The Beatles were a universally appealing band that enjoyed commercial success during the 1960s. Their rise to fame resulted in widespread fanaticism among young adults, especially among young women who were their biggest fans. To the outsider who is not familiar with The Beatles, this fanaticism and the sight of a huge crowd of hysterical women may come across as something similar to a cult or an unhealthy obsession. That same outsider would probably ask, “What is so great about The Beatles?” This question continues to be asked today by those who believe that The Beatles were overhyped and not as great as the media and culture portrays them to be. But their impact on culture, whether one enjoys their music or not, cannot be ignored as their legacy continues into the present. What made The Beatles a universally appealing band was their duality in their image and sound.
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The Beatles before Ringo Starr replaced Pete Best (far right). Before they transformed their image, the group used to wear leather and style their hair into quiffs, which contributed to their "bad boy" vibe. In this image, John, George, and Paul have begun their transition by cutting and styling their hair into the iconic mop top. Pete is the only member who is still sporting a quiff since his hair was naturally curly and could not, as a result, be styled into a mop top.
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Image-wise, The Beatles were bad boys and good boys. This appealed to their female audience as the good-boy image was approved by parents and older adults whereas young women were infatuated by their bad-boy image. In “The Beatles: Image and the Media,” Michael Frontani quotes a young woman on her infatuation: “’You know…this is the first time I’ve gone nuts over a singer that my parents didn’t tell me it was disgusting.’” The problem with other male singers (in particular, Elvis Presley) was that they carried and presented themselves in a sexually suggestive manner such that parents did not approve of it. The Beatles, on the other hand, were modest in their presentation that parents deemed them “safe” for their daughters to see and listen to. As a result, in addition to the backing of their female audience, The Beatles also had the support of older adults.
The Beatles also had masculine and feminine characteristics. Their masculinity was portrayed through their Teddy-boy attitudes that boys were able to relate to. These attitudes came across as tough, irreverent and rebellious against authoritative figures, which was prevalent in the Teddy-boy culture. Meanwhile, their femininity was portrayed through their hair. Their iconic mop-top hairstyle was taken from the French existentialists that it was far removed from the clean cuts and crew cuts that most men wore at the time. This hairstyle had a certain effect on women, which Frontani quotes talk show host Jack Paar on his observations: “’These guys have these crazy hairdos and when they wiggle their heads and the hair goes the girls go out of their minds…’” Although their hair was feminine, it was pretty and looked very attractive to women such that men started to style their hair that way in order to attract the ladies.
Their music reached out to a large audience because it was romantic for women and rough for men. Their songs such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “If I Fell” uses personal pronouns to elicit the feeling that the female fan is personally being sung to, which further exacerbated their appeal as heartthrobs. While they were busy appealing to women, young men also perceived their music to be enjoyable. Frontani notes what Life magazine’s Gail Cameron had learned about the band’s appeal from a male fan: “’It’s the sound, it’s a tough sound… The American rock n’ roll is getting to be a drag.’” Their sound was a departure from the dying scene of rock n’ roll that it emphasized their newness. Their newness was a hit among American audiences where Cantrell noted in lecture how “I Want to Hold Your Hand” managed to sell 250,000 copies within the first three days of its release.
The Beatles had dual images of appearing as mature adults and coming across as children at times. They were respectable enough that they did a Royal Command Performance yet they maintained their irreverent attitude towards authority in a humorous way. In lecture, Cantrell showed a video of The Beatles at the Royal Variety Performance where John makes a comment regarding the social statuses of its audience members: “Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry.” This comment was made in front of The Royal Family that to the outsider it may come across as rude and disrespectful. But the response the audience gave was the opposite and was comprised of laughter and amusement. Their ability to give witty remarks without provoking offense was a huge part of their appeal as their humor defined and distinguished their identities and had set them apart from other bands at the time. This humor was a universal language understood by their audience that it made them easy to relate to and portrayed them as ordinary men.
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The Beatles have cleaned up their appearance. The effort was largely due to their manager, Brian Epstein, who added the suits, enforced strict uniformity in clothing and instruments, and managed their publicity. Since they looked family-friendly, many parents approved of The Beatles and deemed them safe for their children, daughters especially, to listen to. Their image was considered to be feminine and the length of their hair was also considered to be long according to the standards of the time.
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Their ordinariness complemented their status as rich and famous musicians since they enforced the American belief that by working hard an individual can climb the socioeconomic ladder and become successful. In lecture, Cantrell noted how their working class roots were emphasized and hyped throughout their promotion in the United States. He quoted Jack Paar: “’They’re from the toughest part of England. It’s Merseyside, near Liverpool in the dock area, and it’s a very tough area where these four nice kids come from.’” Their humble roots was a quality that many of their fans could identify with that it made them relatable. This ability to relate to the audience on some level was essential for them since it did not alienate their fans or displace the band to belong to a social world that many of their fans aspired to be a part of.
With these dualities, The Beatles were widely appreciated by different groups of people. Their sound was rough for the boys yet romantic for the girls; adults approved of them and young women were fanatic over them; and they were respected by respectable people yet they got away with being irreverent. They were analogous to walking contradictions that made complete sense to their fans. These contradictions ended up being compliments to their qualities where one emphasized the other and vice versa. Due to these dualities, they managed to garner the support of groups who were in opposition to each other (e.g. older generations versus the youth, boys versus girls, and the rich versus the poor). These dualities are the qualities that make The Beatles an influential and universally appealing group.
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