I can lay my being a fan of anything at all squarely at the feet of the Beatles. While very young there were singers I liked, TV shows I watched, celebrities I thought were cute, but it wasn't until I discovered Beatlemania as a pre-teen that the idea of more than simply "liking" something formed in my head.

Beatlemania was in full swing when I was a newborn (literally - I was a month to the day when they appeared on Ed Sullivan) but ten years later the hysteria that had surrounded them mesmerized me completely. I was stunned at the level of chaos that had followed them around, and would boggle over the complete loss of control from which those girls had suffered. Their proclamations of undying love for John, their signs saying Paul was the grooviest, throwing jelly babies at George, or fainting over Ringo - it all captured my psyche to the point where I wanted a band to scream over too.

Well, I found one when I was 12 (nope, not saying; I've basically told you my age, you do the math.) and, although I didn't scream either time I managed to see them in concert, for a few years there I lived and breathed their existence over my own. They were pretty much the only important thing to me (and my best friend, of course; teenage girls don't do these things alone.) and I did the typical pre-internet things fans did: have pen pals, collect whatever I could find, paper my bedroom walls with posters and pin ups, listen to their records - yes, records - over and over and over again, day in and day out, pine for my "fave", and watch the hysteria around them mimic that of Beatlemania some 12 or 13 years previous with a certain sense of pride that I was a part of it.

I emerged from that period of time with a new appreciation of music and went on to have more favourite bands, but I can say with all seriousness that since then, only two "famous" bands have captured my attention as completely as that one did: one while in my early to mid-20's and one currently. Of course lately I have no angst over a band member like I did when I was 13 and 21, but the sheer joy that the music brings me has lost none of its potency or pleasure.

The sheer mania that followed both the Beatles and my teen idols didn't exist for the band I liked in my 20's, nor does it for my current favourite band, but it seems as though the loyalty of the fans for both is maybe as strong as it ever was for either the Beatles or my teen idols. I don't really consider myself too much of a fan of that band I liked in my 20's (the music went in a direction I didn't care for), although I've still gone to see them on occasion over the years and have (usually) enjoyed it, and my teen idols? Turns out they're - well...an interesting bunch of individuals and let's leave it at that, shall we?

But I know people who are still fans of both, who were fans of both back in the heyday of each; that means there are still folks who consider our teen idols one of their favourite bands, 30+ years later. That's pretty amazing to me. They don't scream like they used to, or perhaps devote as much time to the study and worship of that band, but they still listen to their music and get together with other fans whenever they can.

It's much the same for the band I liked in my 20's - I know people who are still going to see them whenever possible, however much they can, who are still listening to the music and considering it some of the best out there. That too makes me smile.

Why does it make me smile? Because of how important I consider the fan to be in the music industry equation. As I said last issue, without people to buy the product, musicians (and by extension the rest of the industry) have no careers. I think it must be the goal of every working musician or band out there to find those fans for whom they are the Beatles: their very most favourite band for the rest of their lives, the one they devote the most energy and - let's be real here - money too. Although I suspect it's less about the money for some and almost as much about touching a person deeply enough with their art that they become as loyal as fans of the Beatles or Elvis or U2 or Springsteen or the Greatful Dead...that must be a truly amazing thing, to know that what you've created has become that important to another person (who isn't related to you).

I used to think that I would love my teen idols till I died; then I was sure that I would be going to see the band from my 20's when I was in a walker (who knows, that might still happen). These days I figure I'll still be going to see my current favourite band until I'm in orthotics and using a cane...but who knows. The Beatles may be the reason I *have* favourite bands but I'm not sure I've found my equivalent.

Yet.

Tell me your stories of being a fan; I'd love to hear them - and I may publish a few too.