Please consider registering
Guest
sp_LogInOut Log Insp_Registration Register
Register | Lost password?
Advanced Search
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
sp_Feed sp_TopicIcon
How You Got Into The Beatles
12 December 2011
7.05pm
Avatar
Zig
The Toppermost of the Poppermost
Apple rooftop
Members

Reviewers
Forum Posts: 9832
Member Since:
14 April 2010
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
101sp_Permalink sp_Print

I'm loving these stories. So far my favorite paragraph is…

JaiGuruDevaOm said:

Like every other Christmas, we would open our presents, play with them for about an hour, take a few pictures and have a cuppa. Then we’d go up my Nana’s house. She only lived about 5 houses away up the road, so getting away with wearing your PJ’s was pretty simple. The four of us, walking up the road in nothing more than PJ’s, dressing gowns and slip-ons. We were such a trendy family.

 

That is my favorite because I grew up in a small village where stuff like that went on all the time. It brings back some awesome Christmas memories. I've posted my earliest Beatles memories a few times, so I really enjoy reading others. What a refreshing thread.

Nicely done.a-hard-days-night-ringo-15

To the fountain of perpetual mirth, let it roll for all its worth. And all the children boogie.

12 December 2011
7.43pm
JamesB
A Beginning
Members
Forum Posts: 4
Member Since:
12 December 2011
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
102sp_Permalink sp_Print

It was 1964 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I was a ten-year kid just getting into the music scene (top 40).  All the neighborhood kids were talking about the Beatles.  Beatles, Beatles, Beatles.  Beatle sweatshirts, Beatle magazines, Beatle lunchboxes, and best of all… Beatle records in the music shop.  Myself, and 4 other kids made instruments out of plywood and cardboard boxes.  We wore my sister's wigs and lip-synched to Beatle songs on the radio.  There were so many Beatle hits at the time that one would only have to wait ten minutes, or so, between their songs.  Neighborhood kids would come and listen.  Almost embarassing to think about it.  Within a couple of years, we would trade in our cardboard guitars for the real stuff.  Forty-seven years now and I still play guitar and have a Beatle haircut.  Who would have thought it?

12 December 2011
8.33pm
Avatar
Vale
Neverland
London Palladium
Members
Forum Posts: 137
Member Since:
15 October 2011
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
103sp_Permalink sp_Print

a-hard-days-night-paul-6 Such a cute scene and memory, seriously.

Oh and welcome JamesB a-hard-days-night-george-8

This is la la la la love! – George Harrisonheart

Please! Tell me what you think! and I hope you won't  laugh haha.

http://soulandeyes.tumblr.com/

"Que en el planeta tanto ande mal; Que el hombre agreda al hombre, que el hombre agreda al animal, al vegetal."

13 December 2011
1.08am
Avatar
Into the Sky with Diamonds
New York
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 1979
Member Since:
10 August 2011
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
104sp_Permalink sp_Print

Welcome JamesB! Sounds like we're of the same vintage. (See above.)

"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)

13 December 2011
9.28pm
Avatar
The Walrus
Working for the national health
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 1026
Member Since:
4 December 2010
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
105sp_Permalink sp_Print

I first remember hearing the Beatles on car trips around France with my family in the early 00s. My dad had 1, Bowie’s greatest hits and a selection of “oldies” burned onto a CD which we listened to on repeat for two weeks. Truth be told, I thought the Beatles were pretty shocking- their songs all seemed to be simplistic songs about people loving other people and how great love is. I don’t think I registered the later songs as being Beatles songs. I remember loving the ending to Hey Jude – I imagine my brother and I drove my parents up the wall- as well as thinking that the line “Major Tom’s a junkie” from Ashes To Ashes was “Major Tom’s a drum kit”.

Despite thinking the Beatles were just lucky that all the simplistic songs hadn’t been written when they started out, I couldn’t help asking my dad (born about two weeks after the release of Love Me Do ) a barrage of questions about this band.

What songs have they released lately? None, they broke up at the end of the 60s.

Did they break up because it was the end of the 60s? No, they broke up because John Lennon married someone the others didn’t like (or something like that- I remember Yoko being mentioned).

Will they get back together? No, John Lennon was shot in New York.

Who is John Lennon ? He’s the singer on some of the songs.

Why did he get shot? I think my dad got him muddled up with Martin Luther King at this point and told me something about civil rights. He might have been talking about the protests against ‘nam, either way, he didn’t really know, but I didn’t realise that at the time.

