Beatlemania 2009

Are you ready for Beatlemania 2.0?

Author:: Seth Fiegerman
Publish date:: Sep 18, 2009 6:22 PM EDT

The Beatles are back and re-introducing themselves to America and the world. The last Beatles’ blitz was back in 1995 when the group released their Anthology collection along with a DVD and coffee table book. But that’s nothing compared to this year. For the first time since 1970, full-blown Beatles’ hysteria seems to have returned to America, and the world. The jury is out on whether this can single handedly lift us out of the recession, though some companies are clearly banking on it.)In case you’ve been living in a hole for the last month, or if you just want to be the first one of your friends to collect everything from the Liverpool gang, here are five of the biggest things floating around in the Beatles’ world right now:

The Beatles have topped the charts again, more than 40 years after they did so the first time. Their 14 just-released remastered albums have sold more than 600,000 copies total, with Abbey Road leading the way selling nearly 70,000 copies. It’s doubly impressive to see a band from the 60s do this well in a music market where fewer and fewer people buy CDs. Plus, the remastered collection is getting great reviews.

The making of this game is already its own myth. It was effectively a band reunion, with representatives of all four parties getting together to make suggestions about the design and concept. Paul said in an interview he believes this game will be the band’s lifeline to a new generation of fans, and he may very well be right. Though specific numbers aren’t available yet, sales of the game have already exceeded all expectations. According to Viacom, one quarter of their inventory of the game was sold out in the first week alone. On top of this, a rare edition of Beatles Rock Band for Xbox sold for more than $17,000 in a recent auction.

It may not be a game, but nothing’s more fun than making a few extra bucks. Check out stocks like Viacom (Stock Quote: VIA), Sony (Stock Quote: SNE) and Electronic Arts (Stock Quote: ERTS), among others. Each of them is related to various Beatles products and bound to profit from the new wave of Beatlemania. You might even use the money you make from these stocks and reinvest in the band(items 1, 2, 4 & 5 on this list).

No mania is ever complete without themed board games. There is already a Beatles version of Monopoly and Beatles Trivia Pursuit, both of which were quick bestsellers on Amazon.

OK, so we all know the Beatles won’t exactly be touring together anytime soon. But Paul McCartney, who was recently voted America’s favorite Beatle (sorry Ringo), will be touring later this year. He’s doing quite well: for two months of concerts over the summer, the ex-Beatle grossed nearly $24 million. Unfortunately, nothing is scheduled in the near future for Ringo. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Re-Introducing the Beatles

The Beatles are back and re-introducing themselves to America and the world. The last Beatles’ blitz was back in 1995 when the group released their Anthology collection along with a DVD and coffee table book. But that’s nothing compared to this year. For the first time since 1970, full-blown Beatles’ hysteria seems to have returned to America, and the world. The jury is out on whether this can single handedly lift us out of the recession, though some companies are clearly banking on it.)In case you’ve been living in a hole for the last month, or if you just want to be the first one of your friends to collect everything from the Liverpool gang, here are five of the biggest things floating around in the Beatles’ world right now: