Do you agree with the view that the Beatles were a driving force of a rebellion?

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History Modern

Do you agree with the view that the Beatles were a ‘driving force of a rebellion’?

Stereotypically the 60’s was an era of sex, drugs and rock and roll, however many historians wonder what factors drove the British youth out of austerity and into a ‘rebellion’. One of the most commonly blamed influences was The Beatles, it is said that The Beatles were the ‘driving force’ for the rebellion of the youth. The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Beatles achieved mainstream success in the United Kingdom in late 1962 with their first single, “Love Me Do”. The nature of their enormous popularity, first emerged as the “Beatlemania” fad, gaining international popularity over the course of the next year, they toured extensively until 1966, and then retreated to the recording studio until their break-up in 1970. Each then found success in an independent musical career but Beatlemania has never fully died out. Even today, especially since The Beatles have just been made available for download on iTunes, the sales of Beatles’ album and singles are vast. So even four decades after their break-up, The Beatles' music continues to be popular. The Beatles have had more number one albums on the UK charts, and held down the top spot longer, than any other musical act.

Many people agree with the idea that The Beatles stimulated a rebellion in the 1960’s, The Beatles' influence on rock music and popular culture was and remains immense. Their commercial success started an almost immediate wave of changes, including a shift from US global dominance of rock and roll to UK acts, from soloists, to groups, to professional songwriters. The Beatles even had an influence fashion. Ian McDonald a historian in 1994, stated in his report, Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records and the Sixties, that ‘the Sixties began with a flood of youthful energy’, suggesting that the 60’s were a time of change and, to a certain extent, liberation for the British youth, which indeed it was. MacDonald claims that the 60’s were a ‘rebellion against restraints... The driving force of this rebellion was The Beatles.’ This may well be true as the Beatles had an exciting, creative energy and momentum about them, was a big part of what was intriguing about the Beatles, which would of course spread throughout The Beatles’ fan base. The Beatles were often vilified and accused of corrupting the youth of Great Britain. But that sort of condemnation must have arisen from somewhere, and this must have stemmed from the screaming fans that The Beatles gravitated. Girls flocked to The Beatles as if they had never seen a man before, in fact, on March 4th 1966, John Lennon himself stated, ‘We’re more popular that Jesus now.’ This suggests that Lennon knew his and The Beatles’ influence, the fact that he was able to compare himself to the son of God portrays the scale of The Beatles’ fan base. It must also be considered that this quote is a very biased opinion and when Lennon’s interview was published in the Evening Standard, this quote created quite a stir. However the idea that The Beatles were corrupting is over exaggerated, on the contrary, the Beatles' influence kept millions of bored adolescents off the streets. Realising the guitar was easily self-taught and much cheaper than a piano, garage bands sprang up all over the UK. Suddenly, young adults were spending Friday and Saturday nights rehearsing, instead of roaming the neighbourhood, and rebelling to the extent that the media portrayed. For many, making music with friends was exactly the creative outlet that the 60th youth needed. They could teach themselves a few guitar chords and put music to our words, and it no longer mattered that young musicians didn't have the vocal power of Judy Garland or Frank Sinatra. Thanks to The Beatles from Liverpool, the youth realised that they could enjoy making music of their own, and The Beatles was music of their own the youth could listen to and enjoy. That was what was appealing about The Beatles, because to an extent their music did allow 60’s youth to rebel, and explore new music. However they did not rebel to cause trouble, as portrayed by mass media, the adolescents of the 60’s rebelled to express and liberate themselves.

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It is also believed that the impact of The Beatles is completely overrated, and there was no surge of rebellion created by The Beatles. It can be said that any band can influence a rebellion, an example of today would be the impact of gangster rap, and how this is force corrupting the youth of the 21st Century. However how many adolescents, compared to the majority, actually commit acts that are expressed in rap music? The influence of The Beatles is the same as the influence of rap music today. In fact, the historian Dominic Sandbrook states in his account, A ...

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