Phony Beatlemania Has Bitten The Dust

This week was the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' appearance on Ed Sullivan. I would have written about it earlier, but it was also the 50th anniversary of the introduction of GI Joe, and I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea of both those things happening the same week.

But now that the Beatles anniversary is over, I have to say it wasn't as big as I expected. Granted, I avoid the media outlets that might hype it. But still, there was little more than a spot on the news and a TV special opposite the Olympics.

Some folks on the Internet passed around a collection of bad reviews of that first performance from establishment figures like William F Buckley. But I feel sorry for those guys being raked through the mud now, and it offers a hint about why the anniversary wasn't that big.

(Fun fact: the keyboard interpreted "figures" as "fogies.")

Disclosure, I wasn't there; I wasn't born until after they broke up. But there's something about the Beatles that everyone seems to gloss over: for the first part of their career - including the Ed Sullivan performances - they were a bubblegum-pop band with a fanbase built on their looks. I'm sure if I had been there, I would have been watching a different channel and not imagining they'd ever go on to do anything profound. Most of the songs people reminisce about now are from later in their career.

And that's the paradox of the Beatles: If it hadn't been for their last five albums, their music wouldn't have nearly the staying power it has now. We'd remember them as a 60's counterpart to ABBA: someone who made catchy, fun songs, but didn't change the face of music. On the other hand, if they hadn't had that first half of their career driving teenage girls wild, they wouldn't have gotten the attention to be widely remembered. They'd be known only to hipsters arguing if they were as influential as the Velvet Underground.

So the Beatles were the result of a pop-cultural perfect storm, as the rare teen idols that developed great musical skill. Unfortunately, these two sides of the band have been conflated into a false narrative in which we kid ourselves that those screaming girls in Ed Sullivan's audience are turned on by the idea that their songwriting prowess will eventually lead to Sgt. Pepper.

And that's the problem with the Ed Sullivan appearance: it doesn't really mesh with what we remember about the Beatles. Worse is what it does remind us of: Justin Bieber, and all the hormone-fueled idols before him. If anything, the Beatles' appearance in America does a disservice to their reputation. So for anyone who wants to reminisce, it's much better to wait a few years and make a big deal when we can say, "It was fifty years ago today..."