Why does Macca make the news?

[Roobubba]

[rant]

I mean FFS, if any one of them had to be shot (and only one, unfortunately), I don't know anyone who wouldn't wish it was McCartney. Now all we see is this tosser parading around with that god awful looking guitar, and even more god awful "songs".

I, for one, do NOT live in a submarine, yellow or any other f***ing colour.

[/rant]

God I needed that.

Roo

[gwEm]

i think that the band he was in back in the 1960s may have been slightly influential and changed peoples lives for the better?

ozzy osbourne admits the beatles were a great inspiration to him in the early days of his career... so without beatles - no sabbath or metal probably.

on the other hand, i must strongly agree that macca the media personality is very over exposed. wouldn't care if i never heard of him again.

[Twinfan]

The guy is a legend, that's why he gets where he does.

* Half of the most successful song writing partnership of all time
* Hugely influential to anyone in the music industry
* Talented multi-instrument musician
* Pushed the boundaries of studio techniques ('bouncing' tracks on 4-track recorders etc)
* Done loads of work for charidee, mate

The Beatles were the first "band".  Before them it was all about the singer - Elvis, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard etc.  The Beatles had equal standing and were all individually loved by the fans.  Without them, we guitarists would probably still be the guys at the back in the shadows (if you pardon the pun ;)).

And for the record, I hate the term "Macca".

He's Sir Paul McCartney.

[Will]

Well the news is rather shite in general, I used to read the paper cover to cover about 5 years ago, now I get bored after one article.
Why is it Macca anway? isn't that some religeous thing, where people go on a mission or something to find faith?

[Roobubba]

I dispute that they were the first "band". While I can't be bothered to go trawling through records of the old stuff to support my claim, I'm certainly willing to put my neck on the line and say that there were other recognisable bands (rather than, as you say, front man + supporters) before "them".

As for the Charity work, that's a small drop in the ocean of debt that man has to pay back to society for the other crimes against us that he's committed (but it is a very welcome one, nonetheless!!).

Of course, that's my personal opinion, just as yours is above, Twinfan :)

I just really needed a rant about this loser - all we seem to see on the news these days is this guy's ugly mug making love to the cameras.

Don't know about anyone else, but when I hear their music, I get really hot under the collar, ready to hit/kick/mame/brutalise/murder anything I see. Can't explain it, other than to just accept it and avoid hearing their stuff at all costs. There are plenty of bands which I don't like, but can appreciate what they do and respect them as human beings. Sadly for me, and for those around me, the "fab four" are not amongst them.

With that said, Thomas the Tank Engine was cool when I was a kid!

Hey, that was a "feedback sandwich"! Sweet!

:)

Roo

[gwEm]

their music was of a different time and context, its clear they couldn't be as agressive as todays bands back in the 60s - even the most hardcore of hardcore would have called it noise.

i'm not too sure about the music of the beatles myself, but seen in the proper context, they are indeed one of the most important bands ever. however - the shadows are great :)

[Jonny]

You may not like it but the media love him. So they do what they love. Even if he likes it or not. Probably does, but you can only assume.

And anyways, he is Sir Paul McCartney.

And to state the obvious, he's on the news because:

"[he] has celebrated his home city's year as European Capital of Culture"

[Antag]

"[he] has celebrated his home city's year as European Capital of Culture"

[joking]Since when does stinking of urine & having mile long dole queues qualify a place as cultured?[/joking] ;)

[Ratrod]

I too doubt that the beatles were the first band. Back in the fifties there also was the Rock 'n Roll Trio for example.

McCartney deserves all the credit he gets for all the reasons stated above. That doesn't mean I like the guy. I dunno.......he seems to slick for me. More business man than musician.

[Twinfan]

I too doubt that the beatles were the first band. Back in the fifties there also was the Rock 'n Roll Trio for example.

Not exactly famous though were they?  I think The Beatles were the first truly successful band?  Can't think of one before them off hand...

[Crazy_Joe]

Not a huge fan of The Beatles and their music, but you gotta respect what him and the other members have done. He is mentioned so much nowadays more for his split with Heather Mills though than for his music.

[FELINEGUITARS]

The Beatles were so important to music as we know it.
In many ways - without Beatlemania and the effect it had on the USA in terms of music the whole music industry would have been a very different beast over the last 40 years.

They paved the way for bands that wrote their own stuff rather than bands that relied on songwriters in Tin Pan Alley and from the Brill Building.

Also - look back to who your favourite bands were influenced by
If they were not influenced by the Beatles , then the bands that DID influence them were influenced by them.

Example:
If you love a band who were influenced by Metallica
Metallica were influenced by Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were influenced by The Beatles
So indirectly Paul Mccartney will have had an effect.

[il˙ti]

First off: I love the Beatles. I don't have a single bad thing to say about Revolver and onwards. But I have mixed feelings about the Argument of Influences. Sometimes it's misused like "if you like band X you have to like band Y because band Y influenced band X". And people get offended if you say band Y isn't as good as band X when really it's just music, and music is perceived differently by different people. Dream Theater is my favourite band and many of the bands they were influenced by, I can't stand listening to for more than a few songs (Yes, Rush, Pink Floyd, King Crimson), but it doesn't mean I deny the influence it had on them. I have a mate who's even more opinionated than me who said "I don't care who did it first, I care who did it BEST" and that's very true to some degree. I don't care to hear Clapton bending strings back in the 60s just cause some slightly better guitar players heard him bend strings and started bending strings themselves. I'd much rather hear Marty Friedman bend those strings.  

[MrBump]

Nope, sorry - don't understand Beatles/Macca bashing.

He's had a pretty rough time over the last decade - media-wise he was always pretty low profile before the death of Linda.  I think that the recent divorce must have spurred his marketing people to get him out there and keep him in a good light - his popularity could have gone the other way, given what a fickle bunch us unclean masses are...

Mark.

[Roobubba]

I'm not fickle, I've always had a very deep and intense disliking of him and them :)