You can't imagine a world where the Beatles didn't come to New York and blow the doors open to the British Invasion. You can't imagine a world where they didn't become the biggest band in the world. You can't imagine a world where they didn't inspire generations of boys and girls to pick up instruments and form bands too.
Those four dudes from Liverpool made it all look fun. Joyous. They played with a smart exuberance. And then the music got better and more intricate, and really, really artful. You can't imagine any other band filling that slot. That's not how history works. They did it. Nobody else did. All other comers were just following in their path. And lots of the others wore Beatle boots and had cute haircuts too.
