Some But Not All Remember When There Were Four (1976)

 Some But Not All Remember When There Were Four

By Gordon Burn

Sunday Times of London (Reprinted in the Cleveland Press)

May 7, 1976

    10 years is a short time in adulthood. 1966 was only yesterday, wasn't it?  But to a 10-year-old, 1966 is prehistory, as Gordon Burn found out when he asked some London school children about the biggest popular phenomenon of the 60s, The Beatles. Parents might like to ask their own kids the same questions and get equally surprising results. 

Robert Pink, age 10:  When the Beatles were famous, it was before the war, at least. They had bodyguards around them all the time, and all the gutters were filled with dirt because people would never empty their dust bins. People chucked rubbish out the windows, and the ladies all wore old-fashioned dresses, and they trailed in it. 

    The Beatles came from Newcastle, and they made a lot of films. My dad used to watch them all the time. He wouldn't miss any of them ever. My dad wanted a set of drums like one of the Beatles. He bought some, but he had to give them back again. Mum said, "You won't be getting up all night playing the drums, will you?"  And he said, "Probably."

 Andrew Bailey, age 10:  There were five. I think there was Paul McCartney. He was the guitarist, wasn't he? I don't know who else. Oh, hang on, Ringo. Ringo Starr, all their old films are on the telly. I remember now. Three of them have died. I betcha, it was in a plane crash, something like that. That's what my brother told me. And my brother's much older than me. He's 12.

    1966, let's see. The war was 30 years ago. So if it was 10 years ago, it was 56, wasn't it? The dresses were a bit old-fashioned, and the men all wore what they called drainpipes, dead tight and short. That's what the Beatles were like. They weren't the first ones to start off long hair. Hair's always been long. I had long hair when I was born. 

The Beatles, I think, came from Yorkshire. And they used to play in New York and on airplanes, and all the people then were crazy. There were some other groups that came from Yorkshire as well. I think Bill Haley and all that lot. Hey, Are you a policeman?

 Douglas Smith, age 9:  They came from London, but I can't remember what the music was like. You got lots of girls screaming for them, didn't you, and they were fainting. Wherever they went, there was always crowds, always shouting. They had funny suits, and the boots they wore were funny too. They had big heels to make them look tall. For the girls, I suppose.

     My dad's got a couple of their records, but my mom plays them, not my dad, because he's at work nearly all the time, or he's going to football. When my mom goes to parties, she takes her records with her. I think the Beatles are still popular at things like that. 

    I suppose they got married and they're normal men now. They must be about 89; they must be walking around with walking sticks. No, if it was 10 years ago, maybe they're 50-something. I bet they buy lots of records of the Beatles to remember. I bet they miss it all. They think they're still pop stars, but they're not. I can't remember their names. 

Andrew Jones age 9:  Ten years ago, I was just a baby. Wait a minute. No, I weren't even born. Then the Beatles were a pop group like Sweet and Mud. In those days, they were literally the only pop group going. They used to play at beaches and at the top of airports, and everyone used to scream.

     We got a cupboard full of records at home, but only three of them are by The Beatles, and they're not even mine. Those ones, they're my dads. They're all LPs, but I don't know the names. He never tells me. He only listens to them when I'm out. The News Seekers have split up. I know that. I'm not sure about the Beatles 

    Allison Martin, age 9:   When you see them on television, they're usually wearing horrible black suits like doctors, but they were the first ones to have long hair. I suppose people like the music or them. Ringo Starr was the best looking. He used to go bonkers. He used to throw his sticks into the air, catch them again, and start drumming. Paul whatchamacallum, he's in Wings, and John Lemon, isn't it? He might have been great, but I don't think he was very handsome. That last one, what was he called? George Harris?  I didn't like him.

     Kim, my sister, the one who started that fire in the school toilet. She's a fan of theirs. Least, she used to be. She used to have a Beatles record, and she played it so loud you could hear it a mile away. I can remember it. I was in the house screaming my head off. It was so loud, and the neighbors used to complain. 

    But now the Beatles have split up. I think they broke up because one of them, John, I think it was found some girl. He wanted to bring her into the pop group, and they didn't like each other anymore.

 Susan Batterby, age 8:  The Beatles? They're in history, aren't they? Everybody had hair then, like Bobby Charlton's; The Beatles were the first ones to grow it long. I think they're in a group still, aren't they? I bet they listen altogether to their old records to see if they were gods or what. They listen, they think "that's me."  I think they must feel sad now they're not famous no more, and all the people aren't fighting to get to touch them and screaming, but with all that singing, they must be quite rich.