I didn’t really continue my interest after our holiday, but a few years later, my teacher had our class analyse “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds ” in our English classes for about a week. In hindsight I wish it had been “I Am The Walrus ” for the massive irony. I claimed it was just nonsense and our teacher was looking into it too much, one of the boys in the class claimed it was about drugs and cited Paul McCartney (after all, the song was credited to Lennon/McCartney).

Few years later I heard some kids take the piss out of Octopus’s Garden , checked it out on YouTube, and then moved from there to I Am The Walrus and some other songs, as well as checking out 1 again. When the Beatles remasters came out, my dad bought me Revolver , which I loved, and then for Christmas I got Pepper, Abbey Road and the White Album . I’ve since expanded out in both directions, and I’m now a firm fan.

I told her I didn’t 

14 December 2011
12.07am
Avatar
GlassOnionArchitecture
The Jacaranda
Members
Forum Posts: 28
Member Since:
26 November 2011
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
106sp_Permalink sp_Print

My mom played nothing but Beatles records and an occassional Beach Boys records when I was growing up in the early 70's.  Then when driving in the car, seemed like all they played was Beatles.  Went to my dad's best friends house and could hear Rubber Soul and Revolver playing all the time.  It was really the only music I knew until high school.

14 December 2011
2.07pm
Avatar
JaiGuruDevaOm
Amy
The Top Ten Club
Members
Forum Posts: 64
Member Since:
27 May 2011
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
107sp_Permalink sp_Print

Wow, these stories are great!

Mrs.McCarrison Please don't be afraid of your obsession. I don't know how my mum and dad took it because I was always obsessed with things when I was younger, it was just like a phase. I bet they were thinking that my love for the Beatles was just a phase, but here I am, nearly two years later, still in love with them.

 

I do hope that they understand. My family have had to put up with me fangirling all hours about them. If anything, they should support your love for this band (the rest of my family support me if anything. They save my newspaper articles about them) I really wish that you will tell them one day. Good luck 🙂

See All Without Looking, Do All Without Doing 

20 January 2013
9.21pm
LongHairedLady
coming in through the bathroom window
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 2098
Member Since:
17 January 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

If you are like me, and was born 20 years (or more) after Please Please Me was released, then like me you weren’t fortunate enough to see them on Ed Sullivan or hear them on the radio at that time.  (My mom saw the Ed Sullivan show when she was 14… so jealous!)  How did you first hear about them?

I had a music teacher in grade school, who must have been a big fan.  In 7th grade Music class, we learned about the Beatles.  The year was 1996, so the Anthology had just came out the year prior.  I can’t remember everything that he showed us, but at least part of the Anthology videos and HELP! if I remember correctly.  Years later I asked other people, because I figured every school had done that.  Turns out that he was just a Big fan and felt it was important for us to learn.  Sure was!

When the “1” album came out my sister bought it.  All she did was pay “Hey Jude ” on repeat, and it drove me up the wall.  There was so much good music on the album and she only listened to the one song!  So I stole it from her and I guess that is when I got into them.  heart

"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been..  I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene..  Banjos!  Banjos!  All the time, I can't forget that tune..  and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"

 

21 January 2013
2.34am
Avatar
Sky999
On The Hill
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 2059
Member Since:
14 January 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

My parents. My dad was 9 when they appeared on Ed Sullivan; however, my mom was only 1. One of my earliest memories of The Beatles was listening to my parents vinyl records, little Beatles jukebox bank that played Ticket To Ride , and little Ringo figurine sitting at his drum kit. I also remember Ringo being on Thomas the Tank Engine reruns; however, I did not put two and two until later on. My favorite song was Revolution (the single release) because for some reason I liked the scream at the beginning.

Flash forward to 2004 (my freshman year in high school) I had not listen to Beatle music in about four years and the “1” album had been out for that same amount of time. One day I decided to listen to them and I slowly weened myself off of most today’s music, I still listen to some like Adele; furthermore, the people I hung out with in high school were into rock music. They listened to stuff from The Beatles to modern rock and you had to know who they (The Beatles) were or The Rolling Stones were or you would get weird looks. I remember one time and I don’t know why it happened, but some of us were lunch in the courtyard and started singing “With A Little Help From My Friends ” out loud.” I also envy my high school English teacher because she got to see The Beatles in New Orleans. She use to tell us stories about Beatlemania.

Going back to my parents, since they are not as big of Beatles fans as me, I have basically taken most of their Beatles stuff.

