OK,Apologies in advance.Old lady rant coming on.Gonna be a long 'un.Boy,am I gonna get a boatload of TL
R posts!
I'm sorry,but unless you're REALLY young,not knowing who the Beatles is, is a pretty good indicator of wilfil ignorance.It's a free country and I'm TOTALLY OK with somebody not LIKING them (worship of ANY one is a turn off )but the Beatles are so important not just musically,not historically as well.Most folks would have to live in a cave to not KNOW who they were.
Like Elvis,the Beatles were an impt part of the post-war shedding of the conservative,sexually repressed values that dominated the previous decade.They were at the forefront of nearly every social revolution of the 1960s that eventually gave us the western world we have now.A VERY different place from one their fathers grew up in.
They championed alternate spirituality at a time when the dominant culture was Judeo-Christian.They caused shock over their more flexible attitudes to gender roles & sexuality.Hard to believe it now,but their hair was considered LONG & effete!Along with Timothy Leary,they experimented with mind-altering drugs.Lennon was at the forefront of the Anti-War Movement.
These are just a few of the social changes they spear-headed.The western world would be a VERY different place if the Beatles had never existed.
Musically,every decent rockstar owes a debt to them.Until they came along,the Brill building production line of disposable songwriting was the norm.Like Bob Dylan,they made lyrics matter,and until then most singers did NOT sing their own material.Artistic album design,the earliest music videos-the Beatles did all of this years before it became the norm.
I am NOT a rabid Beatle fangirl by any means.Paul could be too soppy,Lennon too hard & cynical.But few artists have a catalogue so varied that has stood the test of time.And anybody interested in social and/or rock and roll history should know who they are and the musical and cultural changes they ushered in.And SO many rock groups have worn that bl**dy suit and tie combo,most of us would wanna know who was the culprit that started it all!
On a lighter note,I think this meme is just for folks like xdropkicknicksx's musically illiterate pal:
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/musically-oblivious-8th-grader