At Cloudspace we have always drawn inspiration from the great entrepreneurial spirits that came before us. When I say entrepreneurial spirits I don't necessarily mean dead people or even entrepreneurs. I mean people who looked at the world around them and saw something that needed to be changed and then actually did something about it. Who better to learn from, right? Unfortunately we don't really give them the props they deserve. In our defense it is kind of hard to say to a client "Well I examined the problem but then I stopped and thought to myself 'What Would Richard Branson Do?'". So we have decided to right our unintentional wrongs and shine some light on the people who shook the very foundations of our existence. It is with great pride that I present to you Vol. 1 of a series we have lovingly named "A Cloudspace Tribute to General Bad-Assery".

THE BEATLES

This week forty seven years ago, 4 boys from the U.K. with silly haircuts did something no one thought was possible or even reasonable. They held the top 5 positions in the Billboard Top 40 singles in America. They trampled all over famous American musical legends like Elvis Presley, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry. Without the help of Rubber Soul, Revolver, or Sgt Pepper’s which are widely viewed as three of the best albums of all time. In other words, they made chopped liver out of their idols while still using their proverbial training wheels. In honor of their historical (and still standing) 5 slot record, we have decided to dazzle you with a bevy of Beatles trivia. Hold on to your butts!

• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the first rock album in history to provide a full listing of lyrics with the album. To this day I curse bands that do not extend the same courtesy to their fans. I’M SORRY KURT COBAIN, I CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU. TRY MUMBLING LESS. source
• John Lennon co-wrote David Bowie’s first #1 single Fame. Lennon's voice is also heard singing the repeated words "FAME, FAME, FAME" with his voice heard at a fast, normal, and slow playback speeds, until Bowie's voice is heard singing the final lyrics of the song before the fade. source
• Before Paul McCartney wrote Penny Lane it was just an ordinary street in Liverpool. After he wrote Penny Lane it became a Mecca for all those suffering from Beatlemania. So much so that after a countless number of street signs were stolen, the city began screwing placards into the pavement. After those were finally pried up, the city officials decided it would be best to just paint the street name onto the side of buildings. In unrelated news, I have begun researching how to pry brick walls out of buildings.... source
• After accidentally leaning his guitar against an amplifier in 1964, John Lennon became the first mainstream musician to ever use feedback. And Jimi Hendrix never even said thank you. source
• A year after toppling him on the Billboard charts The Beatles met their God, Elvis. And then he tried to have them deported for their “Anti-Americanism.”  Well he had one thing right, they aren't American. Thanks Captain Obvious. source
• One woman, George Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd, is responsible for the songs Something, I Need You, and For You Blue. Then she divorced George and married his best friend, Eric Clapton. Eric wrote Layla and Wonderful Tonight about her. Yeah, she was pretty hot. Thanks for being a groupie Pattie, we got some really great music out of it. source
• The track listing for the only time in history that one band has held the top 5 spots on the Billboard Top 40 in order, are: Can't Buy Me Love, Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Please Please Me. source

Regardless of the fact that they set records left and right The Beatles have left a lasting impression on the planet. The love of their music has been passed down from parent to child and will continue to be for generations. As a young girl I practiced piano everyday with this hanging on the wall above. To this day, I will assume you have terrible taste in music if you can’t name 5 of The Beatle’s songs; and that assumption is always right. Even the founder of Cloudspace, Todd Sampson, has to admit that his mother out-hips him if only because she liked The Beatles before they were cool:

My mom actually saw the Beatles live at their first American show in Washington D.C.  This is the same show "in the round" that Apple included as a video of when they launched the Beatles on iTunes.  While she said she could hardly hear the music over all the other screaming girls at the gig, it's still hard to know I'm never going to have an experience as cool as my mom did back in 1964.

So here is to The Beatles. Thanks for paving the way for poetry writing, leftist weirdos to be successful. May you always be the basis by which we judge all other bands.