The Beaters Anthology

Legends, a phenomenon, the biggest thing since The Beatles. Who could this description fit? Who could achieve such praise from the Muggle world and wizarding world alike? None other than The Beaters. Who are these four young men that forever changed the course of rock and roll? What is this band that so closely paralleled the legendary one of the sixties? Listen, and you shall discover...

In 1991, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, and Oliver Wood all met at Hogwarts. These four lads had never imagined that they would be the heartthrobs of millions; they never thought possible that they would tour the world, revolutionizing the music industry. They had their sights set on other things in the future, such as Quidditch, being in the Ministry of Magic, and moving to Russia to become a shoe shine boy. They were just four normal boys.

Harry, considered by many to be the 'leader' of The Beaters, first became interested in a music career in 1994, when he saw The Weird Sisters play at a Yule Ball at Hogwarts. At the time, he may not have thought much about the beat, the melody, the chords, or the voices, but this experience no doubt changed the course of his life. Over the summer after his fourth year, he tried to find solace from the death of one of his friends, Cedric Diggory, in many different things, such as playing jacks and drinking Mountain Dew heavily. However, these practices didn't vent his sorrow in the way that Harry needed. He needed something to soothe his soul, mind, heart, and physical being.

He discovered the guitar one day while walking through the streets of London with his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. He passed by a music shop that had displays of beautiful guitars: the most beautiful things he had ever seen. He escaped his Uncle and Aunt's watch for a few moments and ran into the store. All at once, his breath was taken away by the pulchritudinous sight of dozens of guitars: guitars of all colors, shapes, sizes, and models. He quickly took a free edition of a guitar catalog before being found and carried away by his Uncle and Aunt.

That night, his heart was light as he looked through the catalog. He picked out the guitar he wanted, a lovely Synsonics wooden acoustic, with a cherry wood neck and steel strings. In an interview from 2015 with Harry, he explained his ecstasy:

"I thought I was in heaven. All of the guitars were so good-looking; there were so many possibilities. I picked out the Synsonics acoustic, and I thought maybe I could order it without the Dursley's knowing. It wasn't until I'd filled out the little form that I remembered that I didn't have any Muggle money..."

But that didn't put a damper on Harry's love. He mailed his best friend, Ron Weasley, and asked if he could stay at Ron's house the rest of that summer. Ron wrote back saying that Harry could come, so Harry persuaded his Aunt and Uncle that it would be best for everyone if Harry left. They agreed and Harry was off to Ron's house.

When Harry showed Ron the guitar catalog, Ron had the same blissful reaction to the pages of guitars. Ron picked out the guitar he wanted, just as harry had: a blue electric Fender.

Through hard work, Harry found a way to exchange wizard money for Muggle money at Gringotts Bank by mail, so he got the money he needed to buy the guitar. He sent off for both of their guitars (plus an amplifier for Ron), and they both got their packages six weeks later, a day before they had to leave for Hogwarts. In an interview conducted with Ron in 2008, he describes what it felt to receive the guitars:

"When I held that guitar in my hands, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. I didn't know how to play it or even tune it, but I still jammed on it for hours, thinking it was the best thing in the world. Harry paid for it, and I know it must've run in excess of fifty galleons. When I told him I couldn't let him pay for it, he told me that it would be an early Christmas present, and he'd never get me another one. He wasn't lying; I haven't gotten a Christmas present from him since..."

At Hogwarts, the two boys spent more time playing their guitars than they spent doing anything else. Their friend, Hermione Granger, got both of them self-taught lesson books for guitar. The two boys completely devoured the books, and they ended up spending even more time learning the guitar.

At the same time, Seamus Finnigan, a fellow fifth year friend of theirs, had already mastered the guitar, and could play almost every song he'd ever heard. At first, he kept his guitar playing skills quiet, but when Harry and Ron started a band, Harry and the Quarrymen, Seamus decided to speak up. Already in Harry's band besides Ron and himself were Draco Malfoy, who played bass (but mainly just looked cool), and Colin Creevy, who played drums. Seamus, in an interview from 2019, says how he got into the band:

"I had me guitar, some no-name electric, there with me, I just never bothered to play in front of anyone. One night, I was playing a song--I don't remember what--and all of the sudden Ron came in and saw me with me guitar. He said 'Seamus, you play guitar?' And I said 'Yeah.' And so he asked me to play something for him. I forget what I played, but it impressed him, so he got Harry to put me in the band as lead guitarist..."

So now the band had five members in it, and they could play pretty well for their youth. By their seventh year, all five of them were itching to get on the road and play at clubs. But they needed a manager to direct their affairs; they couldn't do that as well as practice and perform. Little did they expect that a professor from Hogwarts would be the one to lead their group.

Severus Snape had always had a dislike for Harry and Ron, but he had to admit that they were good musicians. He explains further in an interview from 2006:

"I heard some music playing in an empty classroom in the middle of the day one Saturday, and I looked in the room to see who it was. To my surprise, it was none other than Harry Potter and his little band. I must admit they had a rockin' band. Man, they were wailin' like a hurricane... I offered to help them get a few gigs, and they agreed; I was determined to make something out of them..."

Snape got them their first job playing at the Hogwarts Graduation Ball in which they were graduating. Though they missed out on dancing, they still had much fun rocking the night away. It was not until Dumbledore magically turned off the amplifiers that they stopped at two in the morning. After graduation, the five boys declined the opportunity to go on to college, and instead went on their next 'tour': Hamburg.

The five did not fully comprehend what going to Hamburg meant. They didn't realize that they would be away from home all summer; they didn't realize that they'd be playing long hours every night; they didn't realize that they would be sleeping in a cramped room; they didn't realize that Hamburg was in Germany. In and interview from 2010, Draco describes what he felt when he arrived in Hamburg:

"It was June, and yet the place was freezing when we arrived. I said to Snape, 'I don't want to stay here for three months.' He told me, 'You'll stay here or you'll face the wrath of your father.' And he was right: I couldn't go back home; my father already hated me. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps and become a Death Eater or something..."

While in Hamburg, the Quarrymen changed their name to The Silver Beaters, naming themselves after the Quidditch position. Soon, they shortened their name to simply The Beaters. Also, they found new styles: leather clothes, boots, and 'mushroom head' hairstyles (which Harry already had). The Beaters also made a few friends with the locals: a group of artistic Germans. One of these artists was named Arstrid. She came to the club that The Beaters played at every night, and she talked to the boys after every performance. Soon, Draco fell in love with Arstrid, and he left the band to paint pictures of little children with Arstrid. Draco reveals what he was thinking in an interview from 2010:

"It was love at first sight. I look back on it and see that I could have been a legend with The Beaters, but I also realize that I may have held them back from achieving the greatness that they had. I wouldn't have had it any other way..."

Harry, in an interview from 2009, also had something to say about Draco's departure:

"I was mad at first--really mad. He just abandoned us. But I also think that it was for the better. There was a lot of bitterness between us, and we probably wouldn't have lasted past 2001 if he had remained in the group..."

The flight of Draco also left an instrumental hole in the group: the bass. In an interview from 2012, Ron explains the struggle that ensued in the group after the bass left:

"There was a huge fight between me and Harry about who would play bass. Neither of us wanted to play it because it was considered kind of a stupid instrument to play. Then Harry said to me, 'You're playing bass if I have to buy it for you!' I agreed, because I couldn't afford it any other way (and I knew I'd eventually have to play it). I picked out a Hofner violin bass and Harry bought it for me..."

This Hofner violin bass, as time would tell, became a trademark of sorts for Ron. He learned to play it even better than Draco had played his bass, and soon they were attracting a bigger audience than the club could hold. Colin Creevy, in an interview from 2001, described the audiences in the early days of Hamburg:

"I looked out on the crowd from the stage one night and froze still: I was scared stiff. Harry came over to me after I missed a cue and told me that if I messed up again he'd throw me from the stage into the crowd. So we played, and the audience was loud. There must've been two hundred people in that little tavern..."

In Hamburg, they also had rival bands to compete with. In one of the bands, Rocky Storm and the Ouchies, former Gryffindor Quidditch team captain Oliver Wood played drums. The Beaters used to hang out with Oliver after long nights of playing and talk about Quidditch, music, and girls.

After the end of their stay in Hamburg, Snape quit his job at Hogwarts and devoted full time and effort to The Beaters. The Beaters had become famous in Hamburg, and there was demand for a record. But none of the record companies went for the classic style of The Beaters, so they couldn't get anything. After two years, in 1999, they finally got a record deal, playing 'My Bonny' with Jimmy Holiday singing lead. It sold like a lead balloon, as they say, and it was a big setback for The Beaters. Harry, in an interview from 2017, describes what happened:

"It could've been anyone playing in the background with him. It was just stupid. They also made us change out name to 'The Beat Brothers' because they didn't like our name. I don't know how I got through that..."

By the summer of 2001, The Beaters were touring a lot more than usual. Even though they only went around to about ten different clubs, it was a lot for them. They would pile into a van and drive around to the gigs, play, then leave and head to the next gig. During this time, Harry fell in love.

Parvati Patil, Harry's love, didn't tour with the group, but she would stay home and wait for Harry to return to her arms. They had met in Hogwarts, but had never been considered and 'item'. Harry talks about his love in an interview in 2013:

"Yeah, it was love. We didn't get married right away just because I was traveling around so much. I didn't want to make her one of those wives that never sees her husband. But it was always in the back of my mind..."

In 2002, The Beaters had finally got their first record deal with EMI Records. They arrived in the studio to show them what they had to the producer, George Martin (no relation to George Martin, The Beatles' producer). They played through their list of songs and George Martin took it to see if he could get The Beaters a full record contract. He contacted Harry a day later. He explains what he told Harry in an interview from 2020:

"I called Harry up and told him 'Harry, you all were great, but your drummer sucks.' I'm not one to say the word 'sucks', but that was the only way I could describe Colin's drumming. I didn't want to offend them, but they needed a new drummer..."

Harry, Ron, and Seamus kept this secret from Colin at first. They agreed that Colin was not great, but they couldn't find it in their hearts to tell him. But, it was get rid of Colin, or get rid of The Beaters, so they elected to get rid of Colin.

After ousting Colin, The Beaters were drummer-less. It was not until they saw Oliver Wood drumming at a show at one of the clubs that they thought of replacing Colin with Oliver. In an interview from 2011, Ron describes how they 'stole' Oliver:

"We saw Oliver playing, and we thought, 'Good Lord, he'd be a good drummer.' I mean, the only good part of The Ouchies' setup was Oliver. So we persuaded him to leave the Ouchies and join us. We went to the studio to try another sound test or whatever you call it, and George [Martin] said it was much better..."

It was now 2002, and The Beaters had their permanent players. They also had something more important: a contract for a single. The Beaters already had a few original songs, and the picked their best at the time, 'Love Me Or Else', for the A side, with 'PS, Look Out!' as the B side (The Beaters used two sided CDs for their singles).

And so was the start of the Beaters.