Random Beatle Thoughts

I'm not quite sure where I got this idea yesterday... I think I was looking at a Justin Bieber ad on the back of a bus. I started thinking, what if the Beatles had been a 'boy band' during the sixties? Or rather, what if they were 16 when they made it big and starting performing? What would John and Paul have sounded like as young singers?
I can't even imagine, especially as I know they weren't necessarily famous for their perfect voices, but rather their ability to make brilliant music. But something about the idea of the Beatles as adolescents and doing interviews in higher voices made me laugh.

I don't know about John and Paul, but the idea of George become a huge star at 17 is rather comical, especially as he looks barely 15 in some of the Hamburg photos...

Originally Posted by beatlebangs1964

I just love Harrison stories. Whoever cut George's umbilical cord did an excellent job.

Did you check out an assortment of shirtless George pictures to ascertain this?

Originally Posted by DizzymissLizzy909

I'm not quite sure where I got this idea yesterday... I think I was looking at a Justin Bieber ad on the back of a bus. I started thinking, what if the Beatles had been a 'boy band' during the sixties? Or rather, what if they were 16 when they made it big and starting performing? What would John and Paul have sounded like as young singers?
I can't even imagine, especially as I know they weren't necessarily famous for their perfect voices, but rather their ability to make brilliant music. But something about the idea of the Beatles as adolescents and doing interviews in higher voices made me laugh.

Originally Posted by valerieinthegallery

I don't know about John and Paul, but the idea of George become a huge star at 17 is rather comical, especially as he looks barely 15 in some of the Hamburg photos...

It would have been the ultimate in cuteness, but the Fabs would have had a hard time being taken seriously as musicians later on.

The term "boy band" gets used erroneously sometimes, IMO. A band also plays music, but the groups called boy bands are really just vocal groups of young guys. That term is intended as sort of a put-down sometimes, but in the late 50's and early 60's, most singing groups back then would qualify as boy bands. OTOH, groups like Hansen were put in the same category as The Backstreet Boys, simply because of their age and teen appeal. But Hansen was a band in every sense of the word--not only sang, but wrote and played a lot of their own songs. They were just very young at the time.

I've heard non-Fab fans refer to the Beatles as a boy band. I say in their early career, they were a bar band in boy band's clothing. Due to Mr. Epstein's marketing skills.

Originally Posted by Miss Nani Moonlight

sorry for the double post but i just have to say that is EXACTLY what happened to me. ive been listening to some different music but it wasnt satisfying me, you know? i liked it, but i was like, dammit, somethings missing.

and then i realized: OH. its the BEATLES thats missing.

once you hear them open thier mouths, there is absolutely no turning back. your taste in music is changed FOREVER...its like drugs you get hooked! its an uncontrollable addiction!!! you cant un-train your mind to get over the beatles, because i know i cant!

okay. im done. going to bed, and possibly watching the george-climbing-the-wall-scene in ! you know when theyre all standing around in those tight jeans

I so agree!

Originally Posted by valerieinthegallery

I'll bet we all have certain Beatles songs that we associate with a particular memory. For example, whenever I hear "When I'm 64" I'm instantly transported to a farmhouse in Wales where my parents and I were on holiday at the time "Sargeant Pepper" was released. The track wasn't released as a single so I must have heard it on the radio. It's quite uncanny - crystal clear memories of sitting at a huge kitchen table and drawing on the back of an envelope, watching the farmer playing with an Old English Sheepdog called Fly who specialized in catching moles, riding on the back of a haycart (yes, the farm still used horses as well as tractors).

I also remember watching "Magical Mystery Tour" in a basement flat my parents were obliged to rent when our new house wasn't ready in time. I was slightly scared by "I am the Walrus" but I loved the "Your Mother Should Know" dance sequence! When the show was over I lay in bed playing the walking-down-the-staircase scene over and over in my mind. I was very surprised when my mother told me that these were the same men I'd seen at the cinema in "Help!" Any MMM track evokes memories of that slightly damp flat in a large and otherwise empty Victorian house near the seafront in Skegness.

