# If there were no Beatles: Ripple effect **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-were-no-beatles-ripple-effect/494010 "2009-04-22T19:32:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-were-no-beatles-ripple-effect/494010/21 "2009-04-22T23:48:21Z")
If there were no Beatles, this thread would be about The Dave Clark Five. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-were-no-beatles-ripple-effect/494010/22 "2009-04-23T00:10:29Z")
One of my professors told me this one. I have no idea of whether it is true. The band had money to burn. Somebody suggested they invest in “this” because it might make money and it seemed like a good thing to do. “This” was a major technology component for MRI’s, CAT scans, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-were-no-beatles-ripple-effect/494010/23 "2009-04-23T01:07:57Z")
Someone else would have done it. But not as soon, and not as well. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-were-no-beatles-ripple-effect/494010/24 "2009-04-23T05:07:51Z")
There have been at least two alternate history works on the idea that there were no Beatles: the short story “Snodgrass” by Ian MacLeod and the novel _Liverpool Fantasy_ by Larry Kirwan. I haven’t read _Liverpool Fantasy_ but “Snodgrass” was based on the idea that Lennon walked out on the group early on and the rest of the band (which included Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe) let him go. The resulting Beatles were still a band but without Lennon they were not a major success - they were regarded as a second-rate version of the Rolling Stones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-there-were-no-beatles-ripple-effect/494010.md?page=1)