Steven Page aims for more than tribute with Beatles concert
The Beatles exemplify the enduring power of pop music — more than half a century old but still playing in headphones everywhere.
In December, the music of the Beatles appeared on streaming sites like Spotify and Apple Music for the first time. In the first three days, Beatles songs were played 70 million times. "They are the standards of the last 50 years," said songwriter and former Barenaked Lady Steven Page.
Page has long been an encyclopedic Beatles fan, and credits the band with greatly influencing his own music. On Thursday, he mounts a tribute to the Beatles, singing the songs of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Sony Centre with the Art Of Time Ensemble.
He told Metro Morning host Matt Galloway that the Beatles are a part of life for a lot people, including him. "They were the ones who made me want to make records," he said. He remembered lying on his parents' floor, with his "giant Radio Shack" headphones, getting excited about songs like For No One, off of the album Revolver.
"I remember hearing it as a seven or eight-year-old, and feeling emotionally overwhelmed," he said. Page talked also about the shorter songs on the self-titled album The Beatles, better known as the White Album. Those songs were unlike any other songs Page was hearing at the time. "Early on, that allowed me and millions of other songwriters a whole bunch a freedom to write songs that didn't have to fit in the standard rock and pop format," he said.
Source: CBC News
