Just A Boy Band

Politics, bosses, SUV's, there have been a lot of mentions on this page that may have upset certain types of people at different times. Here comes, possibly, the most blasphemous, controversial, and instigating entry to date, if not ever.

The Beatles where nothing more than a boy band. That's right. i said it. The Beatles mean nothing to me. They are a cheesy, pop, boy band milking the formula from day one.

Here we go, right from the start: they all got the same outfits, the same haircut, and bopped around playing simple, sing-along pop songs that made teenage girls scream. Clean-cut, TV friendly, and easily marketable putting them right into the spotlight.

Times changed and, like Madonna after them, they changed. Their audience was growing up, growing their hair long, and doing drugs. So what did The Beatles do? They continued to write easily accessible music but altered it to fit in with their new look and lifestyle, matching that of their audience. Go to India. Get a Guru. Make some rebellious comment comparing your band to Jesus. Write a song easily interpreted to reference LSD yet say it was based on a child's drawing. Yawn...

The White Album? If they can supposedly make art if given a tuba why couldn't they come up with a better album name and cover concept? Sergeant Pepper's as a response to Pet Sounds? Isn't that like the Jackson 5 and the Commodors having a dance off or N'sync and Backstreet Boys having a video showdown? Silly pop bands competing and people trying to call it art.

My favorite part: the break-up leading to the solo career. This is as humorous as Jutin Timberlake trying to pretend like he was never in a boy-band, or better that he was too good for his boy band. i have to admit, the crazy, out-of-her-mind wife route was a unique twist. The inequitable treatment of his offspring shows how songs like 'All You Need Is Love' and 'Image' were probably just lip service. Megalomania posing as salt of the earth.

i could go on but i won't. If they are the best band ever and if those where the best times ever someone please shoot me because that doesn't say much for music or humanity and the world we live in.

i know that people's favorite bands are a point of personal preference but as a society we have to acknowledge what is just sugar that many people enjoy and what is sustenance. Coltrane, Davis, Mussorgsky... these are timeless feats of music that deserve our respect, even if you don't regularly listen to them. Admit it... The Beatles are just sugary pop and we need to stop pretending that they are anything more.