Spring DWA

Author's Note: This is my writing piece for the Spring District Writing Assessment. I wrote this about the Beatles versus One Direction. My focus for this piece is trying not to be biased and just say that one of the groups is better than the other.

The Beatles: one of the world’s most famous boy-bands yet to exist. One Direction: one of the world’s newest boy bands that is topping charts, breaking records, and stealing the hearts of millions of girls worldwide. These two completely different boy bands have one thing in common: both will leave legacies long after the group is done performing.

The Beatles first originated in 1957. The founder John Lennon joined up with friend Paul McCartney. The two performed at small restaurants and venues in the area. Later, in 1958, George Harrison joined as a guitarist. The three had a few gigs, but were still in need for a permanent drummer. Later they found one. Ringo Star joined the group in August of 1962. In  1963, they released their first album: Please Please Me.

In 2010, each of the five members of One Direction auditioned individually for the seventh season of the TV show, “The X Factor”, but failed to qualify for the “boys” category of the show. By the suggestion of Nicole Scherzinger, the five boys: Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson were all placed in a group together. Not only were they the last band remaining on the show; they also placed third. Later in 2011, they signed a record deal with Syco records. They released their debut album: Up All Night in November 2011 in the United Kingdom.

One Direction

Both of these famous bands got their success so differently. The Beatles joined by choice. All of them wanted to be in the group. In fact it was almost an honor to become a member of the Beatles. On the other hand, One Direction was put together by force. Even though in they ended up all being friends, they had no idea who they were going to be working with.

The Beatles went down in history as one of the world’s most famous boy bands ever. Even though the Beatles stopped performing as a group over 40 years ago there are still stores today that continue selling Beatles merchandise. One of the reasons why the Beatles were so famous was the timing their band was started. It was started right at the time of World War ll. They had a huge fan base from the “baby boom” teenagers. Even though the timing was perfect, the Beatles still had an enormous amount of talent.

Even though One Direction did not win The X Factor, they were still one of the most successful groups that the show has ever produced. Millions of girls all over the world are obsessed with the new British boy-band. They even had to make an extra tour schedule because all of their concerts sold out within five minutes of the tickets being available.

The Beatles

Both the Beatles and One Direction both are famous for some of the same reasons. One of the reasons is their songs and talent. Both of the bands have singles that are famous around the world. Another reason is that teenage girls find the boys of the groups attractive – this was the case of the Beatles in the 1960’s as well as One Direction today.

Some people would claim that the reason that One Direction is as famous as the Beatles is because of the way times have changed. For instance today, people can purchase songs of the internet, so they are able to get them faster and cheaper, while in the time of the Beatles, they had to wait for the album and it was much more expensive. Even though times have changed, both groups did an incredible amount of work to get where they are today and both deserve to be equally as famous.

Every band, every performer, and every artist have one common goal, no matter how different they are. They all want to leave a legacy that lasts forever. The Beatles have done that. In the years to come, the Beatles will always be remembered for their huge impact on the music career. One Direction is following in their footsteps. They have already left a huge impact around the world and will continue to in the future. Both have left huge impacts on the lives of millions of people and left legacies that will remain forever. 

"Hollywood Teen TV | The Latest Teen Entertainment News & Up To The Minute Gossip & More!." Hollywood Teen TV | The Latest Teen Entertainment News & Up To The Minute Gossip & More!. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 May 2012. <http://hollywoodteenonline.com>.
"One Direction: Boy Band Bests the Beatles, Debuts Atop Billboard Charts | NewsFeed | TIME.com." NewsFeed | Breaking news and updates from Time.com. News pictures, video, Twitter trends. | TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2012. <http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/21/boy-band-bests-the-beatles-debuts-atop-billboard-charts/>.  

 SMART, GORDON. "One Direction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Direction#2010:_The_X_Factor

"The Beatles- Wikipedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2012. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles#Please_Please_Me_and_With_The_Beatleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles#Please_Please_Me_

Westbrook, Caroline. "Paul McCartney talks up One Direction collaboration despite Beatles warning | Metro.co.uk." Metro.co.uk: News, sport, showbiz, celebrities from Metro newspaper | Metro.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2012. <http://www.metro.co.uk/music/894745-paul-mccartney-talks-up-one-direction-collaboration-despite-beatles-warning>. 

 "Why were The Beatles so famous." The Q&A wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2012. <http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_were_The_Beatles_so_famous