They seemed to dislike them for reasons other than the music itself, which strikes me as a bit odd.
A lot of why people are or are not keen on particular musicians’ music is down to image, and to choices that they made in their formative years. That cannot be a surprising idea.
I’m the first to admit I don’t know the Beatles well, but a couple of points:
– I’m in my mid-30s. For as long as I’ve been alive, people my parents’ age have been earnestly asserting that the Beatles are Incredibly Important, and that people who don’t understand that do not understand anything. Funnily enough, as a teenager I responded to that exactly as well as teenagers of the 1960s responded to being told that “all this modern music” was terrible. I know Pulp’s early albums rather well, but I shan’t assume that my kids will regard “Dogs Are Everywhere” and “Picture of Roger Moore” as anything other than old-person music. Hopefully they’ll be into whatever kids are into in 2033.
– Meanwhile, Paul McCartney is still alive, and, although not Yewtree’d, is increasingly ridiculous. Like Keith Richards and various other legends of the mid 20th century, McCartney will probably be cool again when he is dead, but he’s been pretty close to the antithesis of cool for decades, and it affects the Beatles’ coolness. He was born a couple of years before Townes Van Zandt, who died long before he could cease being cool. Jarvis Cocker is wearing reasonably well so far, but there’s plenty of time for him to turn into soft-bellied and self-important old conservative. If he does, “Common People” will not recover until after he dies, if ever.
🙂
