I
began kicking around ideas and research and material for this
article after
reading this story about how the cast of Glee
had taken over the number one spot for most songs reaching the
Billboard Hot 100 listing. And while I have no problems
with Glee, the news struck me as strange… funny… and,
honestly, just wrong.
The
week that article was written, Glee was credited with
putting six new songs in the top one hundred. Of the more the
110 songs that are part of the record now, I can’t help but wonder
how many they were the first to record. (Hey… The Monkees may
get a cold shoulder considering who wrote the songs or who played
what instrument on which album. As far as I know, the majority
of their hit songs involved material that they were the first
to record and release.)
Ok…
so where am I going?
Well…
the main point is simple… if everyone is still being compared
to the Beatles, then I think we can make a clear argument that
the Beatles are still on the top of the mountain. And, as I will
point out in a moment… there are several good reasons for that.
Legends are legends for more than any single accomplishment. Numbers
do in fact lie. And while every record can be viewed as something
to be broken, the act of breaking the record does not automatically
qualify for admission to the same hall the legends reside in.
When
you look at the material the Beatles produced, it is simply mind-numbingly-boggling
to even try and comprehend what they created in a very short amount
of time. Staggering. Blindingly staggering. Breathtakingly staggering.
My
wife loves Glee. Rightfully so. It’s creative and quirky
and different. They’ve done a fabulous job developing characters
and creating an environment for the story to exist and grow. The
cast is talented. Production is good. It would be a shame if people
didn’t love it.
That
said, I don’t believe many people would start throwing names like
Elvis… Barbra Streisand… Frank Sinatra… the Beatles… and so on
in comparison with Glee. Does that make sense? If we
take the past fifty years or so of musical history… not going
back centuries, but long enough for albums and concerts and tours,
and for us to consider singers and songwriters and entertainers…
I personally believe it’s quite fair to say that the gang from
Glee is not in the same wing of the building as that
upper echelon of groundbreaking, rule-changing, generation-defining
set of legends from the music industry.
(That’s
not an insult folks. I think most of us are shaking our heads
in agreement. Yes… fantastic show. Not the greatest source of
original music. Not upper echelon of groundbreaking, rule-changing,
generation-defining.)
Yet
there it is… in major media outlets… Glee is number one.
Topped Elvis. Topped everyone. Written as if that’s supposed to
mean something.
And
all I can say is… first, we’ve heard people challenge the legends
before, claiming to have numbers on their side… second, when it
comes to groups like the Beatles, be careful where you make the
comparisons of greatness.
~ ~
~ ~ ~
His
name is Slim Whitman.
(For
those of you that remember the commercials, you may be interested
to know that according to what I can find he is still alive. His
life and career are filled with some truly inspiring events and
stories. But we’re actually referencing him here simply because
of those commercials, so let’s get back on track…)
You’ve
seen infomercials for all sorts of things. Funny, but in many
ways they were just as slick back then as they are today. Fast
cutting and misdirecting. Offering the unbelievable presented
as though it was a miracle you have lived without it until now.
Poorly shot and edited, often with comically inept conversations,
all an attempt to make it seem that these folks are just like
us. (Stress that it was an attempt to seem that way.) About the
only thing missing today is a chance to order items C.O.D.
Thirty
years ago the man… myth… legend… was being sold on television.
For him, the claim back then… a claim many of us still remember,
even though the exact wording has faded… was that Slim Whitman
topped both Elvis and the Beatles.
Really.
Slim
Whitman… was… the… man.
And
you could order his music.
By
acting now.
(C.O.D.
orders accepted.)
~ ~
~ ~ ~
His
name is Gary Puckett.
I’d
like you to visit his
web site.
Gary
is the lead singer of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap. And as recently
as… well, right now on his web site and all over in ads for upcoming
appearances… Gary and the Union Gap claim that:
“In
1968 Gary Puckett and The Union Gap had six consecutive gold
records and sold more records than any other recording act...
including the Beatles.”
