Beatles is one of the most popular bands in the history of world music. The history of Rock n Roll would be probably incomplete with the Beatles. Four ordinary English boys from Liverpool formed a rock band named “The Beatles” and then went to become legends. Though Beatles is a music band but they have huge influence over their contemporary society and culture. Their songs and lifestyle influenced many youths around the world. Even today, no music band acquired such name and fame like the Beatles.
In 1964, when Beatles gave their first performance on TV at the The Ed Sullivan Show, it was watched 74 million people. Among them there was a young man named Dave Holmes who became a Beatlemaniac and went on to create one of the most resourceful sites on the Internet, The Beatles Number9.com: http://beatlesnumber9.com/
If you are a Beatles fan and have not yet visited this website then I can confidently say that you are really missing something. For a long time, I was interested to interview the man behind this great website and fortunately, at last, I could do it. Here is the interview for the readers:
Asianbiz: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
David Holmes: I grew up the oldest of 5 kids. I always tended to question authority and have always had a bit of a rebellious nature. I don't like conformity and was attracted to the counter culture in my youth (hippies). I still cling to that philosophy a bit and at times I can be a little unpopular with the mainstream. I guess I'm easy going but strongly opinionated. I'm always searching for more than the eye can see. When I was younger I just lived, I'm a bit more analytical now.
Asianbiz: Tell us a little bit about Beatles Number9.com.
David Holmes: I caught Beatlemania when I first watched them on Ed Sullivan's TV show. I was 10 yrs old. I did not expect anything like what happened to me when I saw them. It seems my whole world changed in an instant, every cell in my body danced. It was natural then that my first website would be a Beatles site, though it was meant to be a personal little site that gave me something to do after my oldest son died in a car wreck. I certainly didn't expect it to get as big as it has. Just goes to show what can happen when you're passionate about something.
Asianbiz: Who is your most favorite member in Beatles?
David Holmes: John Lennon spoke the most about anti-war and world peace. I guess he was my favorite. His murder devastated me, and I still miss him very much. I'd love to hear his views about the world today. George Harrison would be second because he enlightened me to Eastern philosophy and a search for a personal God. This opened whole new doors of reality to me. I never expected to out-live both of my heroes.
Asianbiz: Why you have become a Beatle fan? There were also other bands at that time.
David Holmes: As I explained above, I don't think I had much of a choice at first. Beatlemania was like an disease or something and I caught it big time! The Beatle were first in a long line of what is now known as classic rock. I love rock 'n' roll music and a lot of bands, but the Beatles started it all. When they sang or talked, it wasn't like I was trying to be like them, the attraction was that they spoke and sang about what I was already thinking about. You could say I identified with them.
Asianbiz: You created this website to become one of the top sites about the Beatles. Have you achieved your goal?
David Holmes: Well, one can always grow bigger, but I'm satisfied that I've met the goal I set for myself by becoming one of maybe the top 3 Beatle sites on the net. I definitely surprised myself. As long as the traffic keeps growing I'll be very happy. If it ends, I'll do something else. I'll always retain an internet presence in some way. It's addicting and has been lot's of fun. One of my goals was to talk to some of the Beatles inner circle, and that's been wildly successful. If it wasn't first and foremost a labor of love, I wonder how successful it would have turned out?
What is your favorite Beatle song and why do you like the song?
David Holmes: I never could pick a single song as my favorite, or a favorite album for that matter. It's like one long piece of work and to appreciate The Beatles one would have to take it all in, from beginning to end. I cannot think of a Beatles song I don't like.
Asianbiz: How did Beatle influence your life as a person?
David Holmes: They were like the father I didn't have. It was OK to be romantic with girls, to wear long hair, to be myself. I persued art in school as a direct influence of the Beatles. I think they helped me develope an open mind, and definately gave me an appreciation of art. I also loved their humor, they were very witty guys and who doesn't like a good laugh? It was fascinating to watch 4 working class people become mega famous and rich and watch how they reacted to it. I think they remained pretty sane and stable and were quite charitable. I learned from them that the rich don't have to be elitist and uncaring people. I probably won't have a chance to know what it's like to be rich, but should I ever I'll remember the humility of the Beatles.
Asianbiz: What are the major differences do you see among current musicians and the rock stars and popstars of your age?
David Holmes: I'm going to stay optimistic. Music today doesn't have the guts to be political and hasn't found a cause to unite with their music. I think the biggest mistake was ushing hip hop - rap "muzak" on the youth. The industry has changed so much that a lot of talent just don't have a chance. Records or CD sells aren't the driving force anymore with internet downloading, and radio is now all but irrelevant. Music TV doesn't really play videos anymore. From my perspective the music industry's future looks bleak, but I certainly hope something will turn it around. I don't think anything will be better than the music of my generation. Few bands of today have the staying power of the oldies, who can still fill big concert halls. The new stuff is all a flash in the pan. Somewhere out there is the next big thing, it just hasn't happened yet.
Asianbiz: What is your future plan about the website?
David Holmes: I just added several new pages, I'm working on a deal to host a site that went down when geocities was dismantled. I'd like to start a Face Book fanpage. I might also expand the pages on Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Dead (and some others I haven't made a page for) into full websites. It's constant work keeping up with the SEO and one day the pages will have to be done with CSS instead of tables with an overall improvement on the layout. Keep checking back, changes are always happening at Beatles Number 9.
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