MBE (ROOM 218)
MBE (ROOM 218)
The Establishment in the USA and Britain, which had hitherto rejected youth sub-culture during the early days of Rock n Roll, blaming falling standards and increasing levels of violence on the evils of this music, suddenly changed tack, with the adage “if you can’t beat them… join them.” Undeniably rock n roll, was young, vibrant, predominantly white and more importantly sung in English. This was a potent tool in preserving the English language as the dominant language of business world wide, in the face of challenges from the French and Japanese in the latter part of the twentieth century. Once this was recognised, governments changed their attitudes and embraced the newly emerging Rock n Roll Heroes and claimed them as their own. The Labour Prime Minister of Great Britain was Harold Wilson, although a Yorkshire man by birth, he was educated on Merseyside and was a local MP of stature. He quickly seized upon the promotional opportunities that The Beatles presented for him and his party recommended The Beatles for MBE’s in the Queens Annual Honours List. The announcement of the awards was met with both derision and praise in almost equal measure. Many previous MBE recipients sent theirs back as a protest ,as giving them to pop stars devalued the award , usually given for distinguished political, military or charitable work. Undeterred George quipped, “Great, we are one short. If they’re gonna send it back, send it to us because we need one for our manager. MBE really stands for Mr Brian Epstein!”
John was the least comfortable with accepting the award as he saw it as selling out. “I thought you had to drive tanks and win wars to win one” he dryly remarked. Brian persuaded him to accept it, which he did with the others on October 26th 1965, presented by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Again the event was surrounded by hysteria and footage was aired on news channels world wide, a great advert for a young modern Britain! John later decided accepting it was a good idea, because he later used it as a protest against Britain’s involvement in The Biafran War and sent his medal back in 1971, but not before he had the task of retrieving it from his Aunt Mimi’s TV set, upon which it sat. A traditional royalist Mimi was horrified that he should send it back.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON
MBE (ROOM 218)
The Establishment in the USA and Britain, which had hitherto rejected youth sub-culture during the early days of Rock n Roll, blaming falling standards and increasing levels of violence on the evils of this music, suddenly changed tack, with the adage “if you can’t beat them… join them.” Undeniably rock n roll, was young, vibrant, predominantly white and more importantly sung in English. This was a potent tool in preserving the English language as the dominant language of business world wide, in the face of challenges from the French and Japanese in the latter part of the twentieth century. Once this was recognised, governments changed their attitudes and embraced the newly emerging Rock n Roll Heroes and claimed them as their own. The Labour Prime Minister of Great Britain was Harold Wilson, although a Yorkshire man by birth, he was educated on Merseyside and was a local MP of stature. He quickly seized upon the promotional opportunities that The Beatles presented for him and his party recommended The Beatles for MBE’s in the Queens Annual Honours List. The announcement of the awards was met with both derision and praise in almost equal measure. Many previous MBE recipients sent theirs back as a protest ,as giving them to pop stars devalued the award , usually given for distinguished political, military or charitable work. Undeterred George quipped, “Great, we are one short. If they’re gonna send it back, send it to us because we need one for our manager. MBE really stands for Mr Brian Epstein!”
John was the least comfortable with accepting the award as he saw it as selling out. “I thought you had to drive tanks and win wars to win one” he dryly remarked. Brian persuaded him to accept it, which he did with the others on October 26th 1965, presented by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Again the event was surrounded by hysteria and footage was aired on news channels world wide, a great advert for a young modern Britain! John later decided accepting it was a good idea, because he later used it as a protest against Britain’s involvement in The Biafran War and sent his medal back in 1971, but not before he had the task of retrieving it from his Aunt Mimi’s TV set, upon which it sat. A traditional royalist Mimi was horrified that he should send it back.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON
MBE (ROOM 218)
The Establishment in the USA and Britain, which had hitherto rejected youth sub-culture during the early days of Rock n Roll, blaming falling standards and increasing levels of violence on the evils of this music, suddenly changed tack, with the adage “if you can’t beat them… join them.” Undeniably rock n roll, was young, vibrant, predominantly white and more importantly sung in English. This was a potent tool in preserving the English language as the dominant language of business world wide, in the face of challenges from the French and Japanese in the latter part of the twentieth century. Once this was recognised, governments changed their attitudes and embraced the newly emerging Rock n Roll Heroes and claimed them as their own. The Labour Prime Minister of Great Britain was Harold Wilson, although a Yorkshire man by birth, he was educated on Merseyside and was a local MP of stature. He quickly seized upon the promotional opportunities that The Beatles presented for him and his party recommended The Beatles for MBE’s in the Queens Annual Honours List. The announcement of the awards was met with both derision and praise in almost equal measure. Many previous MBE recipients sent theirs back as a protest ,as giving them to pop stars devalued the award , usually given for distinguished political, military or charitable work. Undeterred George quipped, “Great, we are one short. If they’re gonna send it back, send it to us because we need one for our manager. MBE really stands for Mr Brian Epstein!”
John was the least comfortable with accepting the award as he saw it as selling out. “I thought you had to drive tanks and win wars to win one” he dryly remarked. Brian persuaded him to accept it, which he did with the others on October 26th 1965, presented by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Again the event was surrounded by hysteria and footage was aired on news channels world wide, a great advert for a young modern Britain! John later decided accepting it was a good idea, because he later used it as a protest against Britain’s involvement in The Biafran War and sent his medal back in 1971, but not before he had the task of retrieving it from his Aunt Mimi’s TV set, upon which it sat. A traditional royalist Mimi was horrified that he should send it back.
Artwork painted and owned by ©SHANNON