The Beatles

[Kev]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Kev]

The Beatles were singled out on Friday as the most influential entertainers of the past 100 years, beating out the likes of Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin and Mickey Mouse, according to a survey conducted by show business newspaper Variety.

Variety said the Beatles were named "Icons of the Century" because they were the entertainment personalities who made the biggest impact on the industry and the world in the past 100 years.

Source: Here

[lindylou]

Here, here !

[victorialush]

Reading a few threads in this forum I decided to start my own...

My fave tune by the Beatles is I am the Walrus...

Don't ask me why, the words are gibberish but the song as a whole gives me goosebumps!

[Kev]

Ethan Russell is the only rock photographer to have shot album covers for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who.

But of all the pictures of rock icons he has taken over the years, just one adorns his house in California. It is of John Lennon, crouching deep in concentration listening to a recording of the Beatles' White Album.

More: Here....

[Kev]

John Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 in Liverpool, England. On December 8th 1980 former Beatle John Lennon was shot dead outside his New York apartment. The news of Lennon’s assassination reached the UK in the early hours of the morning of December 9th. 40 year old Lennon was shot several times by Mark Chapman, as he entered the Dakota building in Manhattan, he was rushed to in a police car to St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center where he died.



Any comments to make? Do you have any memories of this?

[A.D.Williams]

Two pictures for this fine forum.

[A.D.Williams]

[Kev]

Bloody Brill Dave

[victorialush]

Bloody Brill Dave

Aren't they!!

[victorialush]

Can I... Pleeeeeaaasssseeee?