The Beatles

**Kev** · 09-11-2005

The 1967 Beatles track A Day In The Life has been hailed the best British song of all time.

The song, which featured on the classic Beatles album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, topped a survey of music experts by Q magazine.

The magazine called the track "the ultimate sonic rendition of what it means to be British".

The Kinks' song Waterloo Sunset came second in the poll, ahead of Oasis' Wonderwall in third place.

Earlier this year, in a survey to find the greatest tune between 1955 and 1964 BBC Radio 2 listeners overlooked two Beatles singles in favour of The Kinks' You Really Got Me. A Day In The Life, the Beatles' most ambitious work to date, featured what Lennon described as "a sound building up from nothing to the end of the world".

In fourth place in the Q poll was the Sex Pistols' controversial hit God Save The Queen, with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody rounding out the top five.

Robbie Williams' Angels, described by the magazine as "virtually our alternative national anthem" polled at number seven - two places ahead of British rockers the Rolling Stones, with Sympathy For The Devil at number nine.

Source

**Scousemouse** · 09-12-2005

D'you know, the term 'expert' really irks me, gets up my nose, is a pain in the butt. What the hell is an 'expert'? Some pillock that can never be wrong? Someone who's 'vast knowledge' supersedes everyone elses opinion? What 'expert' decides who the 'experts' are in these 'polls'.
If you ask me (and as you know, I'm no 'expert')

these polls are a load of, er,...tosh, (for want of a better word). Pick another bunch of 'experts' and I'll lay odds they'll come up with a whole load of different answers!

Tell you what, let's run our own poll...TELL US WHAT YOU CONSIDER THE BEST FIVE SONGS ARE EVER

I'm going to lie down now to think...
I expect a long list from our 'expert' contributors, so get yer thinkin' caps on...

Sorry for the outburst — I think I'm pished.

**Kev** · 09-12-2005

Originally Posted by Scousemouse

D'you know, the term 'expert' really irks me, gets up my nose, is a pain in the butt. What the hell is an 'expert'? Some pillock that can never be wrong? Someone who's 'vast knowledge' supersedes everyone elses opinion? What 'expert' decides who the 'experts' are in these 'polls'.
If you ask me (and as you know, I'm no 'expert')

these polls are a load of, er,...tosh, (for want of a better word). Pick another bunch of 'experts' and I'll lay odds they'll come up with a whole load of different answers!

Tell you what, let's run our own poll...TELL US WHAT YOU CONSIDER THE BEST FIVE SONGS ARE EVER

I'm going to lie down now to think...
I expect a long list from our 'expert' contributors, so get yer thinkin' caps on...

Sorry for the outburst — I think I'm pished.

Go on then - start a new thread

**Kev** · 09-20-2005

The Beatles

The Beatles were a pop and rock music group from Liverpool, England, who continue to be held in the very highest regard for their artistic achievements, their huge commercial success, and their ground-breaking role in the history of popular music. Consisting of John Lennon (1940-1980), Paul McCartney (1942- ), George Harrison (1943-2001) and Ringo Starr (1940- ), the group's innovative music, films, and style helped define the 1960s.

The Beatles were, by most definitions, the biggest musical act of the twentieth century, charting more than fifty top 40 hit singles in the ten years they were together and twenty-seven #1 hits in the USA & UK alone.

EMI estimated that by 1985, the band had sold over one billion records worldwide.[1] Their ballad Yesterday (written by McCartney) may be the most-covered song in the history of recorded music (about 3,000 versions of it exist).[2]

They composed songs and arranged them in a wide array of musical styles – occasionally fusing genres. The constant factor in the vast majority of their songs was their focus on melody. They were also pioneers of new musical directions such as psychedelia (Strawberry Fields Forever) and heavy metal (Helter Skelter, Revolution). Their use of chamber and baroque orchestrations (scored by producer George Martin) on recordings such as A Day In The Life, Eleanor Rigby, In My Life and For No One was another first in contemporary popular music. They pioneered many production techniques, and their (1967) LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is often cited as one of the first concept albums.

Their clothes, hairstyles, and choice of instruments made them trend-setters throughout the decade, while their growing social awareness, reflected in the development of their music, saw their influence extend far beyond the music scene into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

The group disbanded in 1970, amid much internal strife. Thirty-five years later, in 2005, the American entertainment industry magazine Variety named them the most iconic entertainers of the 20th century.[3]

Much more info on The Fab Four: Here

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The Beatles' debut US TV appearances on the Ed Sullivan show 40 years ago are still among the most-watched programmes in US history, according to a study.

The band's first two appearances on the show in February 1964 have the second and third highest viewing figures ever.

About 40% of the US population - about 70 million - saw the historic shows that sparked Beatlemania in America.

They were beaten only by the 1983 finale episode of war comedy M*A*S*H which drew nearly 106 million viewers.

In fourth place was the 1982 Super Bowl - seen by more than 85m viewers - and fifth was the famous 1980 episode of the Ewing family soap Dallas in which villain JR was shot (83m).

The 1993 finale of comedy Cheers and various Super Bowls made up the remainder of top 10.

Next week sees the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show on 9 February.

They performed the songs All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

According to reports at the time, the crime rate in US cities dropped dramatically during the broadcast as criminals stopped their activities to tune in.

The top 10 study, calculated using the percentage of population viewing, was compiled in part by data from the US Census Bureau.

