The Beatles, their fans, and music lists

http://magazine.jamsbio.com/2009/01/05/playing-the-beatles-backwards-the-ultimate-countdown/20/

I seriously can't think of any musical entity which has had as much words written on it as The Beatles. Its so obvious that I don't even know why I'm writing this. Maybe 'cause I'm such a nut for their music. Then again, unless you're trying to sell a book or do something suitably self-promoting on the back of your obsession, being crazy about the music is an honest enough reason to write. The link above will take you to a stupendous land of music nerd-dome. Some guy called JBev has gone and ranked some 185 published Beatles songs in terms of his preference. It is the countdown to end all countdowns.

Essentially every music fan has a love-hate relationship with music lists. The most irritating of which are probably Rolling Stone's. Ever since that magazine stopped being relevant sometime around the emergence of Punk in the late Seventies, much of its USP has shifted to making lists, lists, and more lists. And they NEVER take any risks with those lists. The top five is almost always the same- The Beatles, The Stones, Dylan, Springsteen; sometimes The Ramones, Radiohead or The Sex Pistols to show they're cool and more often Coldplay and U2 just so that the magazine doesn't scare away musical conservatives. Other magazines like Mojo, Q or Uncut don't do much better.

Websites like Pitchfork do lists too, and though they are commited to their demographic- Indie- as rabidly as Rolling Stone is to Baby Boomer icons, at least their lists are more fun. Check out their insanely addictive 200 Greatest Songs of the Sixties.

All this makes JBev's Beatles countdown all the more fun- because its a fan doing what a fan does well- being fanatic. Of course, the point of the list isn't about agreeing with the rankings (any of those 185 songs could be your favourite one on any given day) but joining another music fan in celebrating that elusive joy of really loving somebody's music. And JBev is an affectionate chronicler who's life has been informed by the Fabs. So in between lengthy discourses about the merit of each song, he inserts heartfelt details about how his father gifted him his first Beatles album when he was nine- this was Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Like a true fan he listened to the eight-track tape until he nearly wore it out, blissing out with his earphones while A Day in the Life floated around in his head. His father passed away the year after. Though the two incidents are not necessarily related, it did have a huge impact on him.

Again, he talks of his girlfriend who doesn't like The Beatles and never did. J Bev talks of the lengths he went to to get her to like the Fabs, and how he made his peace with the fact that she never will. At least they dance to In My Life. That is what a fan's life is, and of all the lists I've ever read, this one actually means something.