Will we ever be blessed with another Lennon/McCartney?
Could it happen? Is it possible? That caliber? That amazing, prolific...perfect?
"Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend..."
What a perfect team.
Could 2 more people ever do that again?
Please God?
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LessThanZero
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Please God?
Loving this board since before When I Was Cruel.
No, because it's been done.
There will never be another Beatles. They straddled a very important time when technology, morality and art just shifted, for better or for worse. But music doesn't mean much to people anymore; celebrity's been reduced to nothing and any bank manager or plumber can pursue the rock and roll life of cocaine-fuelled threesomes, should they so wish.
I think we're due another something though, where something significant happens a little. Like grunge. Which didn't leave us with that many amazing albums, but at least it was a happening.
I'm 29 and I think the Internet revolution was my Beatles.
DrJ
There will never be another Beatles. They straddled a very important time when technology, morality and art just shifted, for better or for worse. But music doesn't mean much to people anymore; celebrity's been reduced to nothing and any bank manager or plumber can pursue the rock and roll life of cocaine-fuelled threesomes, should they so wish.
I think we're due another something though, where something significant happens a little. Like grunge. Which didn't leave us with that many amazing albums, but at least it was a happening.
I'm 29 and I think the Internet revolution was my Beatles.
DrJ
Tlentifini Maarhaysu
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Gillibeanz
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selfmademug
There will always be new amazing things to blow our minds, no matter the commercial corruption, the human creative spirit's just too strong to be held back.
I was once at a lecture by painter Lee Krasner, and she described the epiphany she had when she first saw the work of Jackson Pollock (whom she later married), the feeling that she'd never seen anything at all like it and knowing instantly how powerful it was. I asked her afterwards whether she thought that was still possible, in such an image-drenched and self-referential world. She looked me right in the eye, and she said "Yes, absolutely it can still happen. It will happen to you, and when it does, I want you to think of me!"
It hasn't happened yet, really,---I've been hugely and instantly moved by things, but not specifically in that way of feeling a future of something being rolled out like a carpet-- but I'm only 41, and her certainty convinced me. I do think that, as Dr J says, new forms may be the ones to do it for us. But I suppose it depends on whether you mean a strictly personal-artistic reaction, or a more cultural one in wihch you take part, or something in between, or what.
SIgned,
Suddenly chatty Mug
I was once at a lecture by painter Lee Krasner, and she described the epiphany she had when she first saw the work of Jackson Pollock (whom she later married), the feeling that she'd never seen anything at all like it and knowing instantly how powerful it was. I asked her afterwards whether she thought that was still possible, in such an image-drenched and self-referential world. She looked me right in the eye, and she said "Yes, absolutely it can still happen. It will happen to you, and when it does, I want you to think of me!"
It hasn't happened yet, really,---I've been hugely and instantly moved by things, but not specifically in that way of feeling a future of something being rolled out like a carpet-- but I'm only 41, and her certainty convinced me. I do think that, as Dr J says, new forms may be the ones to do it for us. But I suppose it depends on whether you mean a strictly personal-artistic reaction, or a more cultural one in wihch you take part, or something in between, or what.
SIgned,
Suddenly chatty Mug
Well, I think there's always going to be individual moments for each of us when some endeavour, artistic or otherwise, will speak to us on a very profound level. I think that's true for all the music-loving, dvd-buying, gallery-going people on this board. But I think the point of the original post is could there be another Beatles? ie: A popular, communal, cultural phenomenon. I really think that's next to impossible, inpart to the "image-drenched, self-referential world" (great phrase) we live in.
Discuss.
DrJ
PS As a side bar, and I'm not getting into a Beatles/Oasis discussion, but I do remember being at a big Oasis gig in 1996, in the wake of What's The Story (Morning Glory) and thinking that they really could matter, as long as they don't drop the ball. Then they went and fucked it all up. Idiots.
Discuss.
DrJ
PS As a side bar, and I'm not getting into a Beatles/Oasis discussion, but I do remember being at a big Oasis gig in 1996, in the wake of What's The Story (Morning Glory) and thinking that they really could matter, as long as they don't drop the ball. Then they went and fucked it all up. Idiots.
Tlentifini Maarhaysu
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martinfoyle
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I probably was at the same show, (The Point, March?) and, yes, they were at their peak. Then when I read Noel Gallagher was writing the next album on Mustique, I knew they had gone to hell. And they did. Still, that run of brilliant singles, each with 3 great non-album tracks, released along with those first 2 albums was incredibly consistent, never mind good. There has'nt been as good a singles band since.PS As a side bar, and I'm not getting into a Beatles/Oasis discussion, but I do remember being at a big Oasis gig in 1996, in the wake of What's The Story (Morning Glory) and thinking that they really could matter, as long as they don't drop the ball. Then they went and fucked it all up. Idiots
Actually the Oasis gig in question was Pairc Ui Caoimh in Cork, went with a bunch of pals, lovely day, just before they went and did Knebworth.
But you're right: that run of singles and b-sides was amazing. I remember buying "Whatever" and thinking the b-sides were better. Half The World Away was one of them and that's when I first heard Noel singing and fully 'got' Oasis. What was remarkable about them then was that they really had a great communal vibe going, everyone liked them, the songs just seemed to be pouring out and... and... they blew it. What a surprise.
I recall buying "Be Here Now" on the day it came out, thinking the packaging sucked and then I went into a 'is it just me or is this one of the worst records ever?' thing. Well, it wasn't just me. At the end of the day, they're lazy. They didn't want to do the work, read the books, play the halls and write the songs to make them truly great and important... unlike, hmmmmm, U2 ferinstance... It doesn't matter if you like U2 or not, you have to admit that they work hard, are smart and seem to apply rigourous quality control to most of their efforts.
