Paul Weller thinks The Beatles split at the “right time”: “Imagine them going through synth pop in the ’80s”
Paul Weller has shared he believes that The Beatles split at the “right time.”
The Modfather and former frontman of The Jam – who is set to release ‘66′, his 17th solo album and 28th studio LP in total since launching his career back in 1977 – spoke to Mojo, and recalled the impact The Beatles had on him when growing up.
“Mum and Dad had old rock ‘n’ roll records by Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Elvis, which I loved, but The Beatles… It isn’t an exaggeration to say they changed the world for many, many people, me included,” he said.
He continued: “They made me see other possibilities. They made me think of other things in this life, that there wasn’t just this little town, there was a world beyond the city walls and I wanted to be a part of it, to see and feel and experience. The Beatles made life possible to explore for normal people… People like me.
“That anticipation of hearing the next record… Where are they going next? You’re sitting on the boat or the plane with them, and even though I’ll never get near to it, The Beatles set the benchmark for the right approach to music. You move on, you experiment, and it has to be said, The Beatles broke up at the right time. I was devastated back then, but I’m glad they did now. Imagine them going through synth pop in the ‘8os. It would have been shocking.”
The Beatles are the biggest selling band of all time, selling over 500 million records. Throughout the span of their career, the have released 12 studio albums (17 in the US), 5 live albums, 51 compilation albums, 36 extended plays (EPs), 63 singles, 17 box sets, 22 video albums and 53 music videos.
They parted ways on April 10, 1970. A month after they spilt, their film Let It Be was released. After being asked by NME in an interview if the split soured the atmosphere of the film’s premiere, the filmmaker Michael Lindsay-Hogg, said: “I think it did colour the perception at the time because people thought of it as the break-up movie – which it wasn’t… It wasn’t promoted that way… it wasn’t really promoted at all because it was collateral damage to the break-up.”
Ringo Starr recently said there is “not a lot of joy” in The Beatles documentary Let It Be, ahead of its imminent re-release.
In an interview with Associated Press, Starr gave his view on the restored version of the doc. “I think Peter Jackson has done an incredible job,” he said. “For me, not a lot of joy in it. It’s from the point of view of the director, and that was up to him. We found 56 hours of unused tape, we found it and Peter Jackson put his heart and soul into it and it works really well. It’s great because you’ll get another chance to see us on the roof.”
Elsewhere, David Gilmour admitted he found The Beatles‘ Get Back documentary a “hard watch”. The Pink Floyd guitarist made the comments in a print intervie with Uncut (via Guitar.com), where he spoke about the Peter Jackson-directed documentary released in 2021.
“Paul being domineering and and John ducking back because of the moment he was in at the time and George leaving and coming back. Horrible, really, I mean it’s lovely for us to watch, but I’m surprised Paul allowed it,” he said.
In other news, Starr recently revealed that The Beatles wouldn’t have made as many records had it not been for “workaholic” Paul McCartney.
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Anagricel Duran
NME
