The Beatles = Hello! Project???

**Note:  This is the 2nd in a series originated on Henkka's H!P Opinions of a Metalhead Blog.  I had trouble putting it on his site, so I placed it here.  UPDATE:  It is now on his blog as well**

 

All I did was make a snarky little comment on my blog about the title of the new single by Ongaku Gatas.  It was just a joke, I swear!  The next thing I know Henkka has given me the daunting task of writing something meaningful about Morning Musume AND The Beatles.  What have I done?  Boy am I sorry for making that analogy!

 

So What's the Connection?

So, are the Beatles and Morning Musume somehow related?  I dunno, are The Beatles more popular than Jesus Christ?  The Beatles had an influence on just about every aspect of music today.  So it would be silly to say there is no relationship at all.  But on the surface, the answer is a resounding NO!!!

To begin with, The Beatles were formed by young musicians in the late 1950's.  They worked their way up the musical ranks by playing in small clubs around Europe.  They built a following through persistence and talent.  Morning Musume was a "factory" creation of Tsunku and the guys in Sharam Q.  The original members were girls who applied through an open audition, I would guess similar to American Idol.  The girls of Morning Musume had an instant fanbase.  The Beatles worked for years to achieve that!  This brings me to the talent.

The Beatles are the genius of The Beatles, there was no puppeteer pulling all of the strings behind the scenes.  That isn't to put down Brian Epstein or George Martin.  I'm sure they had a tremendous hand in the Beatles' success.  But they didn't write the songs, play the instruments, or sing the harmonies.  The group did most of that all by themselves.  They were accomplished local musicians before they ever had national or international attention.  Tsunku is the genius of Hello! Project and Morning Musume.  Without him, we have no H!P and Momusu.  This brings me to Tsunku.  Just how much influence did The Beatles have on him?  We all know they had a huge influence on MC Makoto's "Ringo Starr" haircut.  But Tsunku???

I think it is safe to say that they had an influence!  Tsunku is most definitely a Beatles fan.  And it does occasionally show up in Hello! Project's music.  Henkka sighted a few examples in his post.  Gatas' Come Together is a great example of Tsunku doing music in a 60's-70's rock style.  Then I got a message from Morning Berryz last week saying if I really wanted to hear The Beatles' influence on Tsunku's writing, I should listen to "All of Tanpopo".  And MB is absolutely right!!!  All you need to do is listen to the first track, Otome Pasta ni Kandou...

Listen to that opening guitar riff! That song sounds just like "Getting Better" from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album.  Come to think of it, it also sounds a lot like Good Day Sunshine.  I can totally picture The Beatles performing that song.  And that isn't the only Beatle-esque song on the CD, Baby Cry and I & You & I & You & I are other great examples.  By the way, "All of Tanpopo" is a great CD!

 

Beatles/H!P Fun Fact!

If you look at the liner notes of "All of Tanpopo", you will see a couple of interesting names on Track 5.  Chris Parker (Paul Butterfield, SNL) on Drums, the late Hiram Bullock (E Street Band) on guitar, and Will Lee on Bass. Will Lee?  Will is probably best know as the bassist on Late Night With David Letterman.  But he is also the bassist/vocalist for one of the greatest Beatles cover bands in history, The Fab Faux!  You can also find this same group of musicians on Morning Musume's fourth single, Memory Seishun no Hikari.

 

CK, The Little Beatle Wota

My mother had a tremendous influence on my early musical tastes.  I remember her taking me to see The Who's "Tommy" when I was a little kid.  I loved the film so much that she took me straight to the record store to buy the soundtrack album (On Vinyl, which I stilll have to this day!)  A couple of years later mom took me to see Beatlemania at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood.  I begged her to get me some Beatle records, and for Christmas I got the "Red" and "Blue" greatest hits albums.  That led to guitar lessons, and bass guitar lessons.  I must have annoyed the hell out of my teacher because I only wanted to learn Beatle songs!

My fanatical collecting of J-pop merchandise mirrors how I felt about the Beatles way back then.  The only difference being that I was much younger back then and couldn't afford to do the type of collecting I do today.  But both then and now I wanted as much merchandise I could get my hands on.  Which brings me to...

 

Beatlemania/Wotamania What's the difference?

Question: Which group has/had throngs of screaming fans dominated by the opposite sex?

Answer: That would be both.  Nowadays people of all ages and genders love The Beatles.  But in the beginning it was mostly young girls.  And the screaming!!!  I like to think of the crazed Beatle fans as merely doing undeveloped "Wota-gei"  And if you castrated all of the Wota, they would sound just like Beatle fans!

 

Question: Which groups' fans were known to be partial to particular members of the group?

Answer: That would be both.  The funniest thing I noticed when i was digging through my mother's album box (She had a lot of Beatles stuff) was that there was writing all over Paul McCartney's pictures.  CK to Tanaka Reina = CK's Mom to Paul?

Question: Which groups' fans are known to be fanatical merchandise collectors?

Answer: That would be both.  Before the invention of online auctions, there was "Beatlefest".  A traveling carnival of rare Beatle merchandise being sold for tons of money to hardcore fans.  Have you ever heard of a "Beatle Bedsheet"?  I want a "Nacchi Bedsheet"!

 

Question: Which group has thousands of cosplay/fandubbers/imitators?

Answer: Uhhh, that would be both.  Although it looks a lot different now than it did 30-40 years ago.  When I was in grammar school the first song the rock group I was in tried to play was I Saw Her Standing There.  You can find tons of fandubs of H!P on You Tube.  And of course there were countless imitators of the Beatles.  My favorite being these guys...

So I ask again...Beatlemania vs. Wotamania. What's The Difference?

 

Television and Films

Finally you have the Movies and TV.  Both groups' popularity begat success in other forms of media.  Momusu's first film, Morning Cop was very similar in purpose to The Beatles' A Hard Days Night.  Both movies were a little light on coherent plot, but were written specifically to showcase the talent.  And if you watch the very first scene in the film it might remind you of Kago Ai running down Takeshita Dori in the Mechaike Field Trip Special.

The silliness of Tokkaekko can be mirrored in Help!   Both groups had a cartoon film (Yellow Submarine/The MiniMoni Movie)  Let It Be?  How about the endless concert DVD's Hello! project puts out?  And then you have the anime.  Yes, Beatles' songs were featured in cartoons too.  And just like Robby and Kerobby/ Tsukishima Kirari, Everyone watches the stupid cartoon mainly to hear the song!

So there you have it!  My Fab Four/Morning Musume Post.  I'm not sure what point I was trying to make.  I guess it would be that Tsunku is influenced tremendously by The Beatles, and it manifests in the product of H!P.  I'm not sure how successful I was in making that point, but I did have fun writing it.  I guess Wu-san is up next.  Have fun my friend!

CK in California