Saturday, July 19, 2008

Beatles number 9.com: A great Beatles website from a devoted Beatles lover

Simply put, Beatlesnumber9 is a mini-Beatle-pedia from a devoted Beatles lover, David Holmes. Beatles Number 9 is one of the most informative websites on the net. It is content rich. Holmes developed a blog and a website with many interesting stories about the Beatles. Looking at it, you can easily understand that the guy has worked a lot to build this website. Personally, I am not a big Beatles fan and I did not listen to any songs of the Beatles (if that makes me a geek/nerd then I guess I am) but if you just want to know about the Beatles and their songs and lives of other people who were/are affected by the Beatles, then, this is the place you should hang around. Before I get into discussing the site, I want to talk a little bit about the Beatles and David Holmes.


The Beatles were a famous British pop-rock band of the 1960s. Originated in Liverpool, England, the band consisted of four members: John Lennon (rhythm guitar & vocal), Paul McCartney (bass guitar & vocal), George Harrison (lead guitar & vocal), and Ringo Starr (drums & vocal). The history of Western music in the 1960s is incomplete without the Beatles. They were the most successful musical band in Britain and recognized for being the leader of mid-1960s “British Invasion” to the United States of America. Initially, they started with 50’s rock music and other English music genre and gradually diversified their music into other genres such as psychedelic rock, Tin Pan Alley and so on. Not only they were music trend-setters but also fashion-icons as well. They were the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in UK. The band broke up in 1970 and each member went on to start their solo career. In total, the Beatles released more than forty different singles, albums, and EPs and all of them took the top spot. The band is also famous for influencing social and political arena in both UK and USA. In 1985, their record company, EMI, said that they sold over one billion records around the world. The Recording Industry Association of America says that the Beatles sold more albums than any other band in America. In 2004, famous American magazine, Rollingstone magazine, ranked the Beatles number one on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The magazine also said that the Beatles’ music made a serious impact on the music and cultural arena. The Beatles went to the United States in 1964. The band made their first television appearance on February 9 1964, on the Ed Sullivan Show. Almost half the population of the United States (74 million) watched the show. Now, the hero of this post, David Holmes, was one of those 74 million American viewers and he was instantly caught by the ‘Beatlemania.’ To express his love and devotion to this band, he made this website. Now, let’s look at some of the interesting things I liked about this site:

  • The best thing about the site is that it is very simple and easy to browse. The homepage is not loaded with unnecessary images. This is one thing I liked about the site; simple but rich in content and easy to browse.
  • In the introduction section, you will find a background music option. You can browse the site while enjoying the background music which is of course one of the famous songs of the Beatles. You will also find a voting option. If you love the site you can vote for it.
  • In the body section, I like the webcam option which will enable you to see what is happening at the Abbey Road. The recording studio at the Abbey road is the place where the Beatles used to record their music. You can see what is happening on the street. Then, there is the Matthew Street webcam.
  • The body can be divided into two columns. On the right column, you will see various news about the Beatles which you will find at the blog of David Holmes.
  • On the left side, you find links to various articles that are related to various events and people who are related to the Beatles. I read the story of, “Brian Epstein
  • "Eppie" Double Life... Double Fantasy?” and liked it very much. Brian may have been a bit different but he loved Beatles from his heart and it is this love that hurt him most in life.
  • Last but not the least, you can find many downloadable items and shop online.

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