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4. Bigger Than the Beatles?

Episode 4 of 8

The response to One Direction immediately inspired comparisons to Beatlemania - but is it fair to compare the two fan movements?

From the start, the global response to One Direction immediately inspired comparisons to Beatlemania - but is it fair to compare the two fan movements?

The world had changed in countless ways between the 1960s and the 2010s but some things are timeless: boys who sing and have nice hair? They’re everything!

This chapter details the conversations around One Direction’s musical offering compared to a band like the Beatles. Were they ever taken seriously as artists?

Something that no one can deny about both fandoms is that they had power. What happened when that power was used for less than amicable purposes? And what happened to the journalists who interacted with the fandom? And who/what was Larry Stylinson?

Featuring interviews from Vanity Fair’s chief critic Richard Lawson, Official Charts Company editor Carl Smith and One Direction songwriter Jamie Scott.

Archive in this episode:
The Beatles arriving in London, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio News Report, 31 October 1963
Paul McCartney, the Wall Street Journal
Ringo Starr, Associated Press

Presenter: Maddie Grace Jepson
Producer: GrΓ΅inne Morrison
Written by GrΓ΅inne Morrison
Assistant Producer: Zayna Shaikh
Technical Producer: Ant Danbury
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Audio Editor: Andy Worrell
Commissioning producers: Jonathan O’Sullivan, Sarah Gosling
Commissioner for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Music: Will Wilkin

Available now

16 minutes

Last on

Fri 19 Jan 2024 02:00

Music Played

  • Zara Larsson & David Guetta

    On My Love

    • Sony Music UK.

Broadcast

  • Fri 19 Jan 2024 02:00

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