Cet article non signé est paru dans l’hebdomadaire britannique Disc & Music Echo daté du 27 août 1966. Phil May ne mâche pas ses mots : pour lui, les Beatles sont dépassés, ils vivent trop dans leur bulle depuis qu’ils ont été faits membres de l’Ordre de l’Empire britannique, et ils feraient tout simplement mieux d’arrêter la musique. Avec le recul, c’est une déclaration qu’on pourra qualifier d’audacieuse, pour être poli… du moins, si c’était un propos sincère et pas un simple coup de pub.

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“THE BEATLES have reached their peak and now they’re on the slide. They’re out of touch and should give it up now instead of just clinging on.”

You might suppose that comment came from Proby, the Philippine president’s wife or anybody else brought down by the Beatles. In fact, it came from Phil May, leader of the PRETTY THINGS.

Says Phil: “When the Beatles got their MBEs it was a clear sign of the Treasury using initiative and realising that interest had to be maintained in such a money-making outfit for the British economy.

“But you can’t go on giving out MBEs for ever. The Beatles’ trouble is that they’re living in a house with the windows shut. They’re cut off by security from the scene outside and they can’t feel the pulse of the business.”

May’s broadside on the much-battered Beatles finally exploded: “They stick to visiting places like the Scotch and Sybilla’s where they meet a tight little circle instead of being able to go out and play gigs every night and know what the fans really want.

“We were mad ravers, but that scene is over,” says Phil. “Pop used to be a good time for everybody, but now everything’s become so serious. People want to analyse pop songs in the same way that they analyse jazz.

“We’re not reforming or anything like that. The fans still want to see a good act, after all. It’s just that we’ve reviewed our record making and realised that raving’s out.”


Source : WorldRadioHistory.com (PDF).