10 Bands Who Used Songs To 'One-Up' Rival Artists
1. The Beatles Went Hard To Best The Who
The Beatles always took the opportunity to reach for new influences wherever they could. From their earliest days playing in Hamburg to their in-studio creations, the band's capacity to write hits was only matched by their white-hot competitive streak amongst each other and their peers.
When the band was compiling tracks for their fantastic double disc The White Album, Paul McCartney came across a review in NME on the Who's latest record. While McCartney couldn't remember what exact song the article referred to, what stuck in his brain was the praise Pete Townshend and co. were getting for making one of the heaviest rock songs in existence.
Not to be outdone, McCartney set to work writing a song that was a bit more on the heavier side to beat the Who at their own game. What came out was "Helter Skelter," a perfect slice of garage rock brilliance that not only brought the heaviness to the forefront, but also became one of the first proto-metal songs long before bands like Black Sabbath came about.
Though the Beatles have the reputation of being laid back rock and roll geniuses, they could still annihilate any competition that lay in front of them, even if it meant inventing genres along the way.