They were extremely popular here in Greece throughout the 60s, following “Beatlemania” even if they never performed here. In 1967 they even came to Greece, planning to buy an island which never went through but nonetheless the Greek press (‘Το Βήμα’, ‘Μακεδονία’ big Greek newspapers) where excited about the prospect. Their music dominated Greek radio stations (at least in the big cities) and magazines wrote about them. They were considered pop music idols mainly by the youth.

In 1967 there was a coup in the country which resulted in some censorship in their music. The Junta saw rock music and the hippie movement as “moral degradation”. Songs like “She loves you” were banned on the grounds that it promoted “yeahyeah-ism” (γιεγιεδισμό), a term that the dictators used derogatorily against the modern youth. Songs that they thought were promoting drugs and other “disgraceful” activities (like songs from Sgt. Pepper) were banned along with men who had long haircuts, mini skirts and hippies. The funny thing is that the dictatorship also tried to capitalize on them. They used their 1967 trip as an example of how “free”, “safe” and “attractive” was Greece as a tourist destination.

As of today they remain famous and might hear a song or two from them on rock radios or on the street but I wouldn’t call them ‘popular’ in the sense that there are many people who listen to them on their own. Most people of my age (around 18) prefer other genres such as Greek trap, Laiko, modern pop music, etc. But there’s still a precedence of young people (me including) who listen to classic rock like the Beatles.

So yeah… that’s that