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Contents
Introduction
I. Psychological peculiarities of teenagers
II. Musical fanaticism
i. The definition of musical fanaticism
ii. The Beatles and Beatlemania
iii. One Direction infection
iv. Psychological portrait of a fan
III. Looking for the solutions to the problem of musical fanaticism
Conclusions
References
Appendix
i.
Glossary
ii.
Illustrations
iii.
Questionnaire

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INTRODUCTION
I am a teenager and like many of my peers I sometimes quarrel with my parents and have
some problems with the societys understanding. Its common knowledge that all children have
problems at adolescence. At this period relations between parents and teenagers are often very
tense. Parents usually dont understand their children. Stress, depression may cause teenage
problems. The teenager searches for an identity, and it is a struggle. Teenagers try to find support,
which they commonly find in music and sometimes it leads to musical addiction.
So, the theme of my project is the dangers connected with musical fanaticism on the example
of The Beatles and One Direction. This theme is vital because the number of music fans is rising
day by day.
The aim of this project is to define how to confront psychological problems connected with
musical fanaticism.
The object of the research project is the dangers caused by musical fanaticism.
The hypothesis is the following: there are many teenagers among the music fans due to their
psychological peculiarities because common problems they face at this period of their life.
The tasks are the following:
1. To define the origin of musical fanaticism
2. To describe psychological peculiarities of teenagers
3. To describe the influence of One Direction and The Beatles
4. To find the ways to help musical fans to confront the problems they face
5. To draw conclusions
The methods used are: constructive analysis of scientific works of foreign authors,
questionnaire, comparative approach.

I. PSYCHOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES OF TEENAGERS

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under earth. You shall not bow
down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but
showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
The Bible [1, 4-6]
Teenagers are uniquely human phenomenon, they are a vital part of the society, although, they
are regarded as one of the less responsible parts of it. This is perhaps true in some cases, but in fact
it does not define their real personalities. As many would want to view it, they are really not that
irresponsible. However, at times, the sense of curiosity and adventure that they naturally have can
overshadow their sense of responsibility. [2]
Being a teenager is an overwhelming part of life. This is the stage where one is little by little
accepting and mingling with the real world. This is also the stage where one is always interested to
try new things out, which sometimes becomes the root of problems, especially for (most) parents.
Although they dont want to be guided anymore, they still need all the guidance that their
parents could give because this is the stage where their curiosity is at its peak. For this reason, it can
be understood why parents can become stricter and more cautious at this stage in their childrens
lives.
Moreover, teenagers are the group of people who, generally, may lack communication with
their adults. The major reason for this might be the different views of the teens and their parents or
what is commonly referred to as the generation gap.
Some could also be fragile at times, in a sense that there are issues which are essential and
need to be discussed with them. The way teenagers view things change as they come to this stage. If
before, they didnt care about how they look or how they dress, now, they are spending hours just to
make sure that they look normal. This is mainly because they want that assurance that the world
would approve them. Problems like having pimples or gaining weight would also make a great
impact on teenagers, especially if they come to the point of being infatuated with someone. [7]
Teenagers are a group of young people from thirteen to nineteen years old. Im sixteen so I
belong to this group. There are many problems, which are common for all young people. For
example: how to spend free time, what to do after finishing school, how to deal with the classmates
and family. The problem number one is the problem of fathers and sons. The generation gap is the

6
difference in attitudes and opinions between parents and children that often causes arguments and
disagreements.
All teens want to be independent; we dont like it when our parents try to rule every step of
their life. Our parents dont like our clothes and our music. They often try to treat us like small
children. But if we really want to solve this problem we must try to understand each other.
Some teens begin smoking and drinking alcohol to show that they are grown-ups already.
This will lead to poor health in future (especially for girls). As for me, I dont accept the idea of
smoking at all. I think that its not the thing you should do to look cool.
The most serious problem nowadays is taking drugs and AIDS (the disease when the bodys
immune system is not working). [7]
One of the worst teenage problems is schooling. Sometimes you feel bad because of teachers
or classmates attitude to you. You are tired of studying, thats why you dont have energy and time
for doing other things. But a teen can turn to bad habits because of problems in private life. Absence
of the second half, loneliness, lack of pocket money or parents misunderstanding can inspire a teen
that his best friend is a bottle or a cigarette. None should be angry with teens because of their
feelings, because a boy or a girl often doesnt control his or her feelings. Streets and street bands
can make a teen ruder and crueler, thats why parents shouldnt allow their children to have such
interests. I know both boys and girls, who think that cleaning their room is the most important
problem of humanity. They think its boring and useless, because the room will become dirty 5
minutes later. From my point of view, teens that have addiction to computers are very boring and
uninteresting. You cant speak with them about anything but Sims or GTA. It is absolutely the
same talking about music. Its a real problem, to my mind. Every teenager has a favourite singer or
music band. But no one should become a fan, because we can kill our individuality and become
clones. Sometimes a quarrel between teens can lead to serious violations of laws. Besides, bad
relationships between members of the family make the teen very emotional. The teen doesnt get
along with parents and relatives. The parents press on their child, they think he is iron hard and he
doesnt feel soul ache. Parents want us to study very well; they dont understand that we do
everything as well as we can. They dont respect our interests thinking that we become weird
because of music, computer games or TV.
In conclusion, we need to say, that being a teenager is the stage where one is little by little
accepting and mingling with the real world. This is also the stage where one is always interested to
try new things out, which sometimes becomes the root of problems, especially for (most) parents.
The way teenagers view things change as they come to this stage. But a teen can turn to bad habits
because of problems in private life. Absence of the second half, loneliness, lack of pocket money or
parents misunderstanding can inspire a teen that his best friend is a bottle or a cigarette. None

7
should be angry with teens because of their feelings, because a boy or a girl often doesnt control
his or her feelings. The teenager searches for an identity, and it is a struggle.
Teenagers try to find support, which they commonly find in music and sometimes it leads to
musical addiction.

