PopTIPSTERmism

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

If you fancy a flutter on the all-Beatles Top 10 thing, or whatever, then maybe the second week in July would be a good one to go for - plenty of time for an iTunes-y announcement and July 6th is the 50th anniversary of Lennon meeting McCartney. (sez the Interwebs).

God only knows why I was thinking about that last night.

Comments

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that some people will download Beatles songs in some vain, Noel Gallagher-esque fit of fake devotion, but it remains true that The Beatles are the archetypal great pop act and poptimists everywhere should beg and scrape at their feet. Well, the ones who are alive. Do the checklist:

1) Proper boy-band
2) Haircuts upset the parents
3) Made girls feel funny 'downstairs'. And some boys too.
4) Dressed up
5) Spanned bouncy dance pop, classy ballads and weird semi-comedy. And then the guitars...
6) Inexorable will they/won't they break up
7) Inadvisable merchandising/cartoon spin-offs

I'm no slave to received wisdom - this is the heart of all pop. So what's wrong - that it's old? White? Not good enough. It's still fit for pop purposes, and that's my only criteria.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think the Beatles are magnificent. But they've had a good run at the singles chart already, it's fair to say.

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

The Beatles are the archetypal great pop act

WHAT HERESY IS THIS?? Men have been burnt at the stake for less.

Even when I'm being reasonable about this The Beatles are ALSO the archetypal 'turn our back on pop pap for serious arty rock stuff' act; the archetypal 'boys with guitars' act etc. etc.

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

I'd argue that 'turn our back on pop pap for serious arty rock stuff' is an essential penultimate phase for any pop artists with longevity, and loads of true pop heroes (Prince and Madonna for example) have descended into this madness. Not always emerging from it, either. The Beatles arty rock stuff is WAY more pop-friendly than than most of the content of this week's chart.

And they couldn't help being boys with guitars - that is what was pop in those days, unless you were just singers. They couldn't exactly break out the synths. But as soon as the technology was out there, they started using it and stayed at the forefront and kept surprising people.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

The fact that this is all true is why so many people around here resent them.

[dickmalone.livejournal.com]

OK, let's assume they went arty with Revolver. Their albums from there go:

Revolver 1966
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967
Magical Mystery Tour 1967
The Beatles (The White Album) 1968 (2 disc)
Yellow Submarine 1969
Abbey Road 1969
Let It Be 1970

One of these is a cartoon and two of the others were TV specials! Just sayin. They put up a good front of being arty but they still did lots of ur-pop things.

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

The problem here is - as you suggest - with the charts rather than the Fab Four. But if most people are downloading Lionel Dendingfield (http://strange-powers.livejournal.com/57164.html) this week, and next week it's McFly, and then The Beatles... shouldn't the charts reflect that? I'm certain that the charts have only infrequently been any good at showing us the new, and increasingly showing us what was new a month ago. Why not half a century?