Rockband Rockstars

    As I continue to blog about The Beatles and well, how they've changed the world, I'm for sure stopping to write about video games. You know, the thing that's taking over the world, capturing kids' lives and turning them into antisocial vampires living and breathing the same air of their colossal den of their room. Staring at the television, rapidly hitting an evolutionary smaller, wireless controller, and leaving only for the bathroom and food. VIDEO GAMES ARE TAKING OVER. What's neat though is to add a little twist to the ever so popular game, Rockband, they've come out with a Beatles edition, and their own Paul McCartney violin bass guitar.
    The game recieved input from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Oko Yono, and Olivia Harrison and debuted on September 9, 2009. The Beatles: Rockband included 45 of their songs. Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band were released later for the game, but the game was aimed to feature their entire catalog and would offer and "experiential journey" of The Beatles.

    Not only does the game include many of their songs, and more online to now download, but the graphics and environmental feel makes the player feel like one of the Fab Four. During Yellow Submarine, wartime images are creating a scene and the images during the game tell the stories of the songs. You also see the band members on stage singing. Because of its many songs to play and emotional connection and feel for the game, it has become a huge hit. Players become so engaged in feeling like the "Walrus", pounding their drums during "Help", and it really becomes a reality for them. The songs eventually become harder to play, only dragging the player deeper into the game and love for the band.
      So, for being four people who never even imagined a rock band video game, they impacted, changed, and revolutionized it very much. Guaranteed that when Rockband came out with their new edition, players jumped on it like there was no tomorrow. And why's that? Because who wouldn't want to jam out like McCartney, Lennon, and Ringo!






"The Beatles, 'Rock Band' Makers To Release New Video Game in 2009." Rolling Stone 30 Oct. 2008: n.

     pag. Rolling Stone. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ 

     the-beatles-rock-band-makers-to-release-new-video-game-in-2009-20081030>.

The Beatles and the Business

         The article "Whisper Words of Business Wisdom" by Amy Wallace tells us about the book Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles, written by Richard Courtney and George Cassidy. It is about the Beatles' impact on the business world. Their musical struggles and accomplishments relate to and influence modern business, as the book elaborates. 
         When the Beatles were recording "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", they were arguing and disagreeing about the introduction of the song. The chords weren't sounding right and no one liked the way it started. After hours of conflict and frustration, John Lennon sat down at the piano and pounded out some chords. Easing the tension, McCartney said, "That's quite good, actually." Resolving their disagreement made them and their work stronger. This idea that 'disagreement can lead to synthesis' is one of the 100 lessons that Courtney and Cassidy's book dwells upon as well as their impact on the business world.
         Cassidy and George use the Beatles' successes and failures as a guideline to not only other rock stars but business people everywhere. The Beatles became involved with their own business in the 60's dealing with their record companies, being signed, and their Apple group of companies. Using their ideas, passion, and hard work, businessmen everywhere enhance their creativity, knowledge, and business savvy. It is easier for us to relate to musicians. They get inspiration, write songs, are motivated by them, and have emotional connection towards them. Most people take them as role models and follow in their steps, in and out of the business world. George and Cassidy did an amazing job reasearching and conveying their ideas about the Beatles in the business world. One of the things they say is that in the beginning, the Beatles were just like me and you.


Wallace, Amy. "Whisper Words of Business Wisdom." The New York Times 19 Mar. 2011: BU3. The New York

     Times. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/business/ 

     20proto.html?_r=1&ref=beatlesthe>. 

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

     Written in 1967 by John Lennon for their album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", the song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, became a huge hit. John Lennon was influenced by his son, Julian, who drew a picture in art and called it "Lucy- in the sky with diamonds". When the song released, many people argued that the song's first letters spelled LSD, the drug, and it made sense with the trippy, hallucinogenic song. Shortly after, it was banned by the BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation.
      The drawing by his song, Julian, the inspiration, was of his classmate Lucy O'Donnell. Lennon was shocked when he heard the rumors of his song being an 'acid' song. Who really looks at the initials of a song? This song though has a legacy of its own:
         
               In 1974, anthropologists discovered a 3.2 million year old, 40% complete fossil and named it Lucy because of the song playing over and over again at the excavation camp. Not fully understanding the discovery of their fossil, they came up with the phrase "Lucy in disguise" as a pun on "Lucy in the sky".
 
               The White dwarf star, BPM 37093, 4000 km in diameter and which contains a crystallized carbon core, was named after "Lucy" as a tribute to the song.

      Many artists have done covers on this song and kept the never-ending legacy alive.



      So it just so happened that this amazing song was written during the era of drugs. During the controversy of this song, in June 1967, Paul McCartney did admit that the band had been using LSD. Because they were huge public figures, anything they would partake in became a trend. Not only did they seem symbolic of the shifts in politics, society, and the leftist movement, but they're songs written high on drugs transmitted to the public culture. Their music, culture, and drugs defined the decade.
      With the oncoming use of marijuana in 1966, and the use of LSD, the Beatles discovered every underground drug and trend through their music and spread it through their masses, influencing people to try it also. Their psychedelic songs, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, I am the Walrus, Yellow Submarine, all paint pictures of their hallucinations and they revolutionized the use of drugs.
      Although not every Beatles listener partakes in the Sixties counterculture, there is no doubt that the Beatles radiated their explicit use of drugs to the community and influenced society by their own acid droppings. So it is safe to say that the Beatles are half the reason for the hippie culture which continues to this day.



("The Beatles and Drug Culture in the Sixties", Yvette Holzwarth)
("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", Wikipedia)

Why?

      Why The Beatles? Well, everyone knows The Beatles are by far the most socially impacting and everlasting band ever. Their music, lyrics, stories, lives, are only becoming more and more popular. The world-wide appreciation for the music and members has grown to become overwhelming! There isn't one person on this planet who doesn't know who they are. It's so interesting to see how, to this day, they are continuously changing people. Teens are enthralled by them, children sing along, and everyone's hearts are forever theirs.
       So it all began as I sat in class, seriously brainstorming all the possibilities I could research, and considering I was allowed to choose absolutely ANYTHING, there were many options. I started toying around on Google, looking up random interests when, "Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody.." started playing in my head. At first, oblivious to the clue I was subconsciously giving myself, I looked up classic rock, while still humming The Beatles. And what was the first band to pop up? The Beatles. What a coincidence! It immediately clicked in my head and I realized exactly what I wanted to research. The Beatles and how they've not only affected my life as a sixteen year old, sophomore, cheerleader, but the lives of every person before me starting from their debut in 1964. Their impact on this world is one that will never end and continuously flourish. I promise.