Many bands have come and gone over the years. Few have been able to make a mark in music history, let alone make a mark in my heart.
Sunday night, while surfing through my preset radio stations, I stumbled upon a newfound treasure: an all Beatles show with audio recordings of interviews with the band. I was excited to find a show of non-stop Beatles hits.
Those of you who know me know that I have been a devoted fan of the Fab Four for some time. A few of you even gave me a copy of a signed Beatles poster for my 18th birthday.
My dorm room is decorated with a border of Beatles photos from last year’s calendar. But my loyalty goes back to my days as a high school student.
As a loyal fan and a broke high school student, I saved up my Christmas money to purchase Beatles “1.” The ultimate collection of all their No.1 hits. After grabbing my copy, I ran to the register and happily paid for my CD, which was on sale.
Recently I was asked how my passion for the Beatles began. My reply was “they can get me through the bad times and can make me feel good at the same time.”
The Beatles have always managed to make me smile, and can take me back to “Yesterday” when “all my troubles seemed so far away.”
As a kid, I remember listening to the Beatles on K-Earth 101 when my mom would pick me up from school. At the time, I didn’t understand what they were singing about. It was good music to my ears. As I got older, I began to understand their lyrics and I began to appreciate the Beatles as gifted musicians.
But let me bring you to my other Sunday night discovery: Thursday would have been John Lennon’s 63rd birthday.
Lennon was born on Oct. 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England; he studied at Liverpool Art College, where his love for music and the very early version of the Beatles came about. The Quarrymen started off as a skiffle band.
Lennon and the Beatles hit superstardom and “Beatlemania” began with the 1964 release of a “Hard Day’s Night.” Their boyish good looks combined with good music and Lennon’s and Paul McCartney’s lyrics made girls all around the globe swoon.
For the next six years, the Beatles would release dozens of albums, many of which soared to No.1 on the charts. In early 1970, the Fab Four broke up and each member pursued different paths.
Lennon and McCartney went on to have lucrative solo careers. Lennon’s 1971 solo album “Imagine” and its title single became the most popular of Lennon’s albums and songs.
But on Dec. 8, 1980, Lennon left his New York apartment and was approached by Mark David Chapman, a fan requesting an autograph. Several hours later, Lennon returned home and Chapman shot and killed Lennon. A few days after his death, both fans of Lennon and the Beatles all over the world participated in a silent vigil.
I wish I could have been alive to experience the music of Lennon and Beatles. Watching the Paul McCartney “Back in the U.S.A.” DVD just is not enough. And although people may have said he was a dreamer, this imaginative songwriter will always be remembered, as will the Beatles.
Gloria Diaz, a junior journalism major, is editorial director of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at btls60s@att.net.
