During the height of their popularity in the early 2010s, English-Irish boy band One Direction were compared with The Beatles, much to the dismay of purist Beatles fans. (Source - FaroutMagazine)
The Beatles, besides their talent for creative songwriting and other culturally defining antics, were aesthetically appealing.
The comparisons between The Beatles and One Direction came to a head in 2014 when Harry Styles claimed that One Direction had become bigger than the Fab Four. At this point, tabloids recirculated an old photo of the One Direction boys mimicking the Beatles’ famous Abbey Road album cover where they had been shot walking across the zebra crossing near Abbey Road Studios.
McCartney has responded to such comparisons a number of times over the past decade. While McCartney seemed to be comfortable that One Direction weren’t poised to usurp their place in the history books, he did express that he didn’t like people comparing One Direction with The Beatles.“I always think it’s a little bit unfortunate when you call [a band] ‘the new Beatles, “It can be the kiss of death because people expect you to live up to what we did.”
McCartney also noted the importance of considering each artist in their own era; the 1960s were very different from the 2010s. “We did what we did in a particular period in time which was very different to now, obviously,” he said. “I don’t know whether it was different to be a wild success but it was different.” “But I think these bands are great,” he asserted. “I like One Direction. I think they’re young, beautiful boys, and that’s the big attraction. ”
Oasis shouldn't have boasted they were the "next Beatles".
Despite how successful Liam and Noel Gallagher's band went on to become, the music legend thinks the brothers' repeated clams they wanted to be as big as the Fab Four meant they could only come up short because no one could replicate what his band did in the 1960s.
McCartney added: “In Oasis’ cases, I think it was coming from them. In others it’s the record label or management and that’s never a good idea: The poor band! Now go and do better than The Beatles did. Not an easy task.”
