Sean MacLeod - Behind the Wall of Illusion

Sean MacLeod joins Ed Opperman to discuss one of the greatest bands who ever graced the stage.

1962 and the Beatles had started on a road to fame and fortune. Signed to a record deal, their simple upbeat melodies could have faded into the noise of history; but the Beatles did something different from most of their contemporaries.

In a mixture of expert marketing, musicianship and appearances on almost every mainstream television show, they launched themselves from a simple skiffle band - albeit with above average melodies - which grew into a movement changing forever the scope and depth of music. Almost every one of their 206 song catalogue offers something different; as different as the men who created them grew to be.

Experimental sounds, new instruments like the melotron and sitar were utilised in their work, as were backwards masking, clips from radio plays and contemporary references.

But what was the driving force behind the group? How did four average lads from a largely deprived area of the UK come to conquer the world and gain immortality through their legend and legacy?

In Sean MacLeod's book on the Fab Four, Behind the Wall of Illusion - the religious, occult and esoteric world of the Beatles, he takes us not only behind their music and personalities but examines the phenomenon that was the Beatles and puts them into perspective as heralds of a new age and conscious development of mankind.

Books :Behind The Wall of Illusion: The Religious, Occult and Esoteric World of the Beatles Phil Spector: Sound of the Sixties (Tempo: A Rowman & Littlefield Music Series on Rock, Pop, and Culture) Leaders of the Pack: Girl Groups of the 1960s and Their Influence on Popular Culture in Britain and America

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