In his talk, entitled “The Beatles: were they over-rated or were they pop music pioneers?”, Kevin will talk about the Beatles, concentrating on the period when they were together as a group during the 1960s. Although he is not a recognised authority on the Beatles, he is a serious collector of their music and has been a follower and fan for many years. Kevin will focus on their body of work, discussing particular songs to show how the group developed from their beginnings in Liverpool to their breakup as worldwide rockstars. His talk will not be a detailed critique of the band and their music. Kevin hopes to illustrate, even to those non-fans, the influence the group had on the development of modern popular music and modern culture through the heady days of the 1960s.

A report of the meeting by Clive Barrett is available to download.

Speaker biography

Kevin Russell was born in Salford, Greater Manchester in 1960. Blind since birth, he has led a full and active life, never allowing his disability to impair his desire to live a fulfilling life. He spent his formative years being educated in special schools for the blind in Liverpool and Worcester. He then went on to study French and German at university, obtained a post graduate teaching certificate, but then changed direction and studied Computing at Bradford University. He spent 29 years working for IBM’s UK development laboratory, based at Hursley, near Winchester in Hampshire in a rewarding and varied career. As a totally blind person, he has met life’s challenges with determination and a strong desire to succeed and enjoy life to the full. Kevin’s main interests are music and radio. He presents a weekly pop music radio show every Tuesday evening, called Flashback Gold on The Phoenix internet radio station.

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