21 January 2013
3.08am
LongHairedLady
coming in through the bathroom window
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 2098
Member Since:
17 January 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
110sp_Permalink sp_Print

sky090909 said
Going back to my parents, since they are not as big of Beatles fans as me, I have basically taken most of their Beatles stuff.

Love it.  My spouse’s mom gave him the blue and red albums on vinyl, because she’s not a big fan.  Works for us!  

"Please don't bring your banjo back, I know where it's been..  I wasn't hardly gone a day, when it became the scene..  Banjos!  Banjos!  All the time, I can't forget that tune..  and if I ever see another banjo, I'm going out and buy a big balloon!"

 

21 January 2013
3.11am
Avatar
Sky999
On The Hill
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 2059
Member Since:
14 January 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
111sp_Permalink sp_Print

LongHairedLady said

sky090909 said
Going back to my parents, since they are not as big of Beatles fans as me, I have basically taken most of their Beatles stuff.

Love it.  My spouse’s mom gave him the blue and red albums on vinyl, because she’s not a big fan.  Works for us!  

heart

 

 

21 January 2013
5.09am
Avatar
Gerard
Hollywood Bowl
Members
Forum Posts: 683
Member Since:
27 December 2012
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
112sp_Permalink sp_Print

Me dad was 2 years old when the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, me mum on the other hand wasn’t even born yet. I first got into the Beatles almost a decade ago. My genres were Classical, Jazz and Blues, that changed when I heard Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and as a young boy you can’t help but to imagine the imageries in the song. From then on I knew who exactly the Beatles were.

21 January 2013
2.15pm
Avatar
Linde
The Netherlands
Rishikesh
Members
Forum Posts: 2781
Member Since:
21 November 2012
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
113sp_Permalink sp_Print

My parents. My dad was 9 when they split and my mom was 5, but she had a brother who was a huge Beatles fan and owned all their records and some books and other stuff, so he probably influenced her. She has a few books, the Red and Blue Album and Let it be on vinyl. 

The first album I heard, when I was around 4 or 5, like I just said in one of the other threads, was One. I hated Love Me Do but I loved the rest. They also had the White Album and Sgt Pepper so they came soon afterwards. I never really stopped listening to the Beatles but it was only somewhere in the first half of 2012 that I became a real fan.

I probably know even more about them than my uncle haha

30 January 2013
6.59pm
Avatar
Into the Sky with Diamonds
New York
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 1979
Member Since:
10 August 2011
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

If you were alive when the Beatles were around, is was easy.

They were everywhere – on the radio, in magazines, on television, in the movie theaters.

But for those of you who weren’t around, what was it that got you so interested?

Was it a song on the radio? A song at a party? An album cover?

What was particularly appealing?

(some of you have already discussed this upon introducing yourselves to the Forum. but I thought a thread that pulls everyone’s experiences together would be of interest).

For me, it was the Ed Sullivan Show. I’d just turned 10. The next day I used up my savings to buy Meet the Beatles, and the rest is history.

"Into the Sky with Diamonds" (the Beatles and the Race to the Moon – a history)

30 January 2013
7.03pm
Avatar
DrBeatle
The Midwest via Boston
Candlestick Park
Members

Reviewers
Forum Posts: 1595
Member Since:
29 November 2012
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
115sp_Permalink sp_Print

I was born almost a year before John died, so I’m 2nd generation, I guess (my parents grew up in the 60s). For me, it was hearing the songs all the time on the radio and at home on my parent’s vinyl/cassettes growing up. When I was 8 my uncle taped all of the 1987-issue CDs he’d just bought (this would’ve been 1988) and from that moment on I was hooked.

"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"

 

Please Visit My Website, The Rock and Roll Chemist

Twitter: @rocknrollchem

Facebook: rnrchemist

 

31 January 2013
3.43pm
Avatar
Funny Paper
America
Candlestick Park
Members
Forum Posts: 2080
Member Since:
1 November 2012
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
116sp_Permalink sp_Print

I went into detail about this on some other topic, but I’ll put it in a nutshell here:

I discovered the Beatles by first hearing Ram in about 1971 (I was part of a group of high school students taken to a farm outside my city to have a “day in the country” walking around the barns, riding horses, etc., and a house on the property had two giant speakers set up on their porch blasting the whole Ram album — which blew me away), then purchasing it the next day, then soon after purchasing the previous album McCartney.