II. MUSICAL FANATICISM

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
- Victor Hugo
i. Definition of musical fanaticism
Fanaticism is a belief or behaviour involving uncritical zeal or (with) an obsessive enthusiasm
for a pastime or hobby. Philosopher George Santayana defines fanaticism as "redoubling your effort
when you have forgotten your aim"; according to Winston Churchill, "A fanatic is one who can't
change his mind and won't change the subject". The behaviour of a fan with overwhelming
enthusiasm for a given subject is differentiated from the behaviour of a fanatic by the fanatic's
violation of prevailing social norms. Though the fan's behaviour may be judged as odd or eccentric,
it does not violate such norms. A fanatic differs from a crank, in that a crank is defined as a person
who holds a position or opinion which is so far from the norm as to appear ludicrous and/or
probably wrong, such as a belief in a Flat Earth. In contrast, the subject of the
fanatic's obsession may be "normal", such as an interest in religion or politics, except that the scale
of the person's involvement, devotion, or obsession with the activity or cause is abnormal or
disproportionate, which means he is turning into a fan. [2, p.1]
Nowadays, musical fanaticism is defined as a type of mental disorder, psychological
addiction. The history of music shows that teenage girls are exposed the most to the musical
fanaticism. This could be explained easily by the fact that teen girls are, usually, more insecure than
boys and that they need more support. At the teenage phase music, however, becomes a very dear
friend. Turning to the history of musical business, we can see that boy bands stay more popular.
This is explained by the fact that boy bands are mostly pop and pop reaches a larger audience,
which are mainly girls who find the boys in the band cute rather than talented.
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in
their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Being vocal groups, most boy band
members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage, making the term
something of a misnomer. However, exceptions do exist. Most boy bands dance as well as sing,
usually giving highly choreographed performances. But One Direction and The Beatles never gave
these highly choreographed performances. Boy bands are similar in concept to their
counterparts, girl groups. A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers
who generally harmonise together.

9
All-female bands in which members also play instruments are usually considered a separate
phenomena, and these groups are sometimes called "girl bands" to differentiate, although this
terminology is not universally followed and these bands are sometimes also called girl groups.
The Andrews Sisters were the most successful of the early girl groups. The Supremes were
the most successful of the wave of girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Later, the girl group template
would be applied to disco, contemporary R&B, and country-based formats as well as pop. Of these
later groups, the Spice Girls and TLC are considered the most successful, with the albums Spice by
the Spice Girls and CrazySexyCool by TLC being the best-selling albums of all time by a girl group.
Yet the boy bands however stay more popular.

ii. The Beatles and Beatlemania

Personally, I think that its impossible to find a person, who hasnt heard about The Beatles.
In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as Beatlemania. Collectively included
in Time magazines compilation of the 20th centurys 100 most influential people, they are the bestselling band in history, with estimate sales of over 600 million records worldwide. In 2004, Rolling
Stone ranked The Beatles as the greatest artist of all the time.
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy
directed toward British rock band The Beatles during the early years of their success. The word is
similar to the much earlier term Lisztomania, used to describe fan reaction to the concerts of pianist
Franz Liszt [3, p.1].
Andi Lothian, a former Scottish music promoter, claims that he coined the term while
speaking to a reporter at the Caird Hall Beatles concert that took place as part of The Beatles' MiniTour of Scotland, on 7 October 1963, and an early printed use of the word is in The Daily Mirror 15
October 1963 in a news story about the previous day's Beatles concert in Cheltenham.
Beatlemania was already evident when the band arrived at John F. Kennedy International
Airport in New York in February 1964, but became common in the United States after The Beatles
performed on several editions of The Ed Sullivan Show the same month. It was characterised by
intense levels of hysteria and high-pitched screaming, demonstrated by female fans both at concerts
and during the band's travels. The extent of Beatlemania in the United States is evidenced by their
sales. During the 6 years between the appearance of the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single on the
Billboard Hot 100 and the Let It Be LP, The Beatles had the Number One single in the US for a

10
total of 59 weeks and topped the LP charts for 116 weeks. In other words they had the top-selling
single one out of every six weeks, and the top-selling album one out of every three weeks.
The world experienced its last major Beatlemania event on 29 August 1966 at San Francisco's
Candlestick Park. On that evening the foursome performed their last live concert to a crowd of
25,000 at the end of The Beatles' 1966 US Tour. On that night The Beatles retired from touring and
live performing.

iii. One Direction infection

It is proved that everything repeats in the life. One Direction is the English-Irish pop boy
band based in London, consisting of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis
Tomlinson. They signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after being formed and
finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in
2010. Propelled to international success by the power of social media, One Directions three
albums, Up All Night, Take Me Home and Midnight Memories, broke several records, topped the
charts of most major markets, and generated hit singles, which include "What Makes You Beautiful",
"Live While We're Young" and One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks). Their achievements include
four Brit Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards among many others. According to chairman
and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million
business empire by June 2012. They were proclaimed 2012's "Top New Artist" by Billboard.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, by April 2013 they had an estimated personal combined
wealth of 25 million ($41.2m) making them the second wealthiest musicians in the UK under 30
years of age. After the release of Midnight Memories, One Direction became the first band in
US Billboard 200 history to have their first three albums debut at number one. Additionally, the
album was a global success, debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart and becoming the
fastest and biggest selling album of 2013 in the UK. This way they had broke The Beatles record.
One Direction: This Is Us, a 3D documentary and concert movie about the group directed by
Morgan Spurlock, Ben Winston, Adam Milano and Simon Cowell, was released by TriStar
Pictures on 30 