Back to where they once belonged

I feel bad that my column comes out on Thursday.

I missed -- by one day -- a golden opportunity on pile on the media overload of the latest wave of Beatlemania.

Yesterday, MTV Games released "The Beatles: Rock Band" for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii. Rock Band is among the crop of video games that allows you to participate in making music. For $250, you can purchase the game, guitars, drums and microphones. If you have the gadgets, it's only $50.

The object of the game is to match the on-screen notes. If you see a green guitar note, you have to hold down the green fret and hit the strum bar. Drummers need to pound colored drumheads, while singers need to match pitch and phrasing.

I've played Rock Band's cousin, Guitar Hero, and it is much harder than it looks. Of course, getting over the "I look like a dork strumming a small plastic guitar that makes no noise" phase is the first HUGE step in proceeding with gameplay.

It can be fun, once you get over the initial leap of logic.

As one who was a toddler when the Beatles "invaded" America, they have always held a fascination for me, one that time does not cease to diminish. MTV's sister network, VH1, has been running the 2005 documentary Beatles Anthology the past three Wednesdays as part of a thinly-veiled marketing campaign for the game.

It has been interesting watching. I missed it when it first aired on ABC. The producers of the documentary taped multiple single and one group interview of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Comments from John Lennon, who was murdered in 1980, come from recordings or talk show interviews.

I found it interesting that George Harrison, a regular user of LSD in the late 1960s, stopped using the drug after visiting San Francisco during 1969's "Summer of Love." Harrison thought he would find enlightenment, instead he found a bunch of high school drop outs who were drug addicts.

He dumped his bottle down the drain before returning home.

It was also to interesting to hear their concerns for their safety during the years they were touring in the United States. I guess we always think of the glamour side of fame and never linger in the darker areas.

Yesterday, at the same time the video game was released, 14 Beatles albums were re-released. The copies are remastered copies of the studio albums that have been in the works for months. These will probably be more exciting to folks my age than a video game.

A couple of years ago, when Cirque du Soleil created a Beatles show in Las Vegas, many songs were remastered and remixed for an album entitled "Love." It was interesting to hear bits and pieces of songs put together. Let's face it, the boomers aren't into "remixes" as much as our children, but "Love" was fun.

Some critics are deriding the Beatles as irrelevant, claiming that, much like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the lads from Liverpool are out of style.

But I beg to differ. Like the aforementioned lonely hearts club band, the Beatles come in style, and thank goodness they do. Even the drug induced later albums contain classics that you could sing with your toddler. I'll avoid "Helter Skelter" and pretty much anything from the White album with my grandchild, but that's just me.

It is nice to be able to reach common musical ground with your children. It's even better when it is a song or band that was relevant when you were young. Take your victories where you can. For me, the Beatles have given me that bond with my children.

Does this mean I will be strumming to "I Saw Her Standing There" with my children? Only if they ask, and don't mind some wrong notes.

Virtual or actual, it's good to be hearing the Beatles. Even if it means giving more of my money to Yoko Ono.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.