Debt to Beatles

Gerry Hassan's views, postulated in "Grown up baby-boomers destroy myth of 1960s" (Opinion, 15 April), are not new. They echo the same petted-lip sentiments of several, younger cultural commentators, notably Dominic Sandbrook.

He is, however, wrong in asserting that the Beatles "pushed black music out of the US charts" in 1964. American racism had been accomplishing this for many years prior to the "British Invasion".

Indeed, the new influx did much to break the stranglehold of moribund industry practices and thus helped facilitate the rise to national status of labels such as Motown and Stax.

BRIAN HOGG

Sanda Street

Glasgow