The Beatles and me

A few days ago, we were listening to the radio at the CAS. Like we always do when I am doing a job shadow with the guys, we listened to KRRR, the “oldies” station in town. Used to be oldies meant 50’s pop/rock-n-roll, but these days, they go all the way into the mid 80’s. They have this great program, comes on at 9:00AM, called “The Top 9 at 9.” They stay with the current day (which would have been 3-20) and pick a year, then play the top nine songs on the charts for that year on that day. That day, the year was 1964. The top 3 songs, number 1,2, and 3, belonged to the Beatles. Not before, not since, has this happened. Well, it did for the Beatles again, but not for anyone else.

Will it ever happen again?

Not a new band out there right now that could master that, not unless they are still playing in a garage somewhere right now. The new stuff today is lacking. Hip hop is a bore, the rock scene blows, and rap is just horrid. However, I think the time is ripe for a band to step up and take over. Any thoughts?

When I was 10 and 11, back in 1969-70, me and 2 other guys would pretend we were the Beatles. We would lip-sink to the albums and put on shows for the girls. I was John. The night he was shot, I heard it from Howard Cosell while watching Monday Night Football. George’s death is much more emotional for me, though.

As my father likes to say, “we were raised heathen,” referring to him and his siblings. That is pretty much I grew-up. No church or Sunday school. No prayers at dinner or before bed, no Bibles in the house, no nothing other than beer and country/western music. The Beatles helped me to escape all that, but also to learn about life. About love on a deeper level, about spirituality, about God, about being a good person, about love for all. Of course, they taught Eastern beliefs and that seemed to be me then and it is now the way life should be. Even after the break-up, their music as individuals helped me to learn and grow.