Badfinger - No Matter What - 1970

Electric Light Orchestra - Telephone Line - 1976

Klaatu - Sub-Rosa Subway - 1976

XTC - Generals and Majors - 1980

Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger - 1995

Sloan - Follow the Leader - 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x2kJezRKeA

Check out the Sloan song...a very Beatlesque piece of work by my fellow Haligonians...that's right, if you live in Halifax you're a Haligonian.

Sowing The Seeds Of Love by Tears For Fears is very Beatles inspired.

Almost every song by Klaatu is Beatlesque, so much so that people thought they were the Beatles in disguise. Wisely the band did nothing to squash the rumour. It was good for sales of their LPs. When people finally figured out it wasn't the Beatles, their short 15 minutes of fame went away. Which is too bad because they were pretty good.

Much of 70's music is inspired by the Beatles, with ELO being the most Beatlesque of the post Beatles groups. I think most of the Prog bands owe a huge debt to the Beatles. 'Mr. Blue Sky' by ELO could have easily have been a cover of a song from Abbey Road....it has that feel to it.

Soft Cell always sounded like a new wave-ish Beatles to me.

Add: ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down" which nearly steals a title, too.  (Apologies to The Animals)

 

Here's the most Beatlesque song ever:

Lies- the Knickerbockers...sound like early Beatles songs from the first few albums. The singer even sounds like John. 

Many ELO songs sound very late Beatlesque....Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road etc.

Add some Queen syrup and a little Who kick and here's an album full

And of course, this was on purpose (at least the title cut)

Enuff z' Nuff was so heavily influenced by the Beatles - you can hear it in most of their songs.

More albums that were "intentionally" Beatles sounding:

The Rutles ( aka Nasty , Stig, Dirk and Barry) a spoof film and LP by Monty Pythoners , Eric Idle ( a good friend of George Harrison) and Neil Innis. The Rutles were the "Pre Fab Four , who even embarked on their own Tragical History Tour.

Deface The Music by Todd Rundgren's Utopia....a brilliant collection of Beatles sounding songs that are so Beatlesque it's scary. My favorite - 'Everybody Else Is Wrong' is the song John Lennon would probably wish he really did write. It's that good, but then Todd was a pretty damn good songwriter....but writing songs in another person's style without commiting plagarism is brilliant. The follow up LP by Utopia, 'Swing To The Right' has the misguided youth of the 60's burning the album in a bonfire ( it is actually a picture of the rightwing youth burning Beatle albums...the Utopia LP is superimposed ...in reaction to Lennon's famous quip about being 'BIGGER THAN JESUS"...a sad and hilarious chapter in Rock history all at the same time. Sad that people would really believe Lennon meant this literally ( especially when you take into account the jokester that he was), and hilarious for basically the same reason, that people would go to this extreme over a simple sentence made in jest. But Lennon had the last laugh, sort of, because I hate to tell all the bible thumpers but the Beatles really were more popular than Jesus....perhaps it was the name Lennon that sounds like Lenin, which got people thinking maybe this guy is dangerous.

While not "Beatlesque" in sound the Mothers of Invention with that wacky Frank Zappa made "We're Only In It For the Money" which uses a spoof on the Sgt. Pepper album cover. It is also the title of at least two threads started by me....two of my greatest, by the way.

Somebody please listen to the Sloan song and tell me how you would rate it for Beatle-ishness.

Anything by Jeff Lynn or Cheap Trick

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

I REALLY like the song, but don't find it very Beatle-y.  Its just a cool tune, and thats cool

 

Try this (and add a touch of Supertramp):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHvgQDRpA-s

And this just because its live and my favorite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9gIo7b4KDs

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

On Ballot Question Sloan (hahaha) ... 

In the spirit of Election Day, I'm afraid I have to vote "no" on the Sloan song re: being Beatles-esque with an initial gut reaction.

With the power of suggestion, however, I can see why you might think so (esp. the vocals) -- but it's a stretch.  

"Something So Strong" by Crowded House -- this has possibilities, IMO.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXArBZItqGc

Agree on Something So Strong being Beatle-ish...a few others by Crowded House as well, like Don't Dream It's Over.

Greg and yoga, thanks for checking out the Sloan tune.  Neither of you find it Beatle-ish...interesting...I guess it's now incumbent on me to figure out why I find it so.

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

Really good song man, thanks.  Check out my Jellyfish links above

 

In response to GreginMeffa's comment:

Really good song man, thanks.  Check out my Jellyfish links above

Listened to 'em both.  My first Jellyfish tunes.  Excellent stuff.

 

Al Stewart - Terminal Eyes

This is a tough one for me.  Driving home the other night the radio was playing "Best Friends Girl' by the Cars, and then Tom Petty doing that Betty Lou number and I was hearing strains of the Beatles in both of them.    I hear the Beatles in half of everything on my car radio.  My ears might be broken and it's not just age, for about 5 years back in the 70's  I thought that Mott the Hoople tune 'All the Young Dudes', was actually the Beatles.

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

GREAT band no one ever heard of.  The CD to get is Spilt Milk

I agree with the mention of ELO, but the one song of theirs that hasn't been mentioned that I feel most sounds like The Beatles is "Can't Get It Out of My Head."

Jeff Lynne really sounds like John Lennon on this song IMO.

 

In response to royf19's comment:

Lawdy, he sure does!  Given Jeff's rather obvious connection to the Beatles, this one might be trump (or as in jail, "Money")

Whats the big deal with the beattles, Nothing but an overhyped, overrated, Overplayed average at best band in my eyes.

In response to xXR3S1NXx's comment:

You are now obliged to tell us your year of birth.

In response to xXR3S1NXx's comment:

Kids!

They wrote more songs now considered standards than anyone.  Start there.