward this little 2 year old kid became an absolute Beatles freak. He listened to them night and day and learned all of the lyrics to all of their early songs. When he wasn’t listening to them he would sing the songs where ever we were….in dept.stores, the park, the dr’s office….where ever. He even sang the songs in his sleep. True story. He dubbed that first tape he heard, with All My Loving on it, “The Anna tape” because their cover by Arthur Alexander was the last track on the tape and his favorite. To this day (he’s 20 now) although he has since discovered Green Day, Radio Head, and groups like The Pretty Reckless and System of the Downs, the Beatles are still his favorite band and he considers them above everyone else. My 17 year old son feels the same way. People just respond to their music, no matter what their age happens to be. The Beatles music is very powerful. It unites people…a beautiful thing in this world. 🙂
Not really. I own the Beatles mono set, the Beatles stereo set, multiple additional copies of each CD, as well as copies of 1, Blue and Red albums, BBC CDs, the 3 Anthologies, etc., etc.
In addition, I collect Beatles books: more than 60 at last count.
There’s no other band in my life that I am that committed to. I love a lot of different music: Fiona Apple, Radiohead, The National, Tegan & Sara, Chaka Khan, Prince, Robyn, Bon Iver, Frank Ocean, etc., etc. But I don’t own the entirely of any of their catalogs, let alone collect a single book about any of them.
I suppose it’s the music and the incredible power, drama, sadness, and joy of their “story” as a band that sets them apart for me.
— Drew
Todd Rundgren. If all you know about him is “Hello It’s Me”, then you won’t understand. For me, he helped to fill the void when the Beatles broke up. He has over the past 43 years built a large catalog of wildly diverse music. If you want to see an amazing concert, do a YouTube search of “Todd Rundgren Metrople Orchestra 2012”
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS-64ce_bqE). I can’t stop watching it. BTW, the posted video is a product of editing together a number of smart phone videos shot during the live concert, and paired with audio from the live broadcast presented on Dutch Public radio. But having said all this, Beatles are still #1 for me.
No other band comes close to the Beatles for me. However, Love’s Forever Changes and the Stone Roses’ first album would feature in my top five albums of all time along with Sgt Pepper, Revolver and Rubber Soul.
XTC. Started punk-leaning, progressed and matured. Stopped touring and achieved even better greatness in their studio years.
@Alex, XTC’s “Skylarking” is the soundtrack of my freshman year. Always loved those guys, too.
Hey, “Skylarking” was produced by Todd Rundgren. Just sayin’
And quite contentiously, as i recall @bcelaya.
[…] a post last May, I mentioned that, apart from The Beatles, early to mid-70s Stevie Wonder is my favorite aural […]