Susan Tessler, Holly
(2009)
Beatles for sale : the role and significance of storytelling in the commercialisation and cultural branding of the Beatles since 1970.
PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.
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Abstract
The subtitle to this thesis is: 'the role and significance of storytelling in the commercialisation and cultural branding of the Beatles since 1970'. In large part, this idea has been informed by, and evolves from, experiences of the role and significance of storytelling in my own Beatle fandom, as I came to the story of the Beatles before I ever consciously listened to their music. I was 10 years old in 1980, the year of John Lennon's assassination, and I had never heard of the Beatles. I suppose it was seeing endless streams of news reports about the Beatles and John Lennon's death that took me not to the record shop, but instead, the public library to learn more about them. More than just the catalyst for my awareness of, and interest in, the Beatles, stories about the Beatles continued to feature prominently in my ongoing fandom. From a contemporary perspective, it seems almost unimaginable, but as a young Beatles fan growing up in 1980s America, there was almost no Beatle products on the market. Besides Beatle records, the regular purchase of new Beatle books was the only readily available opportunity I had to express and indulge my fandom. It was only when news of George Harrison's death from cancer broke on 29th November 2001, however, did I realise just how little time I had taken to explore Liverpool's Beatles connections. Until that time, I had never paused to consider the fact that Beatle storytelling was not just a process that happened in books and documentaries, but was alive and dynamic, implicated with places and people and events, happening in ways and through means which extend far beyond the Beatles themselves. Realising that the Beatles were autochthonously bound up with the wider cultural, material and historical frameworks of not only Liverpool, but also places like London, Hamburg, New York, and even more broadly still of British popular history and culture, catalysed me into thinking more substantially about the further implications of Beatle storytelling. At the same time, I also began to think about the inverse - how all of these Beatle storytelling enterprises impacted on the group themselves. It is in consideration of all of these observations that I undertook the research presented here.
| Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
|---|---|
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Oct 2023 09:25 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Oct 2023 09:30 |
| DOI: | 10.17638/03174564 |
| Copyright Statement: | Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis and any accompanying data (where applicable) are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3174564 |
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