dispatches from the new world of work

It Was 40 Years Ago Today

Yes, today marks the 40th anniversary of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"—which forever altered the landscape of popular music. On June 1, 1967, the Beatles released what most music critics still hail as the greatest rock & roll album of all time. Why the greatest? Short answer: It was the most innovative. But how so? It wasn't the Beatles' most original collection of songs. In fact, I'd argue that their previous album, "Revolver," contained compositions that were more creatively crafted. But, of course, there's more than one way to be innovative, and the Beatles always found several. The group presented the songs on Sgt. Pepper as a unified package, the repertoire of a fictional band they created. The album had an overarching theme and distinct identity, musically and lyrically—with smooth segues between songs that reminded us that the whole was more important than the sum of its parts—a first in pop music. Some would say it created a new business model: the preeminence of the 33 1/3 RPM album. (Sales of albums would eventually replace sales of singles as the barometer of pop music success—a better indicator of depth of audience appeal. This, in turn, led to the success of FM radio, which by favoring album tracks catered to a less fickle and more sophisticated pop music audience.) Sonically, Sgt. Pepper cut new ground as well, with an unprecedented degree of multilayered vocal and instrumental tracking—as well as circus-like sound effects and crowd noises that fully exploited the new stereophonic technology. And Sgt. Pepper revolutionized album design and packaging with its first-of-a-kind, laminated 3-D album cover, gateway sleeve, and printed lyrics on the back cover.

Yet, this explosion of creativity was applied to a set of songs which (except for "A Day in the Life") John Lennon felt was unremarkable product at the time! Is there an innovation lesson for us here, 40 years later?

John O'Leary posted this on 06/01/07.

Comments

Four days after completing their work on Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles were back in the studio recording the title track of their next album. No excess time was spent basking in the glory of their most recent accomplishment; they simply kept moving forward.

Conclusion: stay busy with new stuff. Make sure you have your next goal or intention lined up BEFORE you complete or accomplish the one youâ€™re working on.
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Posted by Jeff Pasquale at June 1, 2007 8:24 AM

1. The lesson is that Lennon had a tiny IQ for many things - business, mental, spiritual, physical, emotional - though his lyrics were outstanding @ times.

Posted by sean_$4.2 at June 1, 2007 8:29 AM

John â€“ In 1967 I suspect the last thing on John Lennonâ€™s mind was anything to do with things like business models. I think he probably only wanted to write and, and sing. Lennon (â€˜Life is what happens while we are busy making other plansâ€™) was far and away the most influential of the fab four and in my view easily the most talented. Wow - Was it really 40 years ago was my first reaction. I remember it so well â€¦â€¦ And here I am still only 21

Posted by Trevor Gay at June 1, 2007 9:19 AM

OK pal, are we going to start the Pet Sounds vs Sgt Pepper debate? :) Lennon was amazing, well before his time. I think one of the messages is just create! without the worry of what the critics say. I think the white album was a bit more innovative, but Sgt Pepper did redfine popular music...Nice post J.

Posted by Mike Neiss at June 1, 2007 9:20 AM

I think the album nicely illustrates the crucial difference between "the best" and "the most important." I don't think that many people regard Sgt. Pepper as the best Beatles album ever, never mind the best ever pop / rock album. But most people would recognise it as one of and quite possibly the most important albums of all time. Of course, it's a terrifically good LP but it also had a great deal of fortune to be seen to capture the zeitgeist. The music, the cover, the band's image, the way they represent the turning point between post-war austerity and conformity and late 20th century society as we've come to know it. Crickey - we're talking about branding here, aren't we!

It's kind of ironic and notable that they did it in a time of such change and such differences between the generations by producing an album that largely united the generations in approval. It's one of those rare albums that seem to have something for everyone and the songs that aren't for you, well ,they're still really good.

The Eagles' "Hotel California," U2's "Joshua Tree," Nirvana's "Nevermind" - they did a similar thing but I think The Beatles stand above them because these other albums initially alienate the previous generations whereas The Beatles had a more inclusive and timeless quality about them.

