In the second chapter of Malcolm Gladwell's new book "Outliers" he describes how in 1960, when they were first starting out, The Beatles were invited to play at a club in Hamburg, Germany, that featured live music every night of the week.
On their first trip to Hamburg, The Beatles played 106 nights, typically for 5-8 hours per night. The next time they went, they played more than 90 times, again for 5-8 hours. And so on. In all, the band made five trips to Hamburg between 1960-1962.
According to Gladwell, they performed for 270 nights in about 18 months. By 1964, The Beatles had performed live an estimated 1200 times. Do you know how extraordinary that is? Most bands today don't perform 1200 times in their entire careers. The Hamburg experience is one of the things that set the Beatles apart.
As one person close to the band put it:
"They were no good on stage when they first arrived [at Hamburg] and they were very good when they came back. It was what made them successful."
The Beatles (and others who've had great success) were unique in that they accepted the challenge of performing live while knowing they were only a mediocre stage band. How many other bands were invited to go to Hamburg but for whatever reason, didn't go?
More importantly, what about the other bands who did go to Hamburg but didn't have the passion, energy, and work ethic to get on stage for 270 nights in only 18 months? How many quit after the first 10 or 20 or 100 nights? How many other bands took it serious enough to perform for 270 nights?
Like The Beatles, each of us has an opportunity to become something greater than mediocre, but it takes perseverance and dedication to improvement.
No comments:
Post a Comment