6 The Daily Tar Heel Wednesday, February
Beatles' genius gave '60s generation a sense of
By J. M. BURRIS
"Everyone in the theatre as time goes by
gets a little hit older and a little bit slower."
John Lennon's disguised voice on the
mish-mash of voice-overs and over-dubs for
the incomprehensible "Revolution 9" spoke
to an obvious biological and psychological
fact. It caifii as no surprise to hear it in that
fleeting moment as it came over the stereo,
first in 1968; it was just one more of the
unexplainable words and maxims and tunes
and cheers on that particular record. But as 1
reflect on age and getting old not so much
in terms of months and years as in styles and
tastes the phrase pops into my mind time
and again. I'm still relatively young, 24 to be
exact and have no interest yet in
immortality; I expect to live forever because
I know no other existence. And the same
goes for rock music, now that 1 think of it,
because that, too, is all I've known.
I can't imagine being in anyone's domicile,
whether for an evening visit or a week-long
stay, without finding some kind of music
system there with at least one Beatles record
somewhere around the house. I'm sure
there's not a young man or woman my age
who couldn't identify the group from almost
any of the band's photos or songs. But I
found, out not too long ago while teaching
college freshmen for the first time that not
only can Johnny not read nor write, but
Johnny also has one hell of a time naming
the greatest songwriting duo since Francis
Scott Key and the Stars and Stripes.
So, it's not that I'm getting old; not even 1
fear baldness or droopy chins ... yet. It's that
no longer is there that great frame of
reference by which to define individual
experience within the universal. No longer is
there that vast backdrop, that starting point
"A," from which we can relate with one
another. The great equalizer of my
generation is that whoCsAradition of popular
music begun before but never realized until
the Beatles proved to be the personification
of all that a generation held sacred.
Many culturalists have written eloquently
on w hat the band symbolized for the youth
movement, the carefree and vivacious energy
in good-natured defiance of what traditional
20th century culture stood for. Rock critics
called Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and
Starr cult figures, as important for what they
began as for what they actually did. Those
interested more specifically in music or
recording point to the Beatles' innovations:
the album as a thematic whole: Rubber Soul;
as unified artistic expression: Sgt. Pepper, as
an exercise in spontaneity: Let It Be. All of
Greg Porter
Editor
Ben Cornelius, Managing Editor
Ed Rankin, Associate Editor
Elliott Potter, Associate Editor
Laura Sctsm, Uniwrsiry Editor
Keith Hollar, City Editor
Tony Gunn, State and National Editor
Reid Tuvim, News Editor
Sara Bullard, Features Editor
Chip Ensslin, Arts Editor
Gene Upchurch, Sports Editor
Allen Jernigan, Photography EdH&r
Primates in crucial battle
against man's death tests
Things are looking up for lower-order primates. The lives of thousands of
monkeys and baboons may be spared due to recent developments. The
practice of killing animals in scientific research projects has been attacked
successfully in Michigan and India.
After angry animal lovers protested, scientists at the University of
Michigan's Highway Safety Research Institute abandoned experiments in
which baboons were killed in a study of auto crash injuries. Twenty-four
baboons died in the study before researchers called off the tests because they
had acquired sufficient data to complete the study.
"The Committee to Save the Baboon Seven" led the fight against the
M ichigan experiments which the leader of the group said "Hies in the face of
decency and concern for living things." The Baboon Seven was the group of
animals which was awaiting death when the protests began. The seven
became the six last Thursday w hen the most recent, and the last, experiment
was completed. But the group of animals is still referred to as the Seven
because the committee organizers were left with many "Save the Baboon
Seven" bumper stickers.
In India, the world's leading animal exporter, primates may have won a
more extensive victory. Prime Minister Morarji Desai, a devout Hindu,
announced that he is banning the export of rhesus monkeys from his
country. The Indians are upset because they feel the United States has
violated an agreement that specifies that exported monkies be used only for
medical research or the production of anti-poliomyelitis vaccine.
According to Time magazine, the United States government is using
many monkeys for military experiments. In a study of the effects of the
neutron bomb, rhesuses were exposed to huge doses of radiation. They
suffered the effects of the radiation: vomiting, diarrhea, loss of hair and
death.
Time listed other American violations cited by Indians:
Ten monkeys were examined for burns after they were immersed in 194
degree water for 15 seconds.
In a study of gunshot wounds, ten monkeys were shot through the
head.
Monkeys were operated on without anesthesia in a study of shock.
What's good news for primates is bad news for scientists. Experimenters
are bemoaning the loss of subjects for theii studies some of which could
result in important medical breakthroughs. Biologists are stepping up
efforts to breed rhesuses in captivity.
This means that the deaths of monkeys in experiments are likely to
continue despite the Indian ban, though there w ill be a limited number of
subjects available because of the difficult breeding process. Scientists are
likely to scrutinize experiments in the future to determine if animal
experiments are really needed.