Posted by Mark JF at June 1, 2007 10:14 AM

1. Today's [Beatle] must be UK radical socialism tax [40%] avoid savvy:

2. "[Rolling Stones] ... musicians have paid just $7.2 million in taxes on earnings of $450 million that they have channeled through Amsterdam â€” a tax rate of about 1.5 percent, compared with the British rate of 40 percent.

The Rolling Stones are not the only celebrities sheltering income in the Netherlands. The rock powerhouse U2 has transferred lucrative assets to Amsterdam ..."

3. So much for "Bono" as Mr. Authentic?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/04/business/taxhaven.php

Posted by sean_amsterdam at June 1, 2007 11:37 AM

You can't always get what you want...
...

Posted by Billy Shears at June 1, 2007 12:38 PM

From your short description I'd say the lesson is that design and packaging is more important than real content if you're going for mass market, but knowing your focus I doubt that's the lesson I'm supposed to get. :)

Of course the Beatles are to you as Joy Division or The Clash is to me.

Posted by Billy Oblivion at June 1, 2007 4:38 PM

Lothe as I am to encourage (like it's needed) boomer narcissism, I must heartily agree with Mr. O'Leary. I was six when that album came out. I remember listening to it and thinking WOW!
My parents (black, over-educated and southern) bought the album and made sure my sister and I heard it. They marveled at the use of sound and storytelling. And we seriously got on their nerves singing "Yellow Submarine."

Posted by nextgenradio at June 1, 2007 5:19 PM

Mark, that's a great distinction: the best vs. the most important. Come to think of it, the Beatles' success was 3 dimensional: they were (are) the biggest, the best, and the most important pop music act. And, as I have argued before, the source of that success was their commitment to be consistentlyâ€”and sometimes disruptivelyâ€”innovative. We shouldn't forget (especially those of us old enough to remember) that at various times in their career they were considered more dangerous and subversive than any gangsta rap artist today.

Nextgenradio: re "boomer narcissism" I'm surprised you didn't consider the term redundant.

Posted by John O'Leary at June 1, 2007 5:36 PM

Touche Mr. O'Leary, touche...

Posted by nextgenradio at June 1, 2007 8:59 PM

Wow...I got a very different message.

40 years from now, will people be talking about what I'm doing today.

Posted by Rick Barrick at June 2, 2007 2:00 PM

Arrgh! The BBC have already gone barmy over the 40th anniversary of this album, yet I've just heard tracks from it after the same DJ played some classic material from The Rolling Stones. It was like chalk and cheese, with the Stones songs still sounding fresh and accessible, unlike the Beatles material...

Having seen many 'influential' artists over the years - Bowie, Robert Plant, Nirvana (in a dance hall - the (in)famous Newcastle Mayfair), the Stones, The Smiths, Elvis Costello and many more, it's not always the ones that you think of that have tracks on my iPod. There's no Beatles, no Lennon, a smattering of Wings and very little from the last five years or so apart from Moby, Hard Fi, Outkast, and a Beatles-influenced band by the name of Oasis...

No one album totally cuts it for me, but Dark Side Of The Moon comes pretty close, as does What's The Story, Morning Glory? (I was an allegedly mature student who also wrote an entertainment column for the university newspaper when that was released back in 1995...).

As for other musical highlights from over the years, several songs remain the same, but there's an occasional new one turns up from time to time. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case so far in 2007!

Cheers

Posted by Keith Rickaby at June 2, 2007 2:12 PM

Billy O: I'm not talking about dressing up a pig here. Sgt P is a reminder that innovation can be applied at later stages of a process in a way that can transform the original product. (Several of the songsâ€”craft-wiseâ€”strike me as not up to Beatle standards, yet the inventive arrangements, creative sound effects, etc. make the songs pretty interesting and entertainingâ€”and in the end a contribution to the Pepper theme.)

Posted by John O'Leary at June 2, 2007 4:45 PM