1. They are trendy AND original. After the Elvis fad, the Beatles kept early rock 'n' roll and pop music alive, and a lot of their early music was inspired by Elvis’ music: “Every time I felt low I just put on an Elvis record and I felt great” (Paul McCartney). Old people thought rock 'n' roll was just a phase that would soon be over, but the Beatles told them to think again. It wasn’t long before every boy in the western world was wearing leather jackets, tight jeans, and hair oil. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with Frank Sinatra or the Four Freshmen, but before Elvis and other great original rock (and even gospel) artists like Little Richard and Chuck Berry and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, pop music groups looked a lot like this:

2. They started their careers when most people start high school. John and Paul met in 1957 through a member of John’s first legitimate skiffle group, the Quarrymen, when John was 16 and Paul was only 15! But, wait. It gets better. When George was accepted into the Quarrymen after playing “Raunchy” by Bill Justis by order of John, he was just 14!!!

3. They have a great name. They originally called themselves the “Beetles,” but apparently John wanted the name to be more ambiguous, like the Crickets (bugs that chirp), so the name became the Beatles because “when you said it, people thought of crawly things, and when you read it, it was beat music” (Lennon). Beat music is a combination of rock 'n' roll, skiffle, doo-wop, and R&B that started with the post-Elvis (late' 50s, early '60s) generation of music groups in the UK. The actual Beat Generation, however, appeared around the time Elvis’ career and popularity began in the early 1950s: “The Beat Generation was a product of this questioning. They saw runaway capitalism as destructive to the human spirit and antithetical to social equality. In addition to their dissatisfaction with consumer culture, the Beats railed against the stifling prudery of their parents’ generation” (The Literature Network). Picture cigarettes, poetry, cuffed jeans, fancy hats, coffee, and cool music; the Beats were the first real hipsters.

4. They will always be relevant. The Beatles were the start of the British Invasion when they arrived in New York City in 1964 and have therefore helped to pave the road for many popular European and American music groups like Nirvana, the Eagles, Billy Joel, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Green Day, U2, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Rolling Stones, Sufjan Stevens, Queen…the list goes on. And then more bands sprung from those bands that sprung from the Beatles; it’s a never-ending cycle of inspiration.

5. They revolutionized the recording process. Instead of using live mono or two-track recordings for the songs on their albums like most artists were doing at the time due to limitations with technology in the mid-1960s, the Beatles were introduced to a four-track machine in 1963 at Abbey Road Studios, which allows layering on a record. The Beatles were one of the first bands to use this technology in albums like “Revolver” and “Sgt. Pepper,” and soon, virtually every popular artist or band was using the four-track machine. Later in 1968, they would also use an eight-track machine.

6. They are inventive. Early albums include the rather conventional pop songs that people normally associate with the Beatles, like “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “She Loves You,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” but the Beatles only progressed from there, and I think a lot of (ignorant (no offense)) people overlook/ignore their later experimental achievements. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” represented a kind of turning point in the Beatles’ music career: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band is arguably the greatest album ever made (indeed, it topped Rolling Stone‘s list). While it doesn’t have the strongest material, the album was a landmark in recording. It popularized the concept album – something that would serve as inspiration to The Who and Pink Floyd” (Hooks and Harmony). When asked about the album, McCartney said, “There were starting to be other possibilities, you know. For instance, Indian music, which George was very keen on. And he’d met Ravi Shankar and was very keen on the whole philosophy.” “Revolver” also made use of the sitar, tambura, clavichord, harmonium, and other eastern instruments. Personally, I prefer their later albums, especially “The White Album”, which received a lot of negative criticism when it was first released because it was so unlike anything people had ever heard, not just by the Beatles, but by any popular artists at the time. A lot of their most experimental and psychedelic songs were released after their famous trip to India in 1968: “The Beatles were searching for answers to some of life’s larger questions. This search would lead them to meditation, Eastern philosophy and, eventually, to Rishikesh, India…During their stay, they would learn more about meditation and would also find time to write many of the songs that would ultimately end up on ‘The Beatles’ (aka ‘The White Album’). ‘Back In The USSR,’ ‘Dear Prudence’ (written about Farrow’s sister, also in attendance), ‘Mother Nature’s Son,’ and ‘Sexy Sadie’ were just a few of the songs born out of their experiences there” (Swanson). Eastern music at the time was so unlike anything the western world was used to, and George Harrison put a lot of time and commitment into working with Ravi Shankar on improving his sitar skills. These later albums, therefore, represent how serious and knowledgeable the Beatles were on music, and why their reputation shouldn’t be limited to songs like, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” just because of its instant popularity in the UK and overseas.

7. They harmonize like angels. What are the chances that John Lennon essentially “picked” his three band mates based mostly off of their instrumental abilities, but their voices flow together like it was meant to be, and the Beatles truly were meant to be. John’s voice bright and comes mostly from his head instead of his diaphragm in songs like “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” and “Across the Universe,” unlike Paul, whose voice is sometimes rough like in “Helter Skelter,” and “Back in the USSR,” and sometimes velvety murmur like in “Honey Pie,” and “Lady Madonna.” George Harrison’s has a soft, slightly nasally sound like in “Here Comes the Sun,” and “The Inner Light,” and Ringo’s voice is simple and natural, as heard in “Goodnight,” and “With a Little Help from my Friends.” Together, their harmonies blend like sweet batter and can easily put you in a trance while listening to songs like “Because,” “Sun King,” and “Strawberry Fields,” if you listen long enough.

8. Their songs have hidden meanings and messages. Bullshit or not. Ask anyone about “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” and they’ll tell you it’s about LSD, but John says it’s about a drawing his son Julian made, which features his best friend Lucy…in the sky…with diamonds. I heard once that “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” is about the Statue of Liberty, but others claim the song was written about Yoko. And then there are all the songs that contribute to the “Paul is dead” conspiracy theory. According to Wikipedia, “’Paul is dead’ is an urban legend and conspiracy theory suggesting that Paul McCartney of the English rock band the Beatles died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike.” After this theory was released, Beatles fans became known as “cluesters” and started looking for hidden clues in the albums and found hundreds. For example, you play “Revolution 9” backwards, you can hear the fake car crash that never killed Paul. At the very end of “Strawberry Fields,” John Lennon can be heard saying, “ I buried Paul,” and again at the end of “I Am the Walrus,” someone can be heard saying, “Bury my body,” which also led to further suspicion. These aren’t all the examples of how cluesters came to the conclusion that Paul had died in 1968, but clearly, they did their research.

9. They are classic. The Beatles’ career lasted for seven years, but the recognition they earned has lasted, and will last into the future. The Beatles are and will forever be a classic band, just like Audrey Hepburn is a classic movie star, The Wizard of Oz is a classic movie, and The Great Gatsby is a classic novel.

10. Ringo, John, Paul, and George. John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Paul, Ringo, George and John. Paul, George, John, and Ringo