Beatles Rock Band was a pretty big success in 2009, and the Rock Band games are typically played by kids.

It's been 40 years since "Let It Be" came out.

I was a highschool freshman in 89, approximately 40 years after Bing Crosby put out his first Christmas albulm.

I wouldn't have called any of my highschool classmates douches because they didn't have more than a passing familiarity with Crosby.

when I was a Senior in High School (96-97) there was a group of kids who sang Simon and Garfunkel songs at school functions and the like

People my age also understood jokes about 60s pop culture. Dave loves to promote the idea that no one understands anything dated.

There is a crop of high school (or so) aged kids that "discover" The Beatles, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Doors, etc. every single year. A friend of mine's 6 yr old is a huge Beatles fan. They're pretty much timeless.

More Wish Kid.

My point is that Bo Jackson was supposed to be an iconic athlete (ie. on par with MJ and Wayne) and now he's an afterthought.

Well yeah but Gretzky and Jordan are the default "greatest of all time" answers in their sports. Bo Jackson isn't that guy in either football or baseball, as fine an athlete as he was.

 

He was a mega-star of his time sure, but is he on that level? Not really. It seems reasonable he wouldn't be as known among current younger fans as the other two.

I think part of it is due to the different availabilities of different pop culture heroes. You can go into pretty much any music store in the world and easily pick up all of the Beatles' biggest records. Where would you need to go to find all of Bo Jackson's greatest performances? Aside from Youtube, I don't know where I'd even start looking.

To me I think the other point I'm making there is that, in real sports, at the end of the day things like statistics and winning matter. Gretzky and Jordan are guys that have the weight of that on their side. Bo was good, but not *that* good when you're talking about comparing lasting fame in that kind of a context. To most fans of legitimate sports looking back on past eras, that's going to be the deciding factor about what players/teams they are going to focus on looking at. This doesn't necessarily apply to the same degree to forms of "pure entertainment", although obviously if a band sold more albums in their career, it generally makes them easier to access.

 

In the context of wrestling discussion when comparisons come up, I much prefer the concept of comparing wrestling to "objectively entertaining" things like music or film than I do to legitimate athletics for that reason.

Bo was a truly great RB whose footbal career was over by 1990 but was always overrated as a baseball player. Decent to good power and great speed but terrible plate discipline

Even still, let's say you go into the music/video section of your local Sam Goodys or Best Buy or Barnes & Noble or whatever. You'd easily, easily find a shitload of stuff involving the Beatles and other famous musicians. Would you find more than one or two DVDs devoted to Jordan or Gretzky or Ali or Ruth or any other super-famous sports star? Those just seem like there's not many of them. Hell, it's easier to buy an old Wrestlemania than it is to get your hands on an old Super Bowl.

I don't know if this is some kind of change over the last decade and a half but when I was a HS senior I knew plenty of big Beatles fans. And when I was in 8th grade there were a bunch of Smiths fans.

When I was in high school (1981-84), there was exactly one Beatles t-shirt that ever got worn by one person in that school. Of course the same person also wore Who, U2, Stones, Pretenders, Clash and a variety of other shirts. But a fair number of other folks wore those other shirts. The Beatles in that period were "known"... but that was less than 15 years after they'd split, a year after John got shot... and they were way in the background.

 

Time passes rather fast. Bo was monsterous in the late 80s. To a generation he still has meaning. But it's on 20 years now.

 

John

I wonder if the producers of Pro Stars picked Bo because they were too lazy to add both a football player and a baseball player to the show, so it was easiest to add one player who did both.

I think the show just happened to come out during that 6 month span where Bo was arguably the most popular athlete around. You had the endless Nike ads, all the publicity for the "Bo Breaker", the "running up the wall" Spiderman catch that was replayed to infinity as a highlight, the giant All-Star game homer (off Rick Reuschel.*sigh*). Bo was HUGE right at that moment. Nobody knew at the time he was an average fielder at a weak position, struck out a bunch, with decent speed and big power. At the time he was viewed as a mega star.

