Growing up, I had the mentality that in order for The Beatles to be so popular, they can’t have much substance to them. Bear in mind, I concluded this when I was 14, at which point it was ’99, and I think we all can remember the kind of musical tripe popular then. But in my orchestra class junior year, I ended up playing a Beatles Medley—and yes, it was as kitschy as it sounds—including “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts’ Club Band,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “When I’m 64,” and “Yesterday,” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts’ Club Band (Reprise.)” So, after listening to the original versions of those songs and I thought, “Well, this is pretty good, it’s not that poppy garbage that they do.” Actually, I really started liking those songs to the point I got frustrated because this medley, despite being for a full orchestra, decided to omit the wonderful string arrangements from “Yesterday” and “Eleanor Rigby.” By the end of the high school, I conceded The Beatles had a few good songs, mostly their later stuff.

When I got to college, I started listening to their older stuff, and that’s really good too. Even the terrible songs are good (“Mr. Moonlight,” anyone?) Pretty soon, I found myself a Beatlenut like so many others before, listening to The Beatles Anthologies 1, 2, and 3. Watching the Anthology. Reading about the history of every song, learning the names of people like Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall, engaging in debates about which is better Abbey Road or Let It Bleed (Abbey Road, by the way.)

The Beatles will always hold a source of fascination for us, because much like Seinfeld, they left at the top of their game. They never got stale, never peaked, never released a bad record, and never grew old. Sure, Paul, George, Ringo, and John grew old (and unfortunately for everyone, John Lennon, didn’t grow old enough.) But the world’s last memory of The Beatles as a band will be four very talented, dynamic guys, not even thirty, playing on the roof of their recording studio.

As each person’s subsequent solo career showed, all four of these guys were capable of great music on their own, even Ringo, despite what some might say (the absence of a “Ringo blog” due mainly to the library not owning his pre-2000 albums, though we did just get his new release Liverpool 8, as well as a fine greatest hits.) And this was a situation where individuals who can be amazing on their own, can pool their talents together for something even better.

Well, this is my last blog I am going to be able to write with the library, so I figured it should be about The Beatles. And I just wanted to take a sentence to thank everyone that’s read my blogs and allowed me to indulge my love of talking about music I love (and some that I hate.) And for everyone that hasn’t read my blogs. Shame.