Such scrutiny will come a little late fur two doen Michigan baboons. I he
use of animal subjects for medical research is a proper practice that may
some day result in the saving of millions ol lives. However, the deaths ol
rnonkev s in experiments w hich measur e nun's cap.icitv to destroy cannot he
iustuied. Scientists should seaich lr
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8, 1978
this is valuable in its place, no doubt, and
there is a place still for redefinition of all
these elements now that we've gained some
real perspective in the matter. The Beatles
are, after all, of the past, at least musically.
But my contention is that the Beatles had an
unexplainable, unfathomable , effect on a
group of young persons, almost a whole
generation, kids from eight to 20 they had
such an effect on those people that events,
happenings and even ideas are dated by the
release of "Yesterday" or "Hey Jude" or
Abbey Ron J. Not one rock musician can
hand out his own list of acknowledgements
wit hout t hanking, somewhere along the way,
the Beatles for their influence upon him, for
making music come alive. And, for better or
t o . " .,
Beatles arrive in New
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for worse, our culture is married to popular
music because of them, and judging from the
divorce rate (No, I'm not going to suggest
that the increase in the number of divorces
since 1970 has anythingtodowith the band's
breakup that same year), it's been a long and
gratifying union.
From Lennon's proclamation that the
Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ
to Charles Manson's sick interpretation of
the pure noise of"Helter Skelter," there is no
denying the band's cultural influence. "I'm
Down," the forgotten flip side to "Help!",
brought screaming rock V roll out of the
slums and into the sophisticated home;
images of Lennon playing piano with his
elbow, a la Jerry Lee Lewis, dance in my
York for first U.S. tour
letters to the editor
Five minutes late, and the busdriver takes a break
To the editor:
Picture, if you would, the typical South
Campus resident on a typical winter's
morning. Said student could live in James or
Morrison or Craig; it really doesn't matter
because it's a hefty walk to North Campus
and warm classes from any one of these
locations. Our typical South Campus
resident, however, is without fear for deep
within one of his pockets is a pink,
plastici.ed bus pass that will (with the
addition of one bus) whisk him magically to
his classes. He glances at his watch; no need
to worry, plenty of time.
Meanwhile, the flesh of our student's right
hand (the hand that numbly grasps four
centuries of British literature) is beginning to
change slowly to a shade of light blue. He
shifts Shakespeare to his left armpit and
blows on his right hand. He watches his
breath rise slowly over the growing bus-stop
crowd, a crowd where the late-comer and
late-riser rubs elbows with the most diligent
of students as there are now only three
minutes to the start of classes. Contrary to
popular belief, there are occasionally
reasons for going to class at the proper time;
on this cold February morning, our student
has reasons.
At precisely the moment when class
should begin, a bus (large enough to
accommodate perhaps a third of the crowd)
appears, closely followed by a second (which
will accommodate perhaps one-half of the
total crowd). Our student is not enough
math major, but he has enough of his wits
about him to know that not everyone can
ride, and that he will be one of the do7en or
so left behind.
Suddenly, out of the early morning mist,
an S bus appears, and although it isn't going
quite where he wants to go, he figures that it
is probably his best chance to make class
before it is time to leave again. He quickly
sprints across Manning Drive and climbs
aboard the bus, holding in his hand (by now
little more than a frozen hook with Fingers)
his bus pass, a card by this time as magical as
government-issue toilet paper.
He falls into a seat and again glances at his
watch; he's already five minutes late, and
there's a five-minute bus ride yet to go, but at
least he'll be able to put in an appearance. He
looks up and sees that the bus driver is gone.
Cigarette break. Our student looks at his bus
pass, wishes he had saved his goddamn
money in the first place and gets off the bus
to return to his little cinderblock room.
The purpose of this little story is to point
out that the people who run the bus system
around here aren't very good at what they
do. This isn't, of course, to say that they are
totally incompetent -just very, very close.
Michael Ridge
752 Hinton James
A doggone story
To the editor:
Sunday dinner at grandma's was a
patchwork quilt of food. But for dessert,
pass the heroism: My brother Mike became a
hero bv rescuing a drowning dog. His
bravery is revealed not so much in Ins act as
Ins method ol rescue.
Pond ice had collapsed beneath the dog 50
t eel liom sh.oie. and ail nn uncles' tesctie
head even today whenever I hear that song
on the radio. The fab four were more than
the gods of the screaming meemies out in the
live studio audience of The Ed Sullivan
Show; they were also the satirists and
imaginative humorists older but no-less-rabid
fans admired as cult figures: "Lady
Madonna," "Back in the USSR,"
"Polythene Pan" and the ubiquitous, if
somewhat obscure, "You Know My Name
(Look Up the Number)" all are refreshing
not only for their distinct melodies but also
for their mirthless humor. I'm agog today
over the different voices all were capable of
coming up with. Everyone thought for such a
long time that Ringosang"Lady Madonna;"
then it was supposed to be the new Paul, the
one hired through a look-alike contest to
replace the Paul smashed up in a car
accident. (I still have the tape I made of the
words spoken between "I'm So Tired" and
"Blackbird" on the white album. I played it
backwards and it did say "Paul is a dead
man. Miss him. Miss him. MISS HIM!"
