Historian says Beatles were just capitalists, and not youth heroes

"John Lennon controversially declared they were bigger than Jesus, and the levels of fan hysteria and devotion they engendered made them synonymous with the youth culture of the swinging 60s. But a Cambridge University historian today argues that the Beatles were not heroes of the counter-culture but capitalists who cynically exploited youth culture for commercial gain. David Fowler claims: "They did about as much to represent the interests of the nation's young people as the Spice Girls did in the 1990s."

He believes that much that has been written about the Beatles, that they were at the forefront of a cultural movement of the young, for example, is untrue. "They were young capitalists who, far from developing a youth culture, were exploiting youth culture by promoting fan worship, mindless screaming and nothing more than a passive teenage consumer."

Fowler points out the Beatles were appearing on TV shows such as the Morecambe and Wise show in 1963: "In effect, they were family entertainment, rather than at the cutting edge of youth culture."

Read the full article here.

Having just finished an entire course unit on the 60s and the debate on counter-culture, I found this really interesting.