Life is "Wow" and "Ouch"

One of if not, the most influential band ever

My friends know me for being a Beatlemaniac or a hardcore fan of The Beatles, a Rock band from the 60′s, but little do they know why I love these 4 boys from Liverpool (Bottom to top, left to right: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr) and looking up to 

 them when they aren’t from my era.  

I am a huge fan for over 15 years and still on-going.





 

How it all started?

Being a 90′s child listening to musicians in their heydays such as Westlife, Fool’s Garden and, Celine Dion, there is this band whose tune caught my ears and asked myself questions such as "Why does this sound different?", and that band is The Beatles. 

I recalled the first song that I heard from them was “Hey Jude” at the age of 5, played on a Vinyl by my late grandmother who happened to be a huge fan too and a bonus for her to be around (in her 20's) when they were an active band. After listening to the lyrics, I realised how much that song related to me and in a way gave me words of encouragement.

From that point on, I had to know who these guys were and after finding out that they were no longer an active band since 1970, I thought of them to be "historical" and that something was wrong listening to a band 30 years before I was born.

The growing stage of a young Beatlemaniac

Sometime later when I heard another song called “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, it totally struck my head this time and got into the music without any valid explanation. It’s style sounded unique and new to me, something that other bands aren’t able to mimic or beat.

I’ve been told the things that they did when they first started out were fresh and something that no one has ever heard before, nothing artists such as Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra have ever done before, including their trademark haircut which at the time was considered ridiculous as it wasn’t normal for boys to been seen with long hair.

Watching them perform for the first time

Finally I was able to see The Beatles perform and how they actually looked like after a few months having heard of them. The first performance I watched was The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan show, their first concert when they arrived in America for the first time on February 9, 1964 and that gave them international stardom as their popularity was imminent.

Performing on The Ed Sullivan Show

There they appeared, I was surprised to see them dressed up in identical suits wearing a bowl-cut they called “Mop-top”. They kicked off with “All My Loving”, performed by McCartney and I shouted to myself in my head saying, “Bloody hell, this sound is outrageous!!!”. At the end, all four members took their synchronized customary bow to the audience present. (Indeed a huge show of respect to the fans)

 

 

I have officially become a die-hard fan

Throughout my time in kindergarten, I have always asked my mum to bring me to a barber to get a Beatles haircut on a regular basis and boy do I look cute *chuckles*. As I grew, more songs got into my head. It started off with their early songs like “Please Please Me”, “Twist and Shout”, “Help!”, “A Hard Day’s Night” and then to their later songs like “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band”, “Yellow Submarine”, “Here Comes the Sun”, “Let it Be”.

Their later songs indeed sound a lot different compared to their early ‘bubbly’ songs and to my shock and horror, their appearance matured along with their music. Gone were their suits and mop-top haircuts, they eventually started growing beards with a complete wardrobe change. (Lennon wearing granny glasses?!) That explains the reason they were and are still named one of the most influential and successful bands. In a short span of 7 years (1963-1970) their style of music changed with all the experiments they did in the studio. From ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ to ‘Come Together’ in less than 5 years was totally "WOW".

As time passed, I got hooked on to their music and just couldn’t bite the dust, talking about them, collecting albums and accessories to name a few. I am now a self-proclaimed Beatlemaniac. It was thanks to them that I started picking up the guitar and other musical instruments. But it wasn't until 2009 that I finally got a taste of the guitar and the first song attempted was “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, yup I said it. :P

It took me a year and Ka-da-boom I’ve finally acquired an Epiphone Casino electric guitar which was famously used by Lennon and that guitar has been in a "never-able-to-let go relationship" with me ever since.

 

Imagine One Direction changing their appearance like The Beatles did? LOL

To sum it all, I LOVE The Beatles

Here comes the conclusion. For over 15 years I’ve never grown tired of listening to them and have always wanted to play like them. I’m glad to have friends who, like me are huge fans and I love to Come Together and talk to them about The Fab Four. Not forgetting my idol whom was from this band, and he is John Lennon. I believe in him when he said to Give Peace a Chance.

(1940-1980) Gone but never forgotten