**Kev** · 09-20-2005

The first group to have 5 top records in the American Billboard Charts.

The first British pop group to receive MBE's

First pop group to be seen simultaneously on tv by 4 million people.

Seargant Pepper was the first concept album with no breaks between the tracks...

The first pop group to be given the freedom of Liverpool.

Paul McCartney was the first western artist to record an album exclusively for the Soviet Union.

**Paul D** · 04-28-2006

Here's a picture of Fidel Castro unveiling a statue of John Lennon in John Lennon park in Havana Cuba and I know Hamburg are about to unveil a statue to The Beatles soon,and of course there's Strawberry Fields in New York,and I was wondering how many other places around the world have similar Beatles tributes does anyone know of any more.

**Kev** · 04-28-2006

I don't, maybe someone can help

**Kev** · 05-26-2006

John, Paul, George and Ringo have been reunited once more - and as you can see they've been doing some travelling. The Fab Four's waxwork doubles have made the trip from London to their spiritual home in Liverpool. After going on display in the capital, they're packing their bags - and guitar cases - and making their way to the city's Beatles Museum.

**Max** · 05-26-2006

Originally Posted by kev

John, Paul, George and Ringo have been reunited once more - and as you can see they've been doing some travelling. The Fab Four's waxwork doubles have made the trip from London to their spiritual home in Liverpool. After going on display in the capital, they're packing their bags - and guitar cases - and making their way to the city's Beatles Museum.

Those dummies are spooky looking.

You use these heads to fake a murder scene by covering them with fake blood and leaving them in a seedy hotel bathub full of ice!

**Browneyes** · 05-26-2006

Max you twisted young individual

**Max** · 05-26-2006

It would look cool though.

Too many movies.

**julia** · 05-26-2006

If the four lads go a-missing, I don't think the police will be searching hotel bathrooms first. More than likely, they will start the search in my flat!

**Paul D** · 06-04-2006

The Beatles are the best-selling musical group of all time, estimated by EMI to have over one billion discs and tapes sold worldwide.
The Beatles have notched up the most multi-platinum selling albums for any artist or musical group (thirteen in the U.S. alone).
The Beatles have had more number one singles than any other musical group (23 in Australia, 23 in The Netherlands, 22 in Canada, 21 in Norway, 20 in the U.S., and 18 in Sweden). Ironically, the Beatles could easily have had even more number ones, because they were often competing with their own singles. For example, the Beatles' "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were released as a "double A"-sided single, which caused sales and airplay to be divided between the two songs instead of being counted collectively. Even so, they reached number two with the singles.
The Beatles have had more number one albums than any other group (19 in the U.S. and 15 in the United Kingdom).
The Beatles spent the highest number of weeks at number one in the albums chart (174 in the UK and 132 in the U.S.).
The most successful first week of sales for a double album (The Beatles Anthology Volume 1, which sold 855,473 copies in the U.S. from 21 November to 28 November 1995).
In terms of charting positions, Lennon and McCartney are the most successful songwriters in history, with 32 number one singles in the U.S. for McCartney, and 26 for Lennon (23 of which were written together). Lennon was responsible for 29 Number One singles in the UK, and McCartney was responsible for 28 (25 of which were written together).
During the week of 4 April 1964, The Beatles held the top five positions on the Billboard singles chart. No one had ever done anything like this before, and it is doubtful that the conditions will ever exist for anyone to do it again. The songs were "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me".
The next week, 11 April 1964, the Beatles held fourteen positions on the Billboard Hot 100. Before the Beatles, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine (by Elvis Presley, 19 December 1956).
The Beatles are the only artist to have 'back-to-back-to-back' number one singles on Billboard's Hot 100. Boyz II Men and Elvis Presley have succeeded themselves on the chart, but the Beatles are the only artist to 'three-peat'.
The Beatles' "Yesterday" is the most covered song in history, appearing in the Guinness Book of Records with over three thousand recorded versions.
The Beatles even had their own stamp commissioned, featuring a tribute to Yellow Submarine.The Beatles had the fastest selling single of all time with "I Want To Hold Your Hand". The song sold 250,000 units within three days in the U.S., one million in 2 weeks. (Additionally, it sold 10,000 copies per hour in New York City alone for the first 20 days.)
The Beatles have the fastest selling CD of all time with 1. It sold over 13 million copies in four weeks.
The largest number of advance orders for a single, at 2.1 million copies in the U.S. for "Can't Buy Me Love" (it sold 940,225 copies on its first day of release in the U.S. alone).
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the best selling album of all time in the UK (over 4.5 million copies sold).
With their performance at Shea Stadium in 1965, The Beatles set new world records for concert attendance (55,600+) and revenue.
The Beatles broke television ratings records in the U.S. with their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
On 12 June 1965, the Beatles were made Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen.
On 30 June 1966, the Beatles became the first musical group to perform at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo. They performed five times in three days gathering audiences of about 10,000 per performance.
The Beatles appear five times in the top 100 best-selling singles in the UK. No other group appears more than twice.

**Kev** · 06-08-2006

THEY started out as four unknown lads in a Liverpool basement and played their last gig on a London rooftop, the city's most famous sons.

Today the Daily Post reveals the first of 110 paintings specially commissioned to depict John, Paul, George and Ringo's musical journey.

The canvases, the first somewhat biblically titled "the birth of Ringo", will be exhibited in chronological order on seven floors at Liverpool's new £17m Hard Days Night hotel.