BEATLE-MANIA

To succeed at wedding receptions, a DJ must play dance music that appeals to guests from a wide range of ages.

A good DJ does this by playing a wide variety of styles during the reception -- playing sets of music from 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and so on -- varying his selections to appeal to one age group or another.

Even better for DJs are those songs and artists so universally known and loved, they appeal to many guests of all ages.

The Beatles are one such group. I know this from experience as a DJ. But now I also know it from a recent study by the Pew Research Center, a highly respected think-tank. In its report on current trends in generational attitudes among Americans, Pew concluded that "there is one area of culture that members of every generation can agree on: music, and more specifically, the Beatles."

The 2009 Pew study found the Beatles the most popular performers in America across-the-board, with roughly half of all Americans liking the Beatles "a lot" and four out of five liking them at least "a little." No other performer scored as high.

Affinity for the Beatles is so widespread across generations that they were only performers scoring in the top five in ALL the age-groups surveyed (16-29 years, 30-49 years, 50-64 years, and 65+ years)!

No wonder the newly remastered reissues of the Beatles on CD are creating such a buzz. At the time I write this, the reissued Beatles albums hold 9 out of 10 slots in Amazon.com's list of music top-sellers.