I
guess that really isn’t a claim. Instead, they are stating it
as a fact. And they want you to know it. 1968. Sold more than
the Beatles.
~ ~
~ ~ ~
New
Kids on the Block…
The
Jonas Brothers…
Seems
like every five to ten years a musical “legend” is born and the
comparisons start. Usually it involves a band and crowds… chart
success… demand for concert tickets… chaos at hotels and airports
and television studios (oh my)… on a level that hasn’t been seen
since, of course, the Beatles.
(Rarely
does it provide a to-be-time-tested legend.)
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Let’s
focus on the Gary Puckett comment. After all, they aim at the
Beatles by reference and have even given us some numbers…
“In
1968 Gary Puckett and The Union Gap had six consecutive gold
records and sold more records than any other recording act...
including the Beatles.”
Anyone
thinking that some accomplishments lose a bit of their impressiveness
when someone has to explain them to you? (You don’t… for instance…
care whether or not there was ever a year when the Rolling Stones
outsold the Beatles, do you? And you don’t have to. Why? Because
the Rolling Stones are also legends.)
1968
was a very interesting year for the Beatles. Why? Well, pretty
much because it is the only year of their existence where only
one album was released… The Beatles. (You know… The
White Album.) That came out in November of 1968.
Different
times back then. It wasn’t two, three, five or more years between
releases by a major band. The Beatles did release two albums in
1967. One you’ve heard of… Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band, which came out in June of 1967. One you wouldn’t even
remember they recorded, unless I asked you to name all of their
albums… the other was Magical Mystery Tour, which was
released in November of 1967. (Often times… more so then, but
still today… different versions of albums were released on different
dates and in different countries.) Still… not much in 1968, and
when you look over their history, for the Beatles the time between
Magical Mystery Tour and The White Album was
one of the quietest they had. Twelve months between album releases.
Only three albums over just about two years.
So…
in the comparison for bragging rights… I have to say Puckett might
have a point in accuracy, but he also likely picked one of the
slowest years for Beatles albums.
Oh…
yeah… since the Beatles were involved in a project here and a
project there and things were a bit different then… you might
want to know how many albums Gary and the Union Gap released in
1968. Yes?
Four.
In
a year fueled by perhaps their biggest hit… “Young Girl”… a song
that in the British charts replaced “What a Wonderful World” at
number one before being overtaken by “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”… Gary
Puckett and the Union Gap released four albums. I do believe sales
of all four count when claiming “sold more records” bragging rights.
The
Beatles released one.
(Hey…
they made the comparison by naming the Beatles. Struck while the
iron was hot. Nothing wrong with that. I’m just looking at the
facts.)
~ ~
~ ~ ~
Moment
of reflection before we continue.
Scary
thing about Magical Mystery Tour. You don’t know what
songs are on it… do you?
I
mean, at a quick glance you know, if for no other reason than
my telling you, it was bracketed by Sgt. Pepper and The
White Album. So that the album came at a really interesting
time in their career. They were just about to begin the rush to
the end (The White Album, Abbey Road and such).
And Sgt. Pepper ahead of it. Tough to compete with those.
Very interesting career stage.
But
if I ask you to name a song off of The White Album, quite
a few of you could name several. Same for Sgt. Pepper.
Wouldn’t really have to think about it.
So
go ahead… name me a song off of Magical Mystery Tour.
(Hint: Answering “Magical Mystery Tour” would give you one of
the songs on the album.)
Whether
you knew it or not, just check out some of the material on the
album (I believe this is from the American release)…
“Magical Mystery Tour” (Yeah… duh. Keep reading…)
“The Fool on the Hill”
“I am the Walrus”
“Hello, Goodbye”
“Strawberry Fields Forever”
“Penny Lane”
“All You Need is Love”
Heck…
for good measure… “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” is on this album,
and “Blue Jay Way” is as well, and the people singing along with
“All You Need is Love” was a roster of giants.
