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Beatles News Extra

 

A BEATLES CHRISTMAS 2000

Who would have thought? Madonna gets married and George says the world is going "mental." And so this is Christmas . . .

 

But The Beatles are back with a vengeance and bigger than ever. The new album is selling like hotcakes. The autobiographical Anthology was on the top of the bestsellers list for weeks. What's it all about? I mean these lads aren't really lads anymore. And the music that is selling out all over the world is music from 30 or more years ago. The fascination with the lives and the history of this band seems a never-ending story.

 

The truth is that for many, it's revolution and sentimentality mixed together. It's the baby boomers last hurrah, at least for those that have found it hard to move on. It's a mud-in-your-eye rejection too. For many, there is no new music. Rap, ska, dance, and all the other genres of music never quite made it with the 60's generation. And the pop world offered only Celine Dion and the other femme fatales of the music industry. Better they should be off having babies.

 

So going ahead meant looking back. And The Beatles offered that highway. Not since the '60's has an album been so fiercely marketed. And all the effort paid off.

Now there's word of a new generation of Beatles' fans. Not so. Granted there are always a few right-brained young men and women who find the sixties fascinating as a kind of historic nirvana (if they only knew!), but for the most part the second revolution does not involve young people.

 

Most teens today don't even know who The Beatles are, and when you see news reports about how the lads have beaten the Backstreet Boys into submission, yadda yadda yadda, you have to realize that in the teen world, there was never even any battle. For most teens, the Backstreet Boys and their clones are the word on the street. Believe me, they're not talking about, or swooning over Paul, George or Ringo.

 

No, this second revolution involves middle-aged/old folks. It's a funny thing about growing up in the 60's. You were the center of the universe for what seemed the longest time. And you never wanted that feeling to stop. For many this meant acquiring great wealth and buying the coolest toys you could for both yourself and the 2.3 kids you loved to spoil, ah yes, the BMW, the rad stereo, the giant screen (26"?) TV, and so on. 

 

But the material things in life don't keep you young, and the funny thing about kids is that they leave home (and they're just about all leaving by now aren't they?). And that's what this revolution is all about, isn't it? It's about feeling young and needed again. So you turn to the familiar. The Beatles. The #1 hits all over again. They say that art is immortal, and it is. Unfortunately, we're not.

 

It's a Beatle-y Christmas! It's like 1968 all over again. And so let's just drift away for the moment. Put that new Beatles 1 album on the rad stereo and make the whole family listen. And by the way, just ignore young Jennie over in the corner with her new multi-vibrating/surround-around sound discman plugged in her ears. She's listening to Black and Blue.

Paperback writer

20.12.00

 

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