Seven thousand years in the future, when our holograms are beamed to concerts in distant cities, and a private jam session with a favorite guitarist is as simple as plugging in the right cable from our virtual reality amp, scholars will still be seriously studying Beatlemania.
The scream-worthy, all-encompassing moment revved up, marvelously and mop-top-ishly, in 1964, when Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr arrived on our fair American shores for a history-changing appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
What followed? Millions of posters, buttons, toys, and t-shirts, the sort of collectible doodads that had already popped up in England where the Liverpudlians got their star.
The Grammy Museum will soon ponder the phenomenon starting on July 1, 2016 when "Ladies and Gentlemen... The Beatles!" opens at the LA Live-based music history institution.
True, true, the museum has already given individual shows to all the Beatles, save Paul. And true, true, The Beatles already have a presence in the museum, in various pockets and displays, because, well, they're The Beatles.
But this traveling, stuff-packed show, which has been compiled by the Grammy Museum and Fab Four Exhibits, "explores and celebrates The Beatles' impact on pop culture from the perspective of their fans."
So, you betcha, there shall be memorabilia, over 400 pieces worth, as well as "articles of clothing" and "tour artifacts" and "rare photographs."
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Will you see a Paul doll, the one you loaned to your cousin Margie, there in the museum? Our childhood playthings do have a rather impressive way getting a bit priceless as we age (at least the ones we no longer own).
The exhibit is a continuing 50th anniversary celebration of when the band first arrived in the United States back in 1964, and the huge impact it had on both the fans then and the fans now.
And, yes, on the concept of fandom in general.
Which means that, in seven thousand years, when we'll all be holograms, or living inside a glowing VR world, we'll still be studying the lasting impact of Beatlemania, a force so Fab that neither time, nor your Paul doll disappearing inside your cousin's toy chest, can stop it.
