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One of my favorite shows is Little House on the Prairie which is based around 1885. I don't recall anyone on the show with a crew cut. They wore hats, but many couldn't afford suits. I would guess that most people prior to the advent of barber shops and electricity, especially the poor, had longer hair than the idealized post-war look. Jesus had long hair. The pilgrims had long hair.
In the 60s, I think that you had racial uproar because people were tired of being treated as less than human and wanted equality. I don't think the Beatles were the reason why black people wanted equal civil liberties and took a stand.
I don't think the Beatles had anything to do with women entering the workforce which was great for women's rights, but did little for the children that were left home alone. Divorce became an accepted practice post 60s, and women had to go to work to support their children, again they were left at home without love and supervision. I can see why poverty, single parent households, employment discrimination towards minorities, lack of fathers, etc. all have a hand in today's societal ills.
I think that the nation has shifted away from a Christian-based country and morals have disappeared as a result. When I was younger, stores were not open on Sundays. More people spent the day with their families. Today, half of society works on the Lord's day.
I don't think the Beatles' long hair and desire to "hold anyone's hand" or "Love them Do" is responsible for today's problems.
I would be concerned about poor people and minorities finding work and being able to make it without having to resort to crime, the vast influx of people from non-Judeo/Christian backgrounds, gangs, terrorists, etc., not some hippy kids or muscians with long hair.
The biggest influences in my opinion, post 60s, negatively impacting people's morals have been television and movies along with the destruction of the family and accountablity to God.
My father always tells me that he can link the downfall of America to the start of Beatlemania. Before they hit the scene in 1964 most kids had short hair, men wore a hat and suit, women wore dresses, and kids obeyed their parents. People had more respect for themselves and crime was low.
If you look at pictures of people, it seemed like most folks started to get sloppy after 1964. If you look at pictures of the Beatles themselves, you will notice their hair got longer each year and they looked rougher with each passing album cover.
Another thing that happened in 1964, the year the Beatles hit America, was more crime and a break down of the family and more racial troubles. The crime rate has gone up every year since the year 1964.. until just recently.
Once the Beatles came to America, our Country has never really recovered. It just gets worse and more sloppy each year.
The Beatles and Rock and Roll really did destroy America, agree?
Actually the Beatles destroyed the Beaver Cleaver America.
I thought Elvis did that. Amazing. This thread is HOW OLD? It has interesting comments though and no, the Beatles didn't do it. It was just the younger generation rebelling against the straight laced regime of their elders, what has already been said.
I thought Elvis did that. Amazing. This thread is HOW OLD? It has interesting comments though and no, the Beatles didn't do it. It was just the younger generation rebelling against the straight laced regime of their elders, what has already been said.
This thread might be old but, fifty years ago from now, JFK was alive. The Beatles were just beginning in Britain. This year on November 22, "With The Beatles," will have been released 50 years ago.
LBJ did not connect with the American youth. He sent a lot of them to die in Vietnam. Some fled to Canada. John Lennon supported that.
I don't think that the Beatles had much to do with it. I think the transformation of the Beatles from their early "square" days to their appearance on the White Album cover is more of a response to the changing of the times than the other way around.
And his father before him probably said he linked the downfall of America to the popularity of jazz. Every generation rebels against its parents, and every parent thinks the world is going to hell in a handbasket.
But after the Jazz era, people still wore hat, men frequently wore suits, hair was still short and kids still obeyed their parent.
The biggest influences in my opinion, post 60s, negatively impacting people's morals have been television and movies along with the destruction of the family and accountablity to God.
The Beatles influenced me to turn away from God.
"The Beatles are more popular than Christ." Churches banned Beatle records because of that. I thought church bans were the law.
I was SO obsessed with the songs, "Paperback Writer" and "Rain," which were released before John Lennon's quote became known. But I had not gotten around to buying yet. PLUS I was also obsessed with the songs that were on the, "Yesterday and Today," album. I decided to ignore the ban because I read in the papers that other people were also ignoring the ban. I bought them. I violated that ban. Nothing happened. This taught me that the Bible is nothing. I remembered this when the Harry Potter books got banned, decades later, but this time I violate the bans for fun.
When I violated the Beatle ban in 1966, there was some fear and apprehension, because I had not done this before. I took the Bible seriously. I thought God was real. After I bought the Beatle records, and nothing happened, I thought God was made up. Star Trek debuted in 1966 too. Carl Sagan etc...
When I violated the Harry Potter ban in 2001, there was no fear, PLUS I was into, "Dungeons and Dragons," and the "Diablo" computer games.
This thread might be old but, fifty years ago from now, JFK was alive. The Beatles were just beginning in Britain. This year on November 22, "With The Beatles," will have been released 50 years ago.
LBJ did not connect with the American youth. He sent a lot of them to die in Vietnam. Some fled to Canada. John Lennon supported that.
True. The original topic is whether the Beatles started the era of sloppiness and no, they did not. It was just the way things go, the rebellion of the younger generation against the straight laced parents.
Elvis started the fad for sideburns, the Beatles started the fad for longer hair, but it was all in reaction to the overly neat and squeaky clean cut look of the parents' generation. They didn't really cause it--if they hadn't done it, someone else would have.
I don't think that the Beatles had much to do with it. I think the transformation of the Beatles from their early "square" days to their appearance on the White Album cover is more of a response to the changing of the times than the other way around.
I was there in 1964. I first saw the Beatles, in my life, during an Ed Sullivan promo, while watching Captain Kangaroo on the Saturday morning before their debut on their on Ed's show. At first I dislike the Beatles because they looked like girls. And then I noticed *this girl-like look on boys* was starting to be accepted. So I started to accept it too.
At first, longhair on boys was shocking. It felt shameful. but shame only happens if there are only a few or solo. When masses of people do shameful things, its the older crowd that start being the outcasts.
Sloppiness is in the eye of the beholder.
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