And the "number nine" backwards and all
the other "clues" too.) Eventually Paul
confessed he strove to attain that sound for
that song, just as he went to the studio at 6
a.m. six morning in a row so that he could get
the vocal on "Everybody's Got Something to
Hide (Except for Me and My Monkey)" to
sound as though he'd just gotten out of bed.
Such inventiveness, alas, we no longer
witness. I defy anyone to come up with a
being from Saturn (for that may be the only
place where an unbiased opinion might be
found), one who has never heard a Beatles
record, sit him down in a sound room and
have him be able to-identify that the vocals
on "All My Loving," "Michelle," "Drive My
Car," "I'm Down" and both parts of "Rocky
Raccoon" are all sung by the same person.
They're responsible for most of my list of
the greatest moments in rock 'n' roll history,
and though I'm morally opposed to lists per
se, this one, I must admit, is harder to break
into than any bank vault. Briefly, here are a
few of the Beatles' contributions: the famous
chord skip in "All You Need Is Love"; a
consensus favorite the "One, two, three,
fah!" that opens "I Saw Her Standing
There"; the vacuum tube opening of "Your
Mother Should Know"; the rooftop concert
and, contrived though it is, the yawn in "I'm
Only Sleeping." Childish as it may seem, mv
blood still runs jauntily through my body
whenever I think about any of them.
What all of this has to do with frames of
reference and growing older and such stuff
may jiot be immediate! obvious, nor may
such detailed preferences on my part. 1 first
realized for myself what age and time had to
do vith the Beatles and me several months
efforts had failed. Just as the dog appeared
doomed to exhaustion and sure death, Mike
stepped, a la tennis shoes, jeans and sweat
shirt, through the ice and proceeded to walk
into the pond. At first he broke the ice with a
stick, and when it shattered, he pushed
through the remaining 10 feet with his hands.
The ice cut him several times, and the chest
high water was bitter and biting, but the dog
was saved. Despite this obvious act of
unselfishness, the dog's keeper offered only a
nonchalant, nearly inaudible "thanks" for a
reward. Perhaps the end justifies the means,
but I believe Mike's name should occupy an
important place in some APS (Animal
Protection Society) scrapbook of heroism.
Gary Oakley
Route 3
Beware of Russian danger
To the editor:
The Daily Tar Heel February I editorial,
"Helms Uses Scare Tactics to Boost Arms
Race," shows a shallow knowledge of
nuclear strategy, and therefore, fails to
adequately discuss the problem of nuclear
conflict.
American strategy for nuclear war is based
on mutually assured destruction, the threat
that in case of nuclear war both sides will
face unacceptable damage, and so neither
side will start a strategic nuclear conflict.
Essential to this strategy is the belief, by both
sides, that the other camp cannot be injured
enough by the first strike to make the
attacked party unable to effectively
counterattack. But if the Russians believe
the U nited States could be damaged by a first
strike to the degree where the United States
could not inflict unacceptable damage on
Russia, then there is little reason for the
perspective,
ago when one of my freshman English
students askied if I had heard that new
Beatles single. "Have I missed word of a
reunion?" I said to myself. "A renewal of
purpose, a reconciliation of professional and
personal differences? Yoko Ono's death,
perhaps?" No such fiasco had taken place.
No, the young woman (my estimation of her
rose in a, flash when she asked, then
plummeted to new depths when 1 learned the
truth) was mistaken. The song she referred to
was "Got to Get You into My Life," the
Beatles' answer to the brassy sound of
Motown, a song recorded more than a
decade before the Revolver album. But here,
a full 1 2 years later, it was selling enough to
puncture Billboard's top twenty, and there
were umbles from Capitol Records that it
was only the first of a whole slew of
rereleases planned.
But the electricity wasn't there; the
movement died out as quickly as the
rejuvenation of Mae West and for much the
same reason. The elements did not allow the
magic to conjure itself up again. The band
was no longer real, alive, vital, changing;
instead it was fake, dead, stale and stagnant.
