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4. Bigger Than the Beatles?

Episode 4 of 8

The response to One Direction immediately inspired comparisons to Beatlemania - but is it fair to compare the two fan movements?

From the start, the global response to One Direction immediately inspired comparisons to Beatlemania - but is it fair to compare the two fan movements?

The world had changed in countless ways between the 1960s and the 2010s but some things are timeless: boys who sing and have nice hair? They鈥檙e everything!

This chapter details the conversations around One Direction鈥檚 musical offering compared to a band like the Beatles. Were they ever taken seriously as artists?

Something that no one can deny about both fandoms is that they had power. What happened when that power was used for less than amicable purposes? And what happened to the journalists who interacted with the fandom? And who/what was Larry Stylinson?

Featuring interviews from Vanity Fair鈥檚 chief critic Richard Lawson, Official Charts Company editor Carl Smith and One Direction songwriter Jamie Scott.

Archive in this episode:
The Beatles arriving in London, 成人快手 Radio News Report, 31 October 1963
Paul McCartney, the Wall Street Journal
Ringo Starr, Associated Press

Presenter: Maddie Grace Jepson
Producer: Gr谩inne Morrison
Written by Gr谩inne Morrison
Assistant Producer: Zayna Shaikh
Technical Producer: Ant Danbury
成人快手 Audio Editor: Andy Worrell
Commissioning producers: Jonathan O鈥橲ullivan, Sarah Gosling
Commissioner for 成人快手 Music: Will Wilkin

Available now

16 minutes

Music Played

  • Zara Larsson & David Guetta

    On My Love

    • Sony Music UK.

Broadcast

  • Fri 19 Jan 2024 02:00