A while ago all the Beatles back catalogue got added to Spotify at last, which partly compensated for Prince pulling his stuff off it. Personally I do not dislike the Beatles, but I never got round to buying any of their records either, apart from Sgt Pepper on vinyl ages ago.

All of this means that I have never really listened to much of their stuff apart from what might crop up on the radio or TV which is mostly just the singles, and predominantly the early 60s “ooh-ooh-ooh” stuff, but now I have been trying complete albums, and realised two things.

Firstly, that the Beatles actually got better. Most bands that start with a big hit either get in a rut trying to make the same album over and over again or end up dissapointing because they can’t quite capture the early magic. I am thinking here of Elastica and Gang of Four who peaked with their first albums. The Beatles kept changing but also kept getting better. It makes you wonder what they could have done if they had kept going – bringing to mind the Alan Partridge quote “Wings – the band the Beatles could have been!”

Secondly that Ringo is actually very good. That flippant, throwaway joke by McCartney that Ringo wasn’t the best drummer in the world, he isn’t even the best drummer in the Beatles, does seem to have got taken seriously but Ringo actually does a good job and isn’t afraid to be experimental.