Sunday, November 21, 2010

Beatles Anthology


A anniversary of sorts has came and past and I didn't see any mention of it. 15 years ago the Beatles Anthology premiered on ABC. I would guess that for you first generation fans, the Beatles Anthology was neat and exciting for you, but the excitement of it all wasn't something new for you. I guess if you waited outside Abbey Road Studios or even waited for the radio to play a new Beatles song for the first time, seeing the count-down at the end of Anthology for Free as a Bird wasn't as big of a deal for you as it was for me.


But you see I am a 2nd generation fan. I always had to live vicariously through my mom and others like her who were 1st generation fans. Hearing about how exciting it was to see the Beatles on Ed Sullivan or the excitement that built up when Sgt. Pepper was going to be released. And for the first and most likely only time in my life, I got to have that experience.


In 1995 I was 19 years old and a sophomore at Eastern Illinois University. The Anthology was going to be on during my week-long Thanksgiving break, so I lugged my T.V. back home to my parent's house. The buzz about the Anthology was crazy and I got all wrapped up in it. Finally Sunday night came. The first part of the Anthology was going to be on ABC! There was a scare for awhile because Paul refused to allow the program to show if there were any meat restaurant commericals. But things went as planned and I sat with my VCR player ready to record. When I watched the program, I was amazed. I screamed as "new" footage and photos were shown on the screen. I sang along. I listened intensely as all four Beatles told me old information and new things that I never knew. And lastly I cried when I first heard and saw the video for "Real Love."


It was a really awesome time to be a Beatles fan. Sure it wasn't 1964 all over again, but there was a renewed interest in all thing FAB. When I went back to college after the break, people I barely knew wanted to ask me all sorts of things about The Beatles. Suddenly being a Beatles fan was "in."


For me November 1995 was a great time as a Beatles fan. I even started to write a book about the history of the Beatles Anthology. I did a lot of research and then came to the realization that I have no clue how to write and publish a book. Maybe someday I will look again at that project.


Maybe I am crazy for even bothering to write this and you all just think I am totally off my rocker. Did the Anthology project bring any excitement to your Beatle fan life?


4 comments:

  1. I was always into the Beatles, but I had a pretty limited knowledge of them. I didn't even catch the Anthology right away - but after college, I found in at Blockbuster and worked my way through it. So much was new to me, and it got me into the Beatles all over again! And as a result I learned how to play guitar! 11 years later, I still play and I've been in a band (that does cover the Beatles) for much of that time. All thanks to the Anthology!

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  2. Sara,
    Just this morning there was a piece on the news about bed bugs and the news caster said the "bugs are coming". I suddenly had a flashback to a time when I was 5 years old and on WABC radio the disk jockey said "the Beatles were coming!" At first I though that bugs were coming. At 5 years old and having older brothers and sisters and a babysitter that was 13 was enough to teach me that the BEATLES were a BIG deal. As in this case it was a really BIG show on.... Ed Sullivan. I have loved the Beatles ever since that first show all those years ago. So to answer your question. Yea! The Anthology was a huge deal for me at 36 years old. The Beatles will always be the real deal for me!
    jOjO

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  3. I really enjoyed waiting in line outside of the local "Best Buy" before midnight to buy the Anthology cd's...what a great bunch of Beatlefans we all were, somebody had brought a guitar (of course), and we sang Beatles songs until midnight (the actual day of release) when the doors opened. Sweet fun...way cool memory.

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  4. Anonymous: That is a very awesome memory! I have a similar memory when Live at the BBC was released. I stood outside a local record shop in the town where I went to college during a freezing rain store to get BBC when it was released at midnight! Great fun!

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