Oh for Pete's sake...there should be some kind of cattle prod to snap people out of their delusions concerning the Beatles.
It goes without saying the Beatles were a HUUUUUGE success and influence in the mid-60's.
However they were of course short-lived. By the late 60's they were only having minor hits and waning record sales. And of course they broke up soon after.
Other bands have had way-way-waaaaay better success than the Beatles when considering longevity and continued success in future albums.
What the Beatles really were - were the most successful commercialized flash in a pan band in world history. All of their success happened within just a few years when they were the only game in town.
Flash in the pan? You are way off regarding the Beatles. I don't know how old you are, but anyone old enough to have been watching the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, knows the impact the Beatles had not just in music, but to the world in general.
Seeing them for the first time has the equivelent impact of a boxer standing in the ring and expecting a third rate club fighter, but getting Mike Tyson instead. You don't know what he's like, but he looks different than the other fighters, then the bell rings and you get your bell rung. Afterwards, you go, "WTF was that!" That's how the Beatles it America.
By the time of the Ed Sullivan Show, people were getting a little sick of "my little duece coop" and Neil Sedaca. The initial impact of rock 'n roll (Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, etc.) had lost it's luster. The Beatles came in out of left field (unless you lived in Hamburg) and changed the face of music. They were so different than any other group at that time (in America at least), that they inspired a whole generation of musician's and songwriters that is still going on to this day.
Anyone who lived from '64 - '70 and experienced the Beatles as they were happening, wouldn't be saying the shit you said.
