Fifty years ago tomorrow -- July 6, 1957 – two music-crazed teenagers met for the first time, at a “Garden Fête” in Northern England.  Paul McCartney, 15, checked out the band performing there, led by John Lennon, 16.  Afterward, the younger boy showed the older one a few songs on the guitar.  Lennon was impressed, and asked McCartney to join up.  The rest is … you know. 

What made them revolutionary?  Certainly Lennon and McCartney’s remarkable talents as songwriters and vocalists.  But also, like their heroes Elvis and Little Richard, it was their determination, much of the time, to break through barriers – through musical genres, fashion trends, social niceties.  Once the leering Rolling Stones showed up, the Beatles were seen as the cuddly, safe franchise, but the Beatles were radicals, pushing the envelope, unveiling a bold surprise every few months.  And they did it in service of an excellent cause: Occasional cranky fit aside, their basic message was -- love and peace.  They made that message cool.  And they did it all before any of them turned 30.