As I was dressing for work on the morning of August 9, I heard one of the anchors on “Good Morning America” tout the band that was about to perform on the program as being “the new Beatles.” Of course, this got my attention, since comparing someone to the Beatles surely means the music is catchy and original and something truly special. This had to be big.
My eyes glued to the television, I saw the Jonas Brothers take the stage. I was quite surprised to see three geeky little boys with big coifs that reminded me instantly of the New Kids on the Block, which was the boy band du jour when I was a pre-teen. They began singing their new hit, “Burnin’ Up.” The little lead singer, Joe, was a caricature of teenage desperation and earnestness as he threw his all into each note that sounded like it would finally make his voice change. There were even the “ah”s at the end of every phrase, that quick, Michael Jackson-like exhale that one often associates with karaoke singers and “American Idol” contestants. The tune was catchy, I’ll give them that. Still, the song and the band appeared to be nothing more than pop fluff at best, so how can they be compared to a rock and roll legend like the Beatles? Are the teenie boppers of today really so starved for real music that they will go screamingly insane for this boy-band-dresses-up-as-a-real-band group? They do write their own music, which is more than other boy bands can say, but still– the Beatles? I think not.
Let us compare the Jonas Brothers to the Beatles.
Screaming Girls.
There is no shortage of screaming girls for the Jonas Brothers, that much can be said. Everyone is familiar with the term “Beatlemania,” which described the phenomenon of the frenzied, hysterical state of the legions of female Beatles fans. Apparently, the Jonas Brothers are experiencing a similar phenomenon. In his Rolling Stone article “The Clean Teen Machine,” writer Jason Gay describes the mood of the thousands of pre-teen girls who flocked at a Jonas Brothers concert as being “primal.” He also describes some young girls he encountered as crying and sobbing and having somehow convinced their parents to drive them across the country for this show.
Youth.
The Jonas Brothers are just kids, with Kevin at the ripe old age of 20, Nick at 15 and Joe at 20. Similarly, the Beatles were young whippersnappers when they began their musical odyssey, as well. The first Beatles single, “Love Me Do,” was was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney while they were playing hookey from school in 1958. Paul was 15 and John was 17. George Harrison was 13 when he, Paul and John formed their first band, the Quarry Men. Ringo Starr was 22 years old when he joined what became the Beatles in 1962.
Style.
The Jonas Brothers have a rather mod sense of style, though they still look like geeky teens. I’m sure you can spot pimples if you get up close to one of them. The same can be said about the Beatles in 1963, although the Beatles became fashion trendsetters, whereas the Jonas Brothers do have their own style, but rather something thrown together by a stylist which is something we’ve seen before by the likes of… you guessed it: the Beatles.
Record Sales.
The Jonas Brothers have seen a number one hit, two number one hits on iTunes, over 12 million television viewers of their reality program, and their debut album went platinum. This is pretty good but is nothing compared to the numbers following the 1963 release of the Beatles’ debut album. The Beatles held twelve positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including the top five positions, which has never been accomplished by any other band or artist since. Also in 1964, the Beatles had sold 15 million records in the US, alone.
The Music.
Rolling Stone described the Beatles as being “…the self-contained rock band, writing their own hits and playing their own instruments.” This is sort of true about the Jonas Brothers. They write their own lyrics, but they also have back-up musicians to help them because of their lack of proficiency on their instruments.
I reticently admit that the Jonas Brothers’ new single, “Burnin’ Up,” is a catchy little ditty. I have found myself singing the song in my head on several occasions now. Get out of my head, you prepubescent scoundrels! Being catchy really is all their music seems to have going for it, though. There is nothing new or fresh about their sound, which is actually a regurgitation of every other boy band that sprouts up every decade. Can we say this about the Beatles? No. Their sound was something different and new. Their music was based on the rock and roll that was so popular in the 1950s, but they also combined elements of country & western, skiffle, and they later recorded some psychedelic songs, which was a brand new genre of the 60s.
Also, the Beatles created music that was the epitome of its time, but it was also timeless in its innovativeness. Many people still listen to the Beatles today, even people like myself who didn’t even exist in the 1960s. I think I can safely say that the Jonas Brothers will not have that staying power due to their lack of originality. After all, are we still listening to the Back Street Boys? Did the New Kids on the Block write a song that will be socially and musically relevant until the end of time? I don’t think so.
It might be fun for you, dear reader, to follow the same route I did in my comparison and analysis of the Jonas Brothers and the Beatles. If you are so inclined, do take a gander at the Beatles performing their first single, ““Love Me Do.”” You may digress a little by also viewing my favorite Beatles song, ““I Saw Her Standing There.””
Now, watch Jonas Brothers’ new video, ““Burnin’ Up.””
After that comparison, it is clear that the correct comparison is not of the Jonas Brothers to the Beatles, but of the Jonas Brothers to the New Kids on the Block. See HERE. They were wildly popular for a few years, too, and they had thousands of screaming girls after them just like the Jonas Brothers. I was one of them. I even had ripped out Tiger Beat pages featuring Jordan Knight wallpapering my bedroom.
