# The Beatles, not a rock band? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549 "2012-06-08T20:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/62 "2012-07-05T16:14:05Z")
Three of them were writing and playing rock while the fourth (Sir Whatsisname) kept writing commercial jingles which he somehow forced the others to perform. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/63 "2012-07-05T16:26:32Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Three of them were writing and playing rock while the fourth (Sir Whatsisname) kept writing commercial jingles which he somehow forced the others to perform. Yeah, Helter Skelter is a great jingle. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/64 "2012-07-05T20:26:33Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > Yeah, Helter Skelter is a great jingle. :rolleyes: Charlie Manson is the only reason that the “Helter Skelter” section of that song hasn’t shown up in an insurance commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/65 "2012-07-05T23:51:46Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Charlie Manson is the only reason that the “Helter Skelter” section of that song hasn’t shown up in an insurance commercial. Let us know when “Why Don’t We Do It In the Road” ends up in a commercial, would you? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/66 "2012-07-06T00:28:12Z")
I have always said that the Beatles were a pop band and I still stand by that. Rock was the underlying music at the time just as hip hop is today. As an example I would say that Cliff Young was a pop star but his music early on was dependent on rock as his influence. But as said before teh Beatles covered and uncovered many genres of music. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/67 "2012-07-06T00:54:58Z")
I think the problem is one of definitions. “Pop” is not a pejorative in the UK, and many serious musicians freely call themselves “pop”. When Mick Hucknall (of Simply Red) and Kate Bush were introduced to the Queen, Elizabeth asked “And what do you do?” Hucknell replied “We’re pop stars, Ma’am.” Now, _I’d_ call Hucknell a Soul singer, and the best description of Kate’s music I’ve ever heard was “…what Progressive Rock would have sounded like if it had actually progressed”. But “pop star” is a fair enough short explanation. A good example is Nick Lowe’s first solo album. In the UK it was _[Jesus of Cool](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_of_Cool)_ and had the song _Shake and Pop_, while in the US it was re-named _Pure Pop For Now People_ and _Shake and Pop_ was replaced by a nearly identical song _They Called It Rock_. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/68 "2012-07-06T01:51:54Z")
Rock and Rock n Roll are subsets of Pop music. Pop is a song structure (verse, chorus, verse, etc.) Rock n Roll is that structure done with guitars, drums and bass. It usually is blues based. Folk is the Pop structure done with just an acoustic guitar. Hip Hop is done with samples, electronic beats etc. Punk is done with guitars, drums, bass etc. Usually it isn’t blues based, mostly upbeat major scales. Reggae is Pop done with its own distinct beat, and muted guitar rhythms The Beatles played very little straight Rock, the longer they were together. Sure their earlier stuff is Rock but they got too diverse to be a Rock band. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549/69 "2012-07-06T05:20:04Z")
They’re both. Pop and rock aren’t mutually exclusive. As a modern example, Avril Lavigne is certainly a pop artist, but I wouldn’t say that her music isn’t rock. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-beatles-not-a-rock-band/624549.md?page=3)