September 9, 2009 I rushed out at lunch time and picked up Beatles Rock Band for our Wii. Now the kids were always remotely interested in the Beatles but as you know, we are Springsteen fans (even when I complain about him) so The Beatles were not in rotation. Lately because of Rock Band I find myself giving my kids copies of the Who Singles, dusting off my Boston CDs, and numerous other classic rock bands. None of that compares to the impact of Beatles Rock Band.
The kids have literally had me repurchase long sold Beatles CDs. You see back in College my freshmen year girlfriend was a big Beatles fan so I had almost every CD. When we broke up I got rid of every one except Abbey Road by selling them to my old favorite record store, Cheap Thrills in New Brunswick (remember record stores?). I didn't really have a Beatles itch for like 20 years even though while growing up they were everywhere - I guess I got burned out (literally) on them during College. Then during New Year's eve (12/31/08) we spent the night listening to the fake Beatles Band in Epcot and the itch started to come back, but still it was under control. That was until Jake and Kaela.
The kids practically melted Abbey Road, so then I ordered my favorites back from Amazon - Sgt Pepper's, Rubber Soul, Help, Magical Mystery Tour, White, and Revolver. I ripped my favorites to my iPhone and started listening again but the Beatles were not in heavy rotation. That is until this week - 9/9/09 to be exact.
Beatles Rock Band is brilliant. Instead of you starting your band, you play the Beatles through the years in different venues with hidden easter eggs along the way. Plus instead of just unlocking songs you also unlock pictures with detailed explanations and embedded videos (like The Beatles Christmas Messages) These simple changes do a few things all driven by curious little kids...
- Where did the Beatles start?
- Who's the guy with the glasses?
- Why did the Beatles stop touring?
- Why did the Beatles break up...
Etc. 24/7 Beatles. It is so bad, that I bought Yellow Submarine remastered and the Beatles Past Masters on Saturday. Kaela has Sgt Pepper's in her room and Jake still has Abbey Road in his room. I went to today's Giants game and we listened to Past Masters Volumes 1 and 2 as well as Rubber Soul (round trip = 90 minutes). Jacob and I got home and we played about 6 songs on Rock Band (BTW - I do a killer I am The Walrus) until about 10:30 PM. Mary asked me to find out when McCartney is touring again so I signed up for his newsletter. Plus more...
24/7 Beatles introduced to kids by parents that stopped listening to them 20 years ago? Not only did they get the $55 from the game, but probably $100+ in CDs and a potential 4-pack in tickets and Beatles gifts. If you are say a classic rock band like Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band with an aging fan base, you can instantly reignite your catalog by hooking up with Rock Band - between it and iTunes you can get younger....Amazing....Led Zep next?
PardonMyFrench,
Eric
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