That
list creates an amazing, masterpiece of an album that would stand
as a singular crowning achievement for perhaps 98% (or maybe even
an Ivory-pure 99.9%) of individuals or bands that have ever recorded
an album. If you walked into a room with any singer or band, handed
them the track listing of Magical Mystery Tour, and told
them that the best album they would ever record would be roughly
the equivalent in quality of this material, I believe just about
every one you approached would be happy and content with that
thought. ((My words) “For my best work, I’m going to produce something
as memorable as that collection? Where do I sign?”)
But
for John, Paul, George and Ringo… eh. It followed Revolver
and Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper… and it doesn’t
really compare to Abbey Road, does it? That listing of
songs… that incredible track listing… is a throwaway for them!
Just a bunch of odds and ends. (Really. It is. I mean… come on…
yikes!)
(In
1968 though… Gary Puckett and the Union Gap… take that Beatles.)
And
yet… you have to kind of tip the cap to Gary Puckett and the Union
Gap. Why? Well… consider…
Brian
Epstein essentially took over managing the Beatles early in 1962.
By the middle of that year, George Martin would be working with
them in the studio and Ringo Starr had joined the band.
The
last time all four members of the Beatles are known to have been
in the studio together was August of 1969 while finishing up Abbey
Road. John Lennon told the band in private that he was done
about a month later.
So…
January of 1962 to September of 1969 as a rough-edged timeframe
for the group as we know it. (And history records it.) It’s rough.
Still seems fair to me.
That’s
not even eight years.
This
band went from “She Loves You” and “Please Please Me” and “I Want
to Hold Your Hand”… into the takeover of movies and music with
Help! and A Hard Day’s Night… on to Revolver
and Rubber Soul. That took a whopping four years.
Then
they shift gears and begin a run to the end that included Sgt.
Pepper, The White Album, Let It Be and
Abbey Road. Again… let’s get the dates and information
correct… included Sgt. Pepper, The White Album,
Let It Be and Abbey Road. Not even four years.
(And,
in between all of those four second-half-of-the-career releases,
the lads casually tossed in an album with “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry
Fields Forever” and “The Fool on the Hill” and… good lord.)
So…
you go ahead… explain to me how any band could cover that simply
unreal amount of growth, transition and production in less than
eight years, and yet somehow they had a down year during that
time frame. Because, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap want you to
know, in 1968 they sold more records.
(Can’t
blame Gary and the gang for taking advantage of the claim.)
~ ~
~ ~ ~
There’s
a place for Menudo, the Spice Girls, and the cast of Glee.
That’s
a fact. (And it isn’t a lesson many people learn.)
You
don’t have to please everyone to be successful. Heck… please a
very small percentage of people and you can still be gargantuan
in stature and success.
Not
everyone loves puppies and chocolate ice cream. (Though, to be
fair, accurate and honest… you should be incredibly suspicious
of people that don’t like puppies or chocolate ice cream. My advice
would be not to trust them.)
What’s
your favorite song? …television show? …food?
Right
now there are people, millions and millions (and millions) of
people that hate that song… wouldn’t watch that show if you tied
them in a chair and paid them… that can’t figure out why such
a disgusting plate of inedible garbage was ever created.
There
are people in the world… sit down, you’re going to be surprised
so you’ll want to be prepared… that don’t like the Beatles.
My
initial reaction when I heard that the cast of Glee had
become the top act in the history of the Billboard Hot
100 was… I’m sorry to say… a bit of a shoulder shrug. Congratulations
to them. Continued success and syndication deals beyond compare.
It wasn’t Glee that honestly got me writing this. It
was comparing Glee to Elvis.
In
ten years, the next wave of in-the-moment singers and performers
will be compared to the Beatles. Or Elvis. Or Barbra Streisand.
There’s a reason that people are constantly compared to them.
(A reason or a few dozen reasons. Remember… legends.)
A
few of these will cross the bridge into truly-memorable-land.
Most won’t. One thing is certain… those in-the-moment singers
will not be compared to Glee.