DrJ
But you're right: that run of singles and b-sides was amazing. I remember buying "Whatever" and thinking the b-sides were better. Half The World Away was one of them and that's when I first heard Noel singing and fully 'got' Oasis. What was remarkable about them then was that they really had a great communal vibe going, everyone liked them, the songs just seemed to be pouring out and... and... they blew it. What a surprise.
I recall buying "Be Here Now" on the day it came out, thinking the packaging sucked and then I went into a 'is it just me or is this one of the worst records ever?' thing. Well, it wasn't just me. At the end of the day, they're lazy. They didn't want to do the work, read the books, play the halls and write the songs to make them truly great and important... unlike, hmmmmm, U2 ferinstance... It doesn't matter if you like U2 or not, you have to admit that they work hard, are smart and seem to apply rigourous quality control to most of their efforts.
DrJ
Tlentifini Maarhaysu
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bambooneedle
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It won't happen. Do good acts get the ongoing exposure anymore, particularly if they have anything thought-provoking or 'real' to say? No-one will capture the wider imagination of the culture because a frenetic saturated music market won't allow for it. And it mainly just creates and perpetuates kids' fantasies now anyway.
The kids then sooner or later wake up and rejoin the human race (so to speak). A lot of them do anyway. This is how a cultural divide may be accentuated; a more marked differentiation between kids who -- at one extreme -- continue to think they can have everything without doing anything because that's the message they got from music, and kids who can quickly get over the cult of celebrity heroes.
The kids then sooner or later wake up and rejoin the human race (so to speak). A lot of them do anyway. This is how a cultural divide may be accentuated; a more marked differentiation between kids who -- at one extreme -- continue to think they can have everything without doing anything because that's the message they got from music, and kids who can quickly get over the cult of celebrity heroes.
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selfmademug
Well, of course it won't 'happen' the same way the Beatles did, but it'll happen, I'm confident. Bamboo, the pattern and forces you cite are real and powerful, but they'll get broken by some creative entity, and it'll be exciting as hell.
My Dad was 40 when the Beatles came Stateside, and he got totally caught up in it. He had no background in any of the other Rock 'n' Roll of the early '60s, nor of the '50s. But when they played the Ed S. show (on my second birthday!) he was hooked. Youth may constitute the bulk of such waves, but it ain't all of it.
Now if only I could muster any such confidence about my lovelife...
My Dad was 40 when the Beatles came Stateside, and he got totally caught up in it. He had no background in any of the other Rock 'n' Roll of the early '60s, nor of the '50s. But when they played the Ed S. show (on my second birthday!) he was hooked. Youth may constitute the bulk of such waves, but it ain't all of it.
Now if only I could muster any such confidence about my lovelife...
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laughingcrow
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Yeah, I agree. You can't repeat history, but there will be many more bands that will capture the imaginations of the majority of people for their span and beyond, and that will influence the direction of music.
The most recent band to do so....Radiohead I'd say. Maybe not really comparable to L&Mc, but I think they'll stand the test of time.
The most recent band to do so....Radiohead I'd say. Maybe not really comparable to L&Mc, but I think they'll stand the test of time.
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A rope leash
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Impact
Radiohead?
When the Beatles came along, the entire society was changed. My Auntie claims it signaled the "end of the good old days".
Long hair on men, free sex, chemical and herbal experimentations, active protests, riots, The Smothers Brothers - all came into our focus as a society because The Beatles came along and not only made it okay, but made it cool.
Our world is really quite different now because of the pop power wielded by the Beatles. They were bigger than Jesus, and bigger than Elvis.
Radiohead is a tiny bug compared to the Beatles.
When the Beatles came along, the entire society was changed. My Auntie claims it signaled the "end of the good old days".
Long hair on men, free sex, chemical and herbal experimentations, active protests, riots, The Smothers Brothers - all came into our focus as a society because The Beatles came along and not only made it okay, but made it cool.
Our world is really quite different now because of the pop power wielded by the Beatles. They were bigger than Jesus, and bigger than Elvis.
Radiohead is a tiny bug compared to the Beatles.
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laughingcrow
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Yeah I agree Rope....but they have been the only musicians recently that have done something completely different and made people think about it. They've been relatively influential as well. Yeah they can't touch the Beatles for quality and quantity of output, but they have steered music and will be popular for ever.
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laughingcrow
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A rope leash
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A long time
As far as the "Please, God" thing goes, I think it will be a long long time before any musician or musicians come along and bring the same societal impact that The Beatles had. I mean, musical fads come and go, and we can talk of bands like Pink Floyd, The Sex Pistols, REM, Nirvana, et al, as having an impact, but really, it's just an impact upon Rock and Roll, not on society as a whole.
In fact, I can't think of any other musicians ever that did what The Beatles did. They ran a whole decade, and changed the whole world.
That's only a slight exaggeration...
In fact, I can't think of any other musicians ever that did what The Beatles did. They ran a whole decade, and changed the whole world.
That's only a slight exaggeration...
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LessThanZero
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Wow, what a thread! All started by listening to Beatles 1 at work!
It started out innocently enough. I'm sitting there in a FreeCell daze. It starts off with Love Me Do, and track by track it gets BETTER AND BETTER AND BETTER AND BETTER!
I have all the albums. I've loved them and known they were the best for years! But this CD just reminded me yet again, of their consistency in perfection. They just weren't natural...
Wouldn't it be amazing....
It started out innocently enough. I'm sitting there in a FreeCell daze. It starts off with Love Me Do, and track by track it gets BETTER AND BETTER AND BETTER AND BETTER!
I have all the albums. I've loved them and known they were the best for years! But this CD just reminded me yet again, of their consistency in perfection. They just weren't natural...
Wouldn't it be amazing....
Loving this board since before When I Was Cruel.