# What year was "Peak" Beatles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-was-peak-beatles/813859 "2018-05-09T13:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-was-peak-beatles/813859/41 "2018-05-14T11:58:46Z")
[\*\* The Beatles by the Numbers\*\*](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-beatles-by-the-numbers/) > [@](#): > > All told, the Beatles have sold 1.6 BILLION singles in the United States, and 177 million albums. > > Worldwide album sales top 600 million. > > The number of Beatles singles to reach Number 1 on the “Billboard Hot 100” is 21, the most of any band. > > Of their singles, “Hey, Jude” enjoyed the longest run on the charts – 23 weeks in all. > > The number of Beatles albums that reached Number 1 in the United States: 25. > > The number of times “Yesterday” has been covered by other artists is over 3,000, making it the most-covered song of all time. > > When The Beatles changed everything (link at site) > The Beatles: When a new generation of musicians discovered themselves (link at site) > CBS News poll: Who is America’s favorite Beatle? (link at site) > > The Beatles received 8 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Movie Score (for “Let It Be”), and collectively they’re included in Time magazine’s compilation of the 20th Century’s 100 most influential people. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-was-peak-beatles/813859/42 "2018-05-18T01:00:02Z")
On The Late Show, the episode with Chadwick Boseman, Stephen Colbert does a bit where little kids are supposed to come up with a TV show. One little kid is a Beatles nut and really knows his stuff!! Colbert gets in an geek fest “argument”with the kid which ends with Colbert saying that Revolver is the best Beatles album. So there ya go. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-was-peak-beatles/813859/43 "2018-05-18T01:56:18Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I choose 1967 because that was the year they released Sgt Pepper, an album that revolutionized pop music and separated the Beatles forever from all the other long haired British pop groups that wanted to ride their coattails. Surprising to me, however, is that Abbey Road, released in 1969, was actually their #1 album in sales. Most kids bought singles in the 60s because albums were just too expensive. $2.99 for stereo! It took the entire decade before buying albums became the norm. Early album sales are tiny compared with what came along later. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-was-peak-beatles/813859/44 "2018-05-18T01:57:39Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > …One little kid is a Beatles nut and really knows his stuff!! Colbert gets in an geek fest “argument”with the kid which ends with Colbert saying that Revolver is the best Beatles album. Yeah, and the kid says “Rubber Soul” and starts rattling off the songs on it… and he was a young’un. It was pretty cute. And when Colbert aired the “completed” episode, [the Beatles were Hugh Laurie, David Tennant, John Oliver and Michael Shannon](https://liveforlivemusic.com/media/video/colbert-beatles-johnoliver/). Fun! ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-was-peak-beatles/813859/45 "2018-05-18T13:46:43Z")
I see that a case could be made for 1964 and/or 1967 for world beating zeitgeisty-ness but I’m going for 1966 because of Revolver. Pepper had a nicer package and always seems to get the ‘popular’ vote, but it doesn’t have enough good songs. It wouldn’t make my top 5 of their albums. Penny Lane + Strawberry Fields might have swung it but I prefer Paperback Writer and Rain. So there. If there was a year of their output I wouldn’t want to live without it would probably be 1965, but they were just bloody excellent at that point, not yet astonishingly innovating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-was-peak-beatles/813859.md?page=2)