The Beatles' Formula for Success

5 Humble Observations

Paul McCartney said he's sure he would never be able to repeat the Beatles' success. 

The makings of a hit is a mysterious formula. You need the perfect song with the perfect arrangement performed by just the right combination of  performer(s), and it must perfectly suit the spirit of the age. 

That said, here are some identifiable elements of the Beatles' success:

1. Stand out as unique, set trends in keeping with the times.   
At first, their long hair was ridiculed as being like women's hair-dos. That was in 1964. But the mood of the country was about to change. Soon everyone including Pres. Carter and x-President LBJ would scrap the weekly trip to the barber's chair, too. 
	But it's important to not make too many changes at once. The  hair-dos were the Beatles' only fashion innovation at first--they started out with conservative black suits and ties--but soon their clothing was equally creative as well. 
	
2. Capitalize on existing trends. In the early 1960s, Latin music was all the rage: Latin jazz, bossa nova, samba and romantic boleros.   
Ethnic music for the mainstream has proven to be a winning formula:  "Bells on a Hill," "And I Love Her" (with Spanish guitar and wooden claves) and "Besame Mucho," one of the most recorded songs in history written by a 16-year-old conservatory student in Mexico.

3. Simple tunes anyone can hum with beautiful chord progressions. Creative bass lines with interesting tambourine and percussion overlays in the background, accented with the occasional startling innovation get listeners to pay attention.

4. Startling innovations. "A Day In the Life" strings together two songs, one by McCartney and one by Lennon, and packs a punch with its  ending featuring a 40-piece symphony orchestra (of members of the BBC Orchestra and the London Philharmonic). Musicians were instructed to just play anything in ascending tones, while piano and drums maintain the beat and cellos and violas repeat a riff. (It was recorded on four tracks to make it sound like a 160-piece orchestra.) The effect is ... the sound of chaos? all the world is being sucked into a giant vacuum cleaner in the sky, like a Monte Python animation? The unmusical ending culminates in a final high note hammered in unison that resolves into a lone piano chord. 
	Not sure what the message is, but musically it's perfect.
	Another unforgettable musical innovation is found in "We Can Work It Out." The end of the chorus suddenly shifts gears from 6/8 time into the slow waltz 3/4 time of merry-go-round at an amusement park. A subtle reminder that life is but a dream, so how do you want to play it?
	In a word, these innovations are genius.
	
5. A clear, simple sincere message with wide appeal. Beatles songs delivered exactly what young people of their generation wanted to listen to while being easy on the ears of wider audiences: "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," "Yesterday," "Help" and many others.

Beatle trivia:

• The Beatles were originally called The Quarrymen after John Lennon’s school.

• Did you know George Harrison was still a minor when he joined the band?

• “Yesterday” was originally titled Scrambled Eggs in development.

• Paul McCartney came up with the melody for “Yesterday” in a dream.

• The first music video “A Hard Day’s Night” featured innovative filming techniques.