The Beatles are an English rock band that formed in Liverpool, 1962. The band consists of singer and musicians:
John Lennon (rhythm guitar)
Paul McCartney (bass guitar)
George Harrison (lead guitar)
& Ringo Starr (drums)
and are considered by many to be the greatest and most influential band of all time having sold over 1 billion records worldwide. For a lot of people, this is due to the bands transition from a pop sounding boy band that developed from their original origins as a skiffle band with Lennon's The Quarrymen, to a much more experimental sound by 1965 that focused on the likes of more convoluted harmonies, psychedelic inspirations and tape tampering's just to name a few, with albums including Rubber Soul, Revolver and the highly regarded Sgt Peppers. The band signed with EMI's Parlophone record label in 1962 after being declined by Decca records who believed their sound was on the 'way out,' with Producer George Martin signed onboard after taking a liking for the bands enthusiasm and relatable humour, believing in their potential for success.
This blogpost will focus on the bands representation during their touring years (1963-66) as the song I have in mind for my music video is a cover of a song that released originally in 1964, during this era when the band was active. The song is also part of the pop genre, which was the bands sound during this era I'm focusing on.
Music Video: Eight Days A Week
The music video for the bands song Eight Days A Week released to coincide with the 2016 Ron Howard documentary, Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years. The documentary features digitally restored footage in 4K, originally shot in 35mm film from the bands concerts including 30 minutes of footage from one of the bands more iconic performances at Shea Stadium, which this music video takes place. This immediately tells us just how important the bands legacy is to this modern age, and would be appealing for Beatle fans as the release of new and polished content and found footage tells us of the significance of the bands music, in this case their pop sound, implying how well it still holds up even 50+ years on. For my music video, this idea of a song or an artist from this era maintaining a strong, on-going legacy is something that I want to borrow and make prevalent since the song I have in mind will be a cover of a song from 1964, from an artist who was also highly popular with a similar working class background like The Beatles, demonstrating the relevance of this music in todays culture that heavily relies on nostalgia.
The songs bouncy, uplifting nature is perfectly captured in the music video through a series of visual and technical codes. The video takes place throughout August 13th 1965, the day of the bands concert at Shea Stadium. This was at the point of the bands legacy where they still playing their pop hits, and constantly being glorified by the media and where fans of Beatlemania girls craved their attention for their juvenal looks. This is reflected in the music video as we see thousands of teenage girls attending the concert, purchasing merchandise, and fainting, screeching, crying at the sight (with some even wearing binoculars) and trying to gain the attention of the band members. These shots are very iconic of the bands touring years, and the chaotic atmosphere reflects the energetic/charismatic sound of the bands music and their care-free attitude of the press and parents who were more hostile to their presence. The video also captures this lively nature through the way it progresses. The video moves along very suddenly, and does so through quick hard cuts of concert goers screeching, and the band playing their music. A lot of these shots are also extreme W/S, and all of this visually showcases just how significant and zestful the phenomenon that was Beatlemania was, as the band are literally represented as being 'on top of the world,' when they are flying across the landscape of NYC, telling us just how influential they were to 1960s youth and music culture, as their music and BTS look into their preparation tells us these are very important people, the attention is even placed on them when they're just sitting around laughing, defining the spirit of the bands music, and the Fab Four themselves as being essential to the soul of 1960s life.
There is a slight narrative thread within the music video, as the band make their way across NYC to the backstage of Shea Stadium and rehearse, up until they come out to perform. However, this is more done to show a more minimalistic, but still accurate day in the life of the band, and how non-stop their presence actively was.
Magazine Cover: LIFE (28/08/1964)
This edition of LIFE Magazine released in 1964, and around the time The Beatles had released 3 LPs in the UK and countless EP's by Capitol Records in the US, but also starred in their own comedy film and had countless #1 singles, showcasing how popular they were in shaping 1960s life, and how massive of an influence they had in many media industries.
Being on the front page of LIFE Magazine, sitting front and centre, mop-tops and their iconic suits on show, this already tells us how even months after the bands appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, the band had made that much of an impact in American society. Their polite mannerisms here, and cheerful looks coincide with the positive lyrics and sound of the pop music they produced with songs such as A Hard Days Night, It Won't Be Long and I'll Cry Instead just to name a few. This representation of the band here even disregard the many media publications and parents who believed their music and attitudes were 'rebellious,' as the cover proves that British Invasion was actually much more significant and positive in its impact on American society, as the bands naïve and youthful, but simplistic messages of love was seen especially by the American teenagers of this era as relatable and a gleam of hope with the rising tensions with Americas involvement in Vietnam, the Cold War and the CRM.
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