There's a deleted scene from the movie "Pulp Fiction" where Uma Thurman's character tells John Travolta's character that there are two kinds of people in this world, "Elvis people and Beatles people." She reasons that a person can like both, but no one likes them equally.
As Travolta's character, Vincent Vega, replied, "I can dig it."
I am most decidedly a Beatles person. While I enjoy Elvis' music, I rarely play it. I much more frequently queue up the British Invasion bands including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who.
The Beatles wrote songs on universal themes — love, life, strawberry fields, yellow submarines and walruses. Their music ranged from simple pop tunes to ones dripping with post-production work by Phil Spector.
The band members themselves each had success on their own.
John Lennon's iconic solo work includes "Instant Karma" and "Imagine," and a personal favorite "Beautiful Boy," written for his son, Sean.
Paul McCartney had success with Wings, which had hits including "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die," the title song for a James Bond film. McCartney also had hits as a solo act and in duets with vocalists that included Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
George Harrison had hits on his own with "My Sweet Lord" and "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)." I always found his solo work to be quite soothing. He also was part of The Traveling Wilburys with four other renowned musicians.
Ringo Starr was in the movie "Caveman."
While they remained great once they were apart, the Beatles together cannot be matched despite what some delusional fans of the band Oasis would have you believe.
The Beatles have had 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart starting with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1964 and ending with "The Long and Winding Road" in 1970. They had 19 No. 1 albums in the Billboard Top 200 albums chart including anthologies.
While their greatness is testified to by a multitude of adoring fans, the devotees do have at least one point of contention. They argue over which album is the Beatles' greatest?
I've got my favorites. They include "Rubber Soul," "Revolver," "The Beatles," which is commonly called The White Album, and "Abbey Road." I often get into conversations with friends and we start debating the merits of each album. There is never a conclusive winner. The albums are just too good.
Another testimony to the Beatles is the number of times their songs have been covered. I have about a dozen versions of "Across the Universe" on my iPod. I bought the "Happy Feet" soundtrack just to get k.d. lang's version of "Golden Slumbers." I also have the Ben Folds version of that song.
The reasons to be a Beatles person are numerous. They were just so Fab.
The topic of this week's trivia is The Beatles.
1. What Beatles song includes the lyric "Sunday's on the phone to Monday, Tuesday's on the phone to me"?
2. Who were the five members of The Traveling Wilburys?
3. What five Beatles songs held the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on the week on April 4, 1964?
4. Who wrote "The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead," from which the Beatles took text for the song "Tomorrow Never Knows"?
5. On what date and in what city was John Lennon murdered?
6. What woman was the inspiration for the song "Dear Prudence"?
7. What is Ringo Starr's given name?
8. Which Beatles song title was the title of a book and two made-for-TV movies about the murders committed by Charles Manson's "family"?
9. On what program did The Beatles make their first live U.S. television performance?
10. What is the order of the Beatles procession across Abbey Road on the cover of that album?
ANSWERS: 1. "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window." 2. George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. 3. "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist and Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "Please Please Me."4. Timothy Leary. 5. Dec. 8, 1980, in New York. 6. Prudence Farrow, the sister of actress Mia Farrow. 7. Richard Starkey. 8. "Helter Skelter." 9. "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964. 10. John is in the lead followed by Ringo, Paul and George.
Shawn Clubb is managing editor of the Suburban Journals for St. Louis and St. Charles counties. You can contact him at sclubb@yourjournal.com.
