Cultural Phenomena

THE BEATLES
THE BEGINNING
July of 1957, in Liverpool, Paul McCartney met John Lennon and joined his group, The Quarrymen.
George Harrison joined them in February of 1958.
In 1959 they played regular gigs at a club called The Casbah.
John Lennon dreamed up the band's final name, The Beatles, a mix of beat with beetle.

EARLY CAREER
In September of 1962 The Beatles recorded their first hit Love Me Do, which charted in UK, and reached the top of the US singles chart in 1964.
Their 1963 performance at the London Palladium made them famous in Great Britain and initiated the Beatlemania in the UK

TRAGIC EVENT
The band had already split up by the time Lennon was shot and killed on 8 December 1980, in New York City.

DO THESE WORDS REVEAL THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE GROUP? WHAT VALUES DO THE BEATLES SUPPORT
“For I don't care too much for money, / For money can't buy me love.”
“Who knows how long I've loved you, you know I love you still. Will I wait a lonely lifetime? If you want me to I will.”
“All the lonely people, where do they all come from? / All the lonely people, where do they all belong?
“Life is very short and there's no time, for fussing and fighting my friend. I have always thought that it's a crime, so I will ask you once again: try to see it my way, only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong. While you see it your way, there's a chance that we might fall apart before too long. We can work it out.”

BEATLEMANIA…
Do you think that the Beatles deserve their fame? What made them so famous? How could they achieve their cult-like status? What do you associate the name of the Beatles with? What key words describe them best?
Do you think the Beatles are a phenomenon of British national culture or do they belong to the world?

COMPARE SONGS OF TWO GROUPS
BEATLES
QUEEN
But tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun”
we'll keep on
fighting –
till the end …

COMPARE TWO CULTURES: WHICH FEELS CLOSER TO YOU?
HIPPIE
YUPPIE