What-If: Le Femme Beatles

[Kit]

I keep thinking back to the film Some Like It Hot. That was the one with Marilyn Monroe as part of an all-female brass band?

I don't think a non-vocalist all female group would have been very likely given the sexism of the 50s and early 60s. About the only way it would have been possible would have been as a novelty act, and the probably target market would have been men.

An all-female, instrument playing, song writing group that appealed to young women would not, I think, have been accepted into the record industry before the late 60s at the very earliest.

 

[Landshark]

If the Femme Beatles did form and manage to achieve the success of their OTL counterparts then they'd have a radical effect on the music scene. Instead of girls the world over listening to groups like the Supremes and singers like LuLu before singing into their hairbrushes they'd have a group of singer/songwriters/musicians to inspire them.

We could see a large number of girl bands getting together starting in the 60's.

 

[Justin Pickard]

Supposing the time just isn't right, and this girl group of "She-tles" sinks back into obscurity.

No Beatles means...

NONE OF THIS;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles'_influence

 

[Tyr]

Thanks for your enlightened attitude.

I think it's far more likely they wouldn't have gotten into music because nobody would have given them lessons and when they wanted to buy instruments, salesmen would have been pretty patronizing and possibly refuse. Afaik in 1963 there weren't any women playing their own instruments - women in music were vocalists. It probably wouldn't have occurred to them that it was something they could do. But that's nothing to do with ability.

The more I think about this, the more I have trouble imagining a female John Lennon. Oddly enough I've no trouble imagining the others as women, especially Paul.

I wasn't insulting women (wow...Since when we had a woman here). I was speaking in general of the knock on effects of a different upbringing, you are made by your early experiences and you can bet these would be different with as big a change as gender.

 

[Richard1978]

It's funny but I had the idea of a spoof autobiography about all female instrumental group from the mid 1960s a few years back. It never got further than a few notes The earlist real life group like this was Goldie & The Gingerbreads who had a couple of hits in the early 1960s.

 

[Gwendolyn Ingolfsson]

Their upbringing and early experiences would be very different if they were girls so even discounting butterflys its likely they wouldn't get interested in music or even be any good at it.

A big part of the Beatles fanbase was screaming girls too and even today you don't get men acting in the same way.

Oh, with all of the zillions of butterflies flapping due to the gender change it's very probable that they would not even know each other. But wild speculation is more fun.

 

[Gwendolyn Ingolfsson]

Thanks for your enlightened attitude.

I think it's far more likely they wouldn't have gotten into music because nobody would have given them lessons and when they wanted to buy instruments, salesmen would have been pretty patronizing and possibly refuse. Afaik in 1963 there weren't any women playing their own instruments - women in music were vocalists. It probably wouldn't have occurred to them that it was something they could do. But that's nothing to do with ability.

True. But like I said in another post, wild speculation is more fun! I don't think getting them instruments would be too very difficult; the main issue would be getting anyone to take them seriously as a band. What club would book them? Perhaps as a novelty act at first. Then when they get a hit, things take off from there.

The more I think about this, the more I have trouble imagining a female John Lennon. Oddly enough I've no trouble imagining the others as women, especially Paul.

Paul-chan was totemo kawaii back in his "cute Beatle" phase; now of course he looks worse than my dad. Amazed he didn't go the plastic surgery route like Cher and so many others. In any case, I imagine my "She-tles" (hee hee) as looking rather more attractive than merely sticking John, Paul, George & Ringo in drag. I mean, ewww. Ooh, and their alt-names! Hmm. Joan, Paula, Gina and Rachael. That will do.

 

[Gwendolyn Ingolfsson]

I keep thinking back to the film Some Like It Hot. That was the one with Marilyn Monroe as part of an all-female brass band?

I don't think a non-vocalist all female group would have been very likely given the sexism of the 50s and early 60s. About the only way it would have been possible would have been as a novelty act, and the probably target market would have been men.

An all-female, instrument playing, song writing group that appealed to young women would not, I think, have been accepted into the record industry before the late 60s at the very earliest.

Would it be possible for them to evolve from one into the other, that is, from a novelty act aimed at men into something with a much wider appeal? Granted it would take awhile.

 

[Gwendolyn Ingolfsson]

Supposing the time just isn't right, and this girl group of "She-tles" sinks back into obscurity.

No Beatles means...

NONE OF THIS;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles'_influence

Goodness. That would be an interesting What-If. . .In It's Own Write