In the meantime, my older sister kept talking about the Beatles and especially the White Album , and by this time I realized I should delve into their music.  I then bought the White Album , and the rest is history.  At about that time, I saw Help ! in a movie theater showing classics, and that deepened my interest in them.

 

Faded flowers, wait in a jar, till the evening is complete... complete... complete... complete...

31 January 2013
6.53pm
Avatar
vonbontee
Inside Von Bontee's mind
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 5444
Member Since:
1 December 2009
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
117sp_Permalink sp_Print

I’ve said it before, but after most of a decade of reasonable familiarity with the best-known singles, I became a TRUE fan in the weeks after December 8, 1980, when my local radio station gave me all sorts of exposure to all the various mindblowing album cuts (and solo John Lennon stuff) for the first time. Many music fans reach the utmost of their intensity as they approach their teen years, obviously, so the timing was important.

GEORGE: In fact, The Detroit Sound. JOHN: In fact, yes. GEORGE: In fact, yeah. Tamla-Motown artists are our favorites. The Miracles. JOHN: We like Marvin Gaye. GEORGE: The Impressions PAUL & GEORGE: Mary Wells. GEORGE: The Exciters. RINGO: Chuck Jackson. JOHN: To name but eighty. 

         offtopic-1.png

https://rateyourmusic.com/~Myo.....Von_Bontee

13 April 2013
2.10am
Avatar
Beatles in the Blood
Nowhere Land
Paris Olympia
Members
Forum Posts: 384
Member Since:
12 January 2013
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
118sp_Permalink sp_Print

I discovered them by Big Time Rush, sadly. But then I listened to the real versions of the Beatles songs and I ditched those other suckers.

 

The Incedibly True Story THat Never Ends. By Sam.

Best Friend: WHat are you listening to

Me: The Beatles

Best Friend: Go Figure

13 April 2013
3.20am
Avatar
vonbontee
Inside Von Bontee's mind
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 5444
Member Since:
1 December 2009
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline

LOL young people!…a-hard-days-night-george-10 I can’t really say who “introduced” me to ’em, because I can barely remember a time when I wasn’t aware of the Beatles. I definitely knew of an entity called “Beatles” by the age of five (two years after the breakup) but I had no visual reference points. Don’t remember anybody specifically telling me about them, or myself asking. I suppose if any individual(s)l managed to make me aware of them, it was either my mother (who is named Judie and was often singing “Hey Jude ” as if it were her own song; and who gave me her old “She Loves You ” single, the only Beatles record in the household until I acquired “Meet The Beatles” when I was eleven) or my ten-years-senior cousin, who owned Revolver , from which I remember demanding that he play “Yellow Submarine ” for me. That was probably the first Beatles song I was distinctly aware of, certainly the first one I knew enough to ask for by name. (Those clever lads, recording a children’s song and making diehard fans-for-life out of me and countless millions of other kids of school-age or younger!)

GEORGE: In fact, The Detroit Sound. JOHN: In fact, yes. GEORGE: In fact, yeah. Tamla-Motown artists are our favorites. The Miracles. JOHN: We like Marvin Gaye. GEORGE: The Impressions PAUL & GEORGE: Mary Wells. GEORGE: The Exciters. RINGO: Chuck Jackson. JOHN: To name but eighty. 

         offtopic-1.png

https://rateyourmusic.com/~Myo.....Von_Bontee

13 April 2013
3.43am
Avatar
parlance
Slaggers
Apple rooftop
Members
Forum Posts: 7111
Member Since:
8 November 2012
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
120sp_Permalink sp_Print

No one person introduced me; I stumbled on them via the cartoon reruns when I was about 8, and then I asked either my mom or dad who they were.

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

Forum Timezone: Europe/London
Most Users Ever Online: 700
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 1
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
Starr Shine?: 16105
Ron Nasty: 12534
Zig: 9832
50yearslate: 8759
Necko: 8043
AppleScruffJunior: 7583
parlance: 7111
mr. Sun king coming together: 6402
Mr. Kite: 6147
trcanberra: 6064
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 88
Members: 2859
Moderators: 5
Admins: 1
Forum Stats:
Groups: 3
Forums: 44
Topics: 5510
Posts: 380340
Newest Members:
frankc, viv@nelsontraining.co.uk, bornhairyman, frankkilmore123@gmail.com, onlyanorthernsong
Moderators: Joe: 5691, meanmistermustard: 24950, Ahhh Girl: 22212, Beatlebug: 18181, The Hole Got Fixed: 8410
Administrators: Joe: 5691