Beatles - 50th Anniversary

[ixnay]

How many high school kids today would hear "Marx" and think of Groucho or Harpo instead of Karl?

Or Marx Toys?

How many people would hear "Ludwig", and think of Beethoven?

I probably would think of Beethoven. And so would Schroeder, who would hear "Bach" and think of Johann before Catherine. I might even think of a certain bass drum manufacturer. (look at footage/pics of the Fab Four onstage at the peak of their touring career and you'll see the Ludwig logo at the top of Ringo's bass drum skin)

"Lenin" is a name from history, like Napoleon, or Washington, or even Caesar that current and future generations should be aware of. And "Lennon" is as much of an historical figure from music who will be remembered as long as people like Gershwin, Sousa, or Foster.

I believe Lennon wore a Lenin-style cap in certain scenes in AHDN and Help!. Was this a fashion statement on John's part or a statement of the mid-'60s political ideology of the Beatle who would later sing "Working Class Hero"?

ixnay

P.S. Sorry for reviving this thread, but I did so because

- I stumbled across it the other day
- the 50th anniv. of the Beatles' first cross-America tour is ongoing (through mid-September)
- "Yesterday" was the 48th anniversary of the Beatles' last commercial gig at Candlestick Park (I was too tired to remember to bump the thread last night)
- I couldn't help but get in the Marx Toys and Peanuts[I/] character references.

P.P.S. Seriously, Avid Listener, who's the Ludwig to whom you refer?

 

[Avid Listener]

P.P.S. Seriously, Avid Listener, who's the Ludwig to whom you refer?

Ludwig Drums. That logo on Ringo's bass head was to drummers what "Vox" logos on the Beatles' amp were to guitarists. In terms of bragging rights among garage bands of the 60's, a Ludwig drum kit or an AC-30 were the top for a while.

 

[Avid Listener]

Regarding all the people in the course of this thread who whined and kvetched about other people singing songs that the Beatles wrote, how about a musical retrospective where famous singers get together to sing all of the great songs that Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley wrote? They could run it during a :30 commercial break, assuming they could write enough copy to fill the rest of the time.

 

[TheBigA]

.... all of the great songs that Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley wrote?

Frank Sinatra wrote songs? Not aware that he did. Elvis is given credit for some co-writes, specifically with Otis Blackwell. But Otis never met Elvis, so it's more likely that the co-write was simply a financial deal, where Elvis would record the song in exchange for half of the publishing.

 

[Avid Listener]

Frank Sinatra wrote songs? Not aware that he did. Elvis is given credit for some co-writes, specifically with Otis Blackwell. But Otis never met Elvis, so it's more likely that the co-write was simply a financial deal, where Elvis would record the song in exchange for half of the publishing.

What do you think I meant when I said that such a show would fit into a :30 commercial break, but only with additional material written to fill the dead air?

 

[ixnay]

Ludwig Drums. That logo on Ringo's bass head was to drummers what "Vox" logos on the Beatles' amp were to guitarists. In terms of bragging rights among garage bands of the 60's, a Ludwig drum kit or an AC-30 were the top for a while.

I thought it was some 2000s band (I hardly listen to "the now sound" on radio anymore and thus don't follow the latest hits/hitmakers too closely).

Glad we both remembered the Ludwig logo.

ixnay

 

[Avid Listener]

I thought it was some 2000s band (I hardly listen to "the now sound" on radio anymore and thus don't follow the latest hits/hitmakers too closely).

Glad we both remembered the Ludwig logo.

ixnay

The "Now" sound isn't played on the radio nowadays. There is a wealth of great sounding new music out there, but the over-analyzed, tested-to-death, risk-free, lowest-common-denominator, safe-as-milk tight playlist garbage that the music-hating suits program on the radio is only a teeny, tiny portion of it.

The closest comparison I can make between what portion of modern music they play on the radio today would be if a station back in 1969 only played bubblegum music by bands like the Archies, and nothing else. Imagine judging the incredible range and variety of popular music of 1969 if the only examples you had were the collected works of the Archies, the 1910 Fruitgum Company, and Steam.

 

[TheBigA]

The "Now" sound isn't played on the radio nowadays.

It would be if it was popular. The reality is that music doesn't need to get played on the radio to become popular. Lots of other ways for that to happen. But other forms of music simply don't want to attract the fan base that makes it popular. I've been to dozens of music seminars where I hear bands talking about attracting "just enough fans to make a living." They're not aiming to become One Direction. They just want to get enough fans to make a living. Too many fans becomes too costly. You have to hire security and live behind a wall. The bands hire bean counters who know the tipping point, so they can make a living, but never reach the fame level that would get them airplay. The Beatles became too famous. They had to break up. That's what these bands want to avoid. Avoiding fame means not getting airplay. They prefer being well kept secrets that only a few people know about. Airplay would destroy that.

 

[Avid Listener]

It would be if it was popular. The reality is that music doesn't need to get played on the radio to become popular. Lots of other ways for that to happen. But other forms of music simply don't want to attract the fan base that makes it popular. I've been to dozens of music seminars where I hear bands talking about attracting "just enough fans to make a living." They're not aiming to become One Direction. They just want to get enough fans to make a living. Too many fans becomes too costly. You have to hire security and live behind a wall. The bands hire bean counters who know the tipping point, so they can make a living, but never reach the fame level that would get them airplay. The Beatles became too famous. They had to break up. That's what these bands want to avoid. Avoiding fame means not getting airplay. They prefer being well kept secrets that only a few people know about. Airplay would destroy that.

That's the most ridiculous collection of attempting to apply a one-size-fits-all observation totally across the board I've seen in a long, long time. I've also been to more than a few seminars where musicians, actors, painters, and others in the arts business put a brave face on their lack of success in achieving fame and fortune by falling back on the old "But I wanted it that way" excuse. It usually makes a battered ego feel much better to say, "I'm happy that I never got famous" than to say the truth, "I wanted to be famous but failed". Not that everyone who said the former really meant the latter. Get 1000 artist-types, musician, actor, whatever, in a room and ask them what they really want, and you'll get 1010 different answers.

 

[TheBigA]

That's the most ridiculous collection of attempting to apply a one-size-fits-all observation totally across the board I've seen in a long, long time.

OK...Name a popular musical act that aims at the under-50 demo that isn't getting airplay.

 

[ixnay]

The reason I used "the now sound" harkens back to the days when every week, TV Guide would have one of those "check off what albums you want, send this in with a penny" advertisements. As I remember from the late '60s/early '70s when my mom would buy TV Guide at the supermarket every week (she never subscribed then or at any other time), the form included a survey about your favorite music - rock, country, soul, classical, "the now sound"... and that's where I got that phrase, although it was probably a bad choice in the context of this thread's deviation from the topic. :/

I was a big Peanuts consumer and reader in those days and managed one time to get my mom to order, so I could have Snoopy and His Friends the Royal Guardsmen(!), with "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron", "Return of the Red Baron", and "Snoopy's Christmas", and simulated radio reports in between, and on side two, conventional RG tunes that IMO and IIRC were quite good. I donated the disk to a yard sale some years ago. Feel free to search YouTube iykwim (don't know if I'll have the time and energy to).

ixnay