Beatles follow

After my youngest daughter asked me about The Beatles, I put my otherwise lazy mind to the task of categorizing my Beatle tastes.

Favorite song: “A Day in the Life.” It’s a shining example of Lennon and McCartney mixing songs (McCartney was the middle). Also, this song fits Lennon’s voice – who else could sing about the absurdity of counting holes then using holes to fill something? A dental hygienist told me once that I had enough cavities to fill the Grand Canyon. I responded by asking how a hole (a cavity) could be used to fill another hole (the Grand Canyon). Man, I felt that drill next!

Second-favorite song: “Get Back.” Catch me at another time and I might say “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” or “I Feel Fine” or another song, but “Get Back” is just nice guitar and keyboards by Billy Preston.

Least favorite song: “Mr. Moonlight.” This is a remake. The original never charted, so why would a remake? Lennon’s voice is out of place here, and that pipe organ is just jarring. This is followed by “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number).”

First song: First Beatles song I remember hearing is their remake of “Please Mr. Postman.” I was listening to the clock radio (the kind where the numbers actually flipped – not digital) in my parents’ room and was taken by the vocals

Favorite album: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Innovations in music, appearance, design and marketing – what more do you need. Also, the album is great because it’s linked by The Beatles acting as muses in a Greek tragedy telling the story of Billy Shears, a man who seeks love but confuses it with lust.

Second-favorite album: “A Hard Day’s Night.” This was the first album complete with original material. It’s typical pop of the time, but all songs are well executed and creative. Not a dud on this one. If The Beatles disbanded after this album, it would have been a good note to end on. If I had to have a theme song, the title track would be it. Heck, it’s been 15 years of weekend and night work, you bet it’s been a hard day’s night.

Least-favorite album: “The Beatles” (aka The White Album). There’s lots of good stuff on this, but the splits in the band are evident. This is the first Bealtes album (yes, vinyl) I ever bought. I purchased it up in the village of Hamburg and carried it home about 7 miles on my bike.

Best album: “Revolver.” The songs on this are excellent. I think this is the highest a pop album as a collection of singles alone could go. The songs are individually stronger than “Sgt. Pepper’s,” but the latter as a whole has more impact.

Best album cover: “Meet The Beatles” with the group in black turtle necks and pale faces is striking. I like “Sgt.Pepper’s,” of course, and “Abbey Road,” the only cover on which the group’s name doesn’t appear. Throw in “The Beatles” (aka White Album) and you have some of the most recognizable pop images of the 20th century.

Worst album cover: “Revolver.” I don’t like the scribbles (Sorry, Klaus Voorman). It’s too juvenile for the top quality of songs inside. Also, the American release “Yesterday and Today,” post-butchered babies, is terrible.

Best satire: “The Simpsons” B-Sharp episode. True, “The Rutles” and “Spinal Tap” are hilarious, but the short and sweet take off is great. The scene where Barney shows up with the Japanese conceptual artist and asks for the perfumed drink is classic. Also, throw in the “We’re bigger than God” crack and the concert on the roof (in which George Harrison shows up!), and you have a great satire. The crowning moment is the last line when one of the B-Sharps says, “I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group and myself and I hope we passed the audition.” Laughter follows, just like on “Let It Be,” then Barney says, “I don’t get it.”

Honorable mention: The Ringo Starr episode of “The Simpsons,” when Marge gets into painting, is a great use of Beatle stereotypes.

Thought: Man, I spent too much time on this.