Howard Stern is a pioneering broadcaster who redefined the art of being a radio presenter. His distinct on-air persona brought an anarchic energy to his programmes, which presenters across the globe later adopted. Although they exist in a different medium, and even Stern would admit his contribution to culture diminishes in comparison, The Beatles transformed music in a comparable manner.
The Beatles have played a role in Stern’s life ever since childhood, and without their body of work, he’d likely be a very different type of character. The Fab Four opened his mind to exciting, new horizons that he previously didn’t deem possible, and he’ll forever be thankful for the sizeable impact they continue to have on his life, even today.
Thanks to his glittering career in radio, Stern has been fortunate enough to welcome Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney as guests on his programme. During the broadcasts with the former members of the Fab Four, Stern almost always fails to resist the opportunity to wax lyrical about one of his all-time favourite bands, including their seminal album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
During one broadcast when discussing his favourite albums, Stern told listeners: “If you were going to pick number one, it would have to be a Beatles album, I’d probably say it’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
Furthermore, he claimed The Beatles were the first musical act to impact the world successfully. “And fuck all the bullshit with Buddy Holly and the Crickets all that crap, none of it matter until The Beatles, fuck Elvis, fuck Crickets, all that shit… I tell you, The Beatles are the number one band of all time,” he said of their legacy.
The first time Stern heard Sgt. Pepper’s was a moment that will live with him forever. In the book Howard Stern Comes Again, he cast his mind back to 1967, when he was 13 and was exposed to the LP for the first time. “I had a record player in my room, and I called to my mother: ‘Mom, come in here! You gotta hear this!’ She sat on my bed next to me and we listened to the entire album,” he remembered.
“The song lyrics were printed on the back — it was one of the first times a band had done that, maybe even the first,” Stern added, before specifically discussing ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite’, which blew his mind.
The broadcaster continued: “As the music played, my mother and I read along. I have vivid memories of a scholarly moment when, like two rabbinical students, we poured over the lyrics to ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!’ The experience was more personal and profound than any religious training I’d received up until then.”
The track, written by John Lennon, spoke to Stern on a profound level that he’d never previously felt was achievable through music. It took him to another realm and unlocked something within himself that made him believe everything was right in the world.