I saw Bo play live once. He... did not have a good day. The White Sox got MURDERED twelve to zip. I mean, jesus, this was like watching dozens of Goldberg clones beat up an entire roomful of Mulkeys. All I remember afterwards is that none of the players were in the mood to sign autographs, they all stormed past the children in such pissed-off moods that some of the kids were crying.

 

...I have no idea what the point of that story was, but I'm sure it was pertinent somehow.

The fact that a throwaway joke I made has generated interesting discussion is a hoot. It's why I dig this place.

 

And the Beatles are timeless. My roommate's 15 year old went through a huge Beatles phase last year, and not from any influence from the adults in the house. That evolved into Led Zeppelin pretty quick, as he's playing guitar. He currently is "digging" Pink and Kanye and Nicki Minaj, because he's 15 and wants to score some pussy. He's actually learned Pink songs on guitar so girls in his class can sing along.

Just for shits and giggles, I put the Gretzky/GSP theory to the test. I asked my wife, who doesn't watch any sports, hates wrestling, and thinks MMA "looks gay" if she knew who both of them were. She knew Gretzky not GSP.

For those who dont listen to B&V Bryan went loony in his love for Jake Roberts vs Dirty White Boy May 4th 1994 SMW match.

I don't know if this is some kind of change over the last decade and a half but when I was a HS senior I knew plenty of big Beatles fans. And when I was in 8th grade there were a bunch of Smiths fans.

When I was in high school (1981-84), there was exactly one Beatles t-shirt that ever got worn by one person in that school. Of course the same person also wore Who, U2, Stones, Pretenders, Clash and a variety of other shirts. But a fair number of other folks wore those other shirts. The Beatles in that period were "known"... but that was less than 15 years after they'd split, a year after John got shot... and they were way in the background.

 

Time passes rather fast. Bo was monsterous in the late 80s. To a generation he still has meaning. But it's on 20 years now.

 

John

 

I know a wise man who once said....

 

It's a big world out there beyond the bubble you live in. That we all live in. Projecting beyond the bubble runs quickly into that don't fit so well into what we think we "know".

 

The Beatles were not exactly the brief pop culture dalliance that Bo Jackson was.

For those who dont listen to B&V Bryan went loony in his love for Jake Roberts vs Dirty White Boy May 4th 1994 SMW match.

It is great. If for nothing else Jake's masterful bury job of Tony Anthony.

I don't know if this is some kind of change over the last decade and a half but when I was a HS senior I knew plenty of big Beatles fans. And when I was in 8th grade there were a bunch of Smiths fans.

When I was in high school (1981-84), there was exactly one Beatles t-shirt that ever got worn by one person in that school. Of course the same person also wore Who, U2, Stones, Pretenders, Clash and a variety of other shirts. But a fair number of other folks wore those other shirts. The Beatles in that period were "known"... but that was less than 15 years after they'd split, a year after John got shot... and they were way in the background.

 

Time passes rather fast. Bo was monsterous in the late 80s. To a generation he still has meaning. But it's on 20 years now.

 

John

 

We're now in the age of CD's, the Beatles Anthology and digital downloads. It's easier for a kid to become a Beatles fan now than in the early 80's. The Beatles aged a lot better than Bo Jackson did

 

Plus today's music sucks! [/crankyoldman]

Am I the only one that thought that was Joel Gertner in the picture on the front page of F4w? At first glance I thought it was till I read the caption. Sucks what happened to that guy though.

The Beatles were not exactly the brief pop culture dalliance that Bo Jackson was.

As the Beatles Fan referenced above, I know.

 

And I was pleased to see 1 end up being the best selling album of the decade 30 years after the Beatles split.

 

Still, there are lots of people who don't know who the Beatles are.

 

John

I work at FYE ( a major north american music chain) we sell a ton of beatles stuff year round, it does really well during holidays but we sell ti all the time. We have mugs with the album covers, throw blankets, 3d wall posters and other stuff besides the cds and movies, and it sells to all ages. Then again on the other side of the coin when we hire new associates I always ask them if they can name the members of the Beatles and a good portion of them can't, hell some don't even get one and that makes me really sad.