The music seemed as false as the early
Monkees records made in the forest by
elfish stand-ins for the incompetent band
members. The Beatles are no more, and kids
today are not able to suspend their disbelief
for very long. More importantly, the Beatles
of my time never had to ask us to suspend
anything. They were everywhere: at parties
with Peter Fonda (depicted in "She Said She
Said"), at the London Palladium (where
Lennon told those in the cheap seats to clap,
the wealthy to "rattle their jewelry"), at the
movies Hard Day's Night, Help!. How 1 won
the War, Candy, Let It Be, Magie Christian),
on television (The Ed Sullivan Show, a
phantom appearance on Shindig, and the
abortive Magical Mystery Tour), and on up
to four albums and countless singles a year.
Even though those who follow us, those
teenagers whose minds are being shaped
now, lack the sense of energy and vigor and
purpose we are said to have had, the political
and social activism, the dogged
determination to stand up to a bureaucratic
draft board or a soft-shelled crab like
Richard Nixon, we need to mourn for them
for yet another, perhaps more tragic defect.
Not only can we not communicate with
them, but neither can they communicate
with one another. There's no longer that
solid frame of reference, that strong sense of
perspective, that impenetrable balance of
individual and universal experience, with
which one might define himself within the
context of his peers. Diversity runs rampant
Soviets not to attack the United States.
This is where the DTH editorial makes its
mistake, for the editorial assumes that a
Russian attack would do no damage to the
United States. The editorial stated that "if
military leaders were to launch ICBMs and
strategic bombers the moment nuclear
conflict began" that the American bombers
would be useless because our ICBMs would
destroy the Russian targets before the
bombers reached their targets. The author of
that editorial, David Stacks, assumes that
American military leaders would know
exactly when the Russians launched their
weapons so American weapons could be
dispatched at the same time. It is a fairly
secure assumption that if the Russians attack
the United States they will not inform our
military leaders of their plan in advance.
In case of nuclear conflict the most
important question for the United States is
not the state of American weapons before
t he war but how many of those weapons will
be left after the first strike against the United
States. If the Soviets ever got to the point
where they were confident that our nuclear
force could be destroyed in a first strike then
nuclear conflict will be a much greater threat
to occur than if neither side thought it could
win such a conflict.
Mr. Stacks' editorial complains that
bombers will make little difference in the
case of nuclear war because ICBMs will
already have struck Russian targets. The
problem Mr. Stacks faces is what if the
bomber force is incapable of reaching Soviet
targets and the ICBMs have been destroyed.
By modernizing the three American nuclear
delivery systems ICBMs, bombers and
submarine-launched missiles the
American ability to strike back at the
Russians will be increased, and therefore, the
likelihood of an attack against the United
I r'
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vat think ofsmhins
identity
through the youth of today and the
difference between my generation and that
of my 16-year-old brother is that he cannot
see himself in the total picture of existence;
he feels no part of the times he lives in; he's
totally alienated from everyone and
everything.
Now, the Beatles by no means were solely
responsible for making me see that I'm the
child of my father and the brother of my
fellow man, but they helped. Their genius in
the right place at the right time helped lend
definition to our ways of life, as diverse as
they were. But they, combined with other,
some stronger, elements that insane war,
campus revolt, sexual consciousness,
adulthood, space shots, the emergence of the
H ill i
't
Wa'vie otto v.-
Songwriters Lennon and McCartney
American film as serious art, Catch-22 or
Slaughterhouse-Five all of these helped
define not only purpose but also existence
for all of us. It gave us, no matter how
different we all were, a point to begin from
and one to build and reflect upon just as
I've been doing here. Earlier generations had
something similar to bind them toghether
that's what American history has been about
all this time. My greatest fear, however, is
that the present generation is leap-frogging
this process, and the consequences as anyone
can see, are disastrous. A reunion of the
Beatles certainly wouldn't help them, though
it may do our tired, old hearts some good.
Until that happens, though I don't think it
will, I'll have my memories. But years from
now, what will my younger brother have?
j.M. Burris is an English graduate student
from Chapel Hill.
States and the chances of a nuclear conflict
will be reduced.
Frank White
732 Tinkerbell Road
Editor's Note: The article referred to in Mr.
White's letter is a personal column by David
Stacks, not an editorial. Columns represent
the personal opinion of the author, not the
newspaper.
Down with punk cartoons
To the editor:
When are you going to quit printing
Govus' "punk" cartoons. They are tasteless
and boring. Blank space would be more
entertaining.
Kathy Silverthorne Jarvis
Mount Sinai Road
Elizabeth Jennette
D-10 Kingswood Apts.
KKK free to assemble
To the editor:
George Batten (Letters to the editor, Feb.
7) should read the First Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution. There he will find that
freedom of assembly is as important a right
as freedom of speech. The local chapter of
the Ku Klux Klan has as much right to
peaceful assembly as does the Black Student
Movement, the Carolina Gay Association,
the Young Democrats or any other
organization.
The belief that if the Ku Klux Klan were in
control we would lose all our rights is not
grounds for denying our organization its
rights.
Roy Rockljn
Department of chemistry
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