h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

* With the 60s dead and buried, is it time to admit that they were just a bunch of guys with guitars?
- No, they were definitely more than that. They were influenced by many of those who came before, and had an impact on many that came after.

* Just a bunch of long-haired reprobates who contributed to the declining moral standards of the West?
- That too, perhaps, but not 'just'.

Or the best band ever, bar none?
- It depends on how you define 'best'.
~ Where they the most competent musicians?
~ Where they the best songwriters?
~ Where they the best vocalists?
~ Where they the most popular? Where they the most financially successful?
~ Did they have the most #1 or Top 10 singles, and/or albums?
~ Did they have the greatest impact on music?
~ Does their music endure more than others?
- Certainly they rate mention in these categories, but how would you weight their scores?

* Were you either too young, or too old, to care?
- I was about the right age, but I didn't really care. My sister used to play Beatles, Herman's Hermits, and other pop music that I tended to lump together under 'music my sister plays to drive dad insane'.

* Did you ever meet or even play with a Beatle?
- Close, but no.

* Do you subscribe to the 'favourite Beatle' theory. Or was their genius a combination of all four parts?
- So, now we're assuming that there is agreement on their genius? They did get quite good, and I've owned much of the Lennon/McCartney sheet music but only two albums and no singles. There earliest stuff was really pretty crappy, even if I may find a nostalgic fondness for it when it comes on the radio.

* Is there a Beatles song that you couldn't contemplate living without?
- As beautiful as some of it was, no. I think my problem is that they often got so metaphorical that the real meaning of the song was lost, and I'm into the meaning. Paint me a pretty musical picture, but tell me what it is for Bob's sake.

* How would they have sounded without Sir George Martin producing them?
- If he was in charge during the first couple of years, and the Beatles took the whole thing over later, Better. If he was there only after the first couple, Worse.

* Did you see them play live?
- Been to a venue where one was scheduled to perform, but didn't go in. I was there on other business.

* Is there a band which is cruelly underappreciated because the Beatles stole their limelight?
- Well, they don't hold a candle to 'The Ruttles'!