The 1960’s is a decade remembered for its counterculture, social revolution and an emergence of a new kind of popular culture. If you asked me what my first thoughts were when I hear the decade 1960s, I automatically think about the Beatles. Has a decade ever had such a defining musical group that represents not only a shift to more rebellious music such as Rock n Roll, but an influence so great that they are still talked about to this day? The Beatles not only changed music but they affected culture in ways that had not been challenged by a musical group before. I asked my mom what she remembers about the Beatles. She was only 6 when they performed on the Ed Sullivan Show but she still remembers. She said that, “The Beatles didn’t define a generation, they created one”. The first way that the Beatles challenged everyday popular culture was that the fact that they were British. Before the Beatles traveled across “the pond”, the U.S. had been a tough break for aspiring British pop groups. The Beatles wanted to teach the world that pop music could be intelligent and that British groups could do that just as well as American music groups. Some could argue that the Beatles did not start a phenomenon, they somehow perfected the cultural significance of 1950’s musicians before them like Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. Before settling with their signature rock sound, The Beatles started in the Skiffle genre, a type of music with jazz, blues and roots influences. By 1960, Lennon wanted to move away from Skiffle to more of a Rock n Roll sound. Lennon and McCartney perfected their writing skills and relied less and less on on outside material. This was a groundbreaking ideal in the music industry and it had a lasting impact on culture. It urged other big name music acts such as the Rolling Stones to start writing their own music. Lennon and McCartney would eventually become one of the most famous…
