Today's Poll

[maxwellissmart]

Who killed The Beatles more?

 

Yoko Ono, or John David Chapman?

[gallahadesquire]

This question is in incredibly bad taste. Also, I have no idea. By the time SHE happened, I was headlong down a spiral, through romantic, classical, Renaissance, and finally Medieval music.

Much more interesting, IMHO.

[maxwellissmart]

This question is in incredibly bad taste. Also, I have no idea. By the time SHE happened, I was headlong down a spiral, through romantic, classical, Renaissance, and finally Medieval music.

Much more interesting, IMHO.

 

Well okay, sassy. The only reason why I asked was because (oops, it's actually Mark David Chapman) was up for parole for his seventh time and was turned down. My question was meant to address the comments made on CNN's board that still gripe about YO and how she "killed The Beatles." I wonder, and I doubt that I'm alone here—whether or not The Beatles would have ever recorded again, and whether JDC (I mean, MDC, dammit) put the final nail in the coffin both figuratively and literally for the band.

[+ WilliamM]

Perhaps not the best worded question, but "incredibly bad taste" is ridiculous. Yes, I think The Beatles would have gotten back together again if John Lennon had lived.

[maxwellissmart]

Perhaps not the best worded question, but "incredibly bad taste" is ridiculous. Yes, I think The Beatles would have gotten back together again if John Lennon had lived.

 

It's been said that L/M almost took Lorne Michaels up on his $3K offer to appear on SNL. I can't even imagine how the audience would have reacted.

[+ WilliamM]

It's been said that L/M almost took Lorne Michaels up on his $3K offer to appear on SNL. I can't even imagine how the audience would have reacted.

 

What a shame it did not happen...something to remember for a lifetime. $3K was a lot of money back then. And I am not blaming Yoko Ono for anything these days.

[justaguy]

I think Yoko is a being used as a scapegoat by folks who want to think the band was nothing more than four guys who made great music and got on famously. The fact is that the band was drifting apart both creatively and politically without her influence.

[Decatur Guy]

I think the inevitable rift between Paul and John killed the Beatles. Yoko might have made it worse and made it happen faster, but the underlying creative tension was already there.

 

However, George would have branched out on his own eventually even if Paul and John stayed cohesive. And I wouldn't have blamed him -- he was the Beatle who most spoke to me and it must have been tiresome dealing with Paul/John whether they were getting along or feuding. I'm sure there were plenty of times when George and Ringo must have felt like Paul and John were sucking all the oxygen out of the room.

 

A band with that much brilliance has a hard time staying together unless all the other band members let one person pretty well be the Alpha (like U2).

[bigvalboy]

I think Yoko is a being used as a scapegoat by folks who want to think the band was nothing more than four guys who made great music and got on famously. The fact is that the band was drifting apart both creatively and politically without her influence.

 

I have always felt the same way. I think that she was an easy target and was unfairly blamed for much of the creative AND political problems the band was having.