Rostasi really hates The Beatles.

You put it as a joke, but in all sincerity, that's kinda how I feel reading through all of this.

Rostasi, you want to be right (or whatever) so much, that you ignore the basic facts, you make comparisons where there aren't none relevant, and I have no idea what's the point in all of this.

I mean...really? Some Paul Whiteman dude is comparable in any way of terms of popularity (even for his own era) or cultural significance as the Beatles?

As Frown mentioned, some people just aren't tuned in at all to music, but it seemed like the woman mentioned in the video is tuned in enough to have preferences, specifically hip-hop. Hell, even if all you listened to was hip-hop, you wouldn't be able to escape references and namedrops of the Beatles. Jay-Z was one artist mentioned in the video that she was aware of:

I sling though, if anything, I bling yo
A star like Ringo, war like a Green Beret

Jay-Z on Beyonce's song, "Crazy in Love"

It's theoretically possible she's never heard of the Beatles, but if you took some random ass person, be they bum or socialite, I'd put money on them at least having an awareness of the band called The Beatles every single time.

:stupid:

(no offence)

That's the point really.
If someone wants to make comparisons, then make it make sense.
You can sort of compare Armstrong to Beatles (according to time period), even because of just the song "What A Beautiful World". It doesn't matter who you're talking to, if you hum "What a beautiful world", that person will know the melody, etc (perhaps not the artist).

It's something that stays in the culture.

Like "Sitting On A Dock Of A Bay", "Hit the Road, Jack", "House Of The Rising Sun" or "Son Of A Preacher Man". Things that stay culturally, no matter the generation or the overall feel of the era.

The Beatles got that + They've got the name

Impossible to have "never heard 'bout them, yo"

He's probably rapping about rings.

So is the verdict here that Beatoff is lying or what?

Beatoff is jerking us around.

At this point, I'm starting to think Beatoff might not even be real.

Look, I don’t know how you are missing or avoiding this, but this whole conversation has NOTHING to do with comparisons with Whiteman (some dude - lol) and The Beatles. I know you’re so married to this idea of their greatness - and that’s just fine, but, again, this has NOTHING to do with quality. It doesn’t matter one whit if I like either one of these groups of people.

The point (yet again): it is perfectly reasonable to find a 20 year old person who doesn’t know of a band (or even care) that existed over FIFTY YEARS before! Why in hell is this so unbelievable? Just because you and others may think it’s the best band ever, doesn’t mean that a 20 year old would feel the same way or have even heard of them. Not everyone feels the need to hunt out old classic rock just so they can appease someone else. Even if The Beatles seem to be so omnipresent, it doesn’t mean that everyone is tuned into the same wavelengths. Vive!

In 1978, when I was 20, it’s a good bet that if someone had mentioned to a person my age who was listening to “Boogie Oogie Oogie” what they thought of someone who was enormously popular from over FIFTY YEARS before [hence, Paul Whiteman and not Louis Armstrong (just then only joining King Oliver’s band) or Ellington (who had only just started his famous Cotton Club gigs after King Oliver turned it down) or a teenage Sinatra or a pre-Rhythm Boys Bing Crosby (who, actually, got a break in Whiteman’s band)], there’s a VERY good chance that they wouldn’t have a clue. Even if it was someone who was enormously popular then and still talked about for decades afterwards.

All this isn’t trying to show any extra love for Whiteman or hatred for The Beatles. It’s trying to show you some chronological perspective of this reality. Yes, this girl just may have actually heard some Beatles in lyrics or on Wal-Mart radio but she didn’t know that she had heard them. That’s not only fine, but completely plausible. My life is filled with all kinds of “holes” of popularity - and there are lots of things that people know or rave about that I haven’t a clue about - and that should be OK with all people who find themselves in that position - and actually it’s a pretty good position to be in.

Really? So what was the point of pointing out that they sold a million. Wasn’t it to show that they must be popular?