Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Turns 50 This Year

When it comes to iconic or legendary music, few bands can hold a torch to The Beatles. Fewer albums can even compare to the brilliance of 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. In fact, Rolling Stone even named it the number one album of all time.

Not only is this a brilliant album musically from start to finish, it’s also widely considered to be one of the first concept albums. This is the album that pushed music away from singles and made the album its own artform. From the album sleeve, to the pseudonyms and alter egos, to the innovative recording techniques, Sgt. Pepper remains at the top of the mountain of music history in its rightfully earned golden thrown of genius.

What else can really be said about this brilliant work of art? I mean, this record is 50 years old. Everyone knows everything about Sgt. Pepper at this point. There’s nothing else to say about it, really.

…or is there?

Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for pulling the breaks on this 50 year love fest, but the truth must be revealed. A very inconvenient truth that may be a hard pill to swallow, but it needs to be said. Sorry, Beatlemaniacs, but you’re not going to be able to turn a blind eye to this one, simple fact anymore.

There has never, ever been a woman or a person of color in The Beatles.

There. Someone finally said it.

In 1967, The Beatles were comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Four white men.

In fact, if you look at the complete history of The Beatles, you’ll see that they’ve only ever included white men. From original drummer, Pete Best, to manager and unofficial “fifth Beatle”, Brian Epstein.

All. White. Men.

Where is the outrage? Where are the riots in the streets? This isn’t 1967 anymore, it’s 2017. This is the future. If we truly want to achieve a post-racial, post-gender society, we need to start by forcing organizations like The Beatles to become an equal opportunity employer.

Conservative opponents to this kind of progress love to suggest that Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s wife, was a failed experiment in integration. By allowing a woman and a person of color into the inner-workings of The Beatles, she managed to destroy them. Not only that, but John Lennon is dead now. It must be Yoko’s fault, right?

Wrong, wrong, a hundred times wrong! You are a sexist and a racist for even thinking that!

Let’s get one thing straight. Yoko didn’t break up The Beatles.

We did.

We dismantled them piece by piece when we called their all white male line up “normal” or “traditional”. This is where we failed. By considering The Beatles to be “normal” because they were four white men, we were also quietly saying that having a woman or a person of color in The Beatles would be “abnormal”. Now John Lennon is dead and his blood is on your hands.

Mark David Chapman, a white man, may have pulled the trigger after reading a book by J.D. Salinger, also a white man, but you signed off on it the day you said it was okay for The Beatles to only allow white men into their little club.

Their little lonely hearts club.

Oh! And don’t even get me started on 1968’s The White Album. It’s like they’re not even trying to hide it anymore!

Kevin Froleiks is a New York based comedian and Beatles conspiracy theorist. Follow him on twitter or check out his website to find out where he’s performing next. His comedy album, Jokes I Don’t Really Do Anymore, is available for free on his website as well. You can also check out his podcast, We Wrote A Musical, on iTunes, and see his new musical comedy, Great Frontier: A Poorly Researched Musical About Lewis And Clark, at the 2017 NY Theatre Festival’s Summerfest.