[ENTERTAINMENT]Get Back to The Beatles With Get Back

The Beatles disbanded 30 years ago, but they're still a favorite group in the minds of people the world over.

Proof of this, if needed, comes in the record-breaking popularity of "The Beatles 1," a collection of the Beatles' 27 number one singles, which took the world by storm.

In Korea, the album took the number one spot for more than 15 weeks in major record stores, and still lingers in the pop chart's top 10.

For Koreans, especially for those who were youths in the 1960s when the Korean music scene was rather barren, The Beatles were a potent influence.

For those for want to wallow in their nostalgia for the good old days, a Beatles tribute group called Get Back － named after one of The Beatles's hits － will perform in Korea on Monday and Tuesday.

According to Lee Seung-gyu, also known as Tom Lee (a former member of the group Koreana which sang "Hand in Hand" at the 1988 Seoul Olympics), who invited Get Back to perform in Korea, it is not a mediocre pop band trying to mimic the success of others. Get Back, he said, "is sincerely focused on a true revival."

Strangely enough, the four members of Get Back are all from France － a country not known for its love affair with all things British.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are now reborn in the four French guys, Pierre Briffa, 45, Alain Charles, 51, Patrick Rene, 51 and Bruno Levee, 45.

Briffa plays keyboard and guitar, Charles takes the drums, Rene is on bass and Levee plays the guitar. All of them take some part in singing.

In their guise as The Beatles, these four French guys have succeeded in receiving the top prize four times at The Beatles Revival Live Contest － one of the most prestigious of the many contests that commemorate the phenomenon of The Beatles.

Over the last 17 years, Get Back have toured their show around the world, winning new fans perhaps too young to have admired the genuine article with their skilled imitation. To produce the right sound, they use exactly the same kind of instruments and equipment as The Beatles themselves, such as 1960s-made guitars and a vacuum amplifier.

And the resemblance goes beyond the sound. They complement specially made wigs that produce the Beatles' "mushroom" hairstyles with similar styles of clothes.

In Seoul, Get Back will perform their repertoire of songs well known and well loved － if you haven't heard them too many times already － such as "Yesterday," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Hey Jude" and "Let it Be."

They will play at Polymedia Theater in Daehak-ro. For more information, call 02-3675-3711 (Korean service only).

by Chun Su-jin