(Published in the Janesville Messenger, 2-23-14)
In yet another reminder that my youth has waved a hankie and shouted "bon voyage," this month marked the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in America.
When this subject came up at a recent arts meeting, I realized that I was one of only two people at the table who was alive when this moment in history occurred.
In my defense, I am not old enough to remember the Beatles’ appearances on the "Ed Sullivan Show," but I certainly remember the group still performing together as a band -- for example, seeing them play "Hey Jude" on television.
I watched Beatles cartoons on Saturday mornings and was confused that their cartoon voices didn’t sound like their real voices. (I recently discovered that the fellow who voiced John and George in the cartoons was also the voice of Boris Badenov in "Rocky and Bullwinkle.")
I also remember when the Beatles broke up, the exclamation point occurring when my brother brought home Paul McCartney’s first solo album. Paul was just a lad of 27 when the group splintered. "When I’m Sixty-Four?" For Paul, that was so eight years ago.
Although the group was a household name during my childhood, I probably can thank my three older siblings for the fact that I am a huge Beatles fan. They played plenty of Beatles music in our home, and the joy they derived from it rubbed off on me and never left. By the ripe old age of 6, I was proudly plunking down 66 cents at the Ben Franklin store in Edgerton to buy my own Beatles 45s.
The first single I can recall bringing home was "Hello Goodbye/I Am the Walrus," complete with a cool picture sleeve that absolutely appalled my mother. The reason? The photo revealed that all four members of the group had grown facial hair.
Through my teen years, I continued to collect more and more of the Beatles’ music. Forty years ago, to mark the 10th anniversary of their arrival in America, Chicago radio powerhouse WLS did a special countdown of Beatles music, which I excitedly taped on my cheap GE cassette recorder.
My record collection expanded, from the double album package "Rock and Roll Music" to collectibles like "The White Album" pressed on white vinyl and a "Sgt. Pepper" picture disc.
The poster and individual photos inserted into the sleeve of the "White Album" were proudly taped to my bedroom wall. I even wound up with the original 45 rpm singles of "She Loves You" and "Twist and Shout," released on small independent labels that held the rights to the group’s music prior to their explosion of popularity in the United States.
Many of those records would have value now, if I hadn’t stupidly sold them off to finance the purchase of my first CD player. Sure, I now own the CD releases of all of the Beatles’ official albums so I have the music, but man, what was I thinking? I made the mistake of looking on eBay to see what some of those vinyl treasures are worth now, and nearly got sick to my stomach. Chalk up another one to the mistakes of youth.
As my siblings did with me, I passed my love of the Beatles’ music to my kids. Two of their favorite movies growing up were "Help!" and "Yellow Submarine," which received repeated viewings. One of our family art projects was painting figurines of John and Paul’s animated "Yellow Submarine" characters, one of which ended up adorning my daughter’s college dorm room.
When we are on long drives to distant destinations, Beatles CDs are often the ones all four of us in the car can agree on. It’s a testament to how special they were that 50 years later, their music endures and remains a uniting force between generations.
All you need is love, and some great music.