This is so true. I have memories associated with so many of their songs since I grew up with them.

Originally Posted by inherownwrite

This is so true. I have memories associated with so many of their songs since I grew up with them.

Yeah, so do I.

Valerie, we love your wonderful hornbag humor and George postings.

Originally Posted by DizzymissLizzy909

I'm not quite sure where I got this idea yesterday... I think I was looking at a Justin Bieber ad on the back of a bus. I started thinking, what if the Beatles had been a 'boy band' during the sixties? Or rather, what if they were 16 when they made it big and starting performing? What would John and Paul have sounded like as young singers?
I can't even imagine, especially as I know they weren't necessarily famous for their perfect voices, but rather their ability to make brilliant music. But something about the idea of the Beatles as adolescents and doing interviews in higher voices made me laugh.

Actually, when they first started out as the Quarrymen, John was only 17, Paul was only 15 and George was just a mere 14. And they were huge in Hamburg. John quoted once, "I was born in Liverpool but I grew up in Hamburg." George was deported from Hamburg at one point for being underage. Ringo didn't join them until later but he was the same age as John. If you listen to some of the tapes of them when they played in Hamburg, they certainly do have those "little boy" voices.
And there are some people who DO call them the original boy band but I disagree. They were SO not a boy band.

I don't think the Beatles would have been called a boy band if they were all just 13.
They had that Liverpool "edge" to them... and life had thrown them quite a few curves... even by then.

Just realised how cool the drumming on Hello Goodbye is.

I just got back from my run. I saw a Blackbird, a Blue Bird, and a Wren.

I saw a lot of blackbirds and some marsh hawks.

George was so adorable in 1965. He was tall and fine and had such beautiful features. You girls love seeing the man sans shirt. I caught you ogling the man, ladies. Oh, and who could forget how adorable George was when he did his sexy little Beatle dance at the train station? That was just too adorable!

The Beatles made the scene in Blackpool in 1965. Some 25 years earlier, the senior Harrisons gave ballroom dance lessons in Blackpool.

i thinks johns glasses went well it his dreamy eyes

John was a pretty old soul at a young age... Ringo had seen some rough times, Paul lost his Mom and was being raised by a single dad... George was the lucky one, BUT... I really don't think they would have ever qualified as a genuine boy band... even when they were "boys."

Yeah, Judith... you're right. There was something so interesting about the boys. They were supposed to be "nice young lads" but actually they were pretty naughty. In a very lovable, free-spirited way.

Many people who knew them in The Cavern days or before have commented that it was obvious they were different because they were so intelligent. That core of John/Paul/George.. wow! What are the chances that three such bright, earthy, funny, creative, and interesting people would find each other?!

The Beatles were never what I think of as "boy" bands. To me, "girl" or "boy" bands are a put together ensemble aimed at a very young audience who tend to crash and burn. Look at 98 Degrees, In Stink, Backside Boys, New Kids and the like. I think of "girl" and "boy" bands as popular fads today, trivia statistics tomorrow.

The Beatles wrote their songs; when they did do covers, left their stamp on them and did not do choreographed little dances. They were aimed at everybody, not the prepubescent set.

Well said in the posts above... "boy band" and "Beatles" should never be used in the same sentence together!! Personally I find it a bit insulting if I hear the Fabs be called a boy band, because it makes them sound so... untalented. Not to say that the Backstreet Boys or 98* didn't have talent (although imo they didn't), but the Beatles did SOO much more than just sing on stage! Wrote their own songs, played everything on their own songs, could put on a performance like no other, were willing to learn and develop a new sound, brought music to a new level... and then another and then another. The Beatles deserve a chapter in a music history book... boy bands might get a sentence if they're lucky.

Well said, Diz. The Fabs were NEVER a boy band, a put together pop fad at someone else's doing/creation. They were spontaneous; the girl/boy bands are not. The Beatles are a natural coming together.

Randome thought now - I think George's "nan" Louisa cut his cord. Whoever did it did a good job.

I think John had tremendous respect and empathy for Sid/Syd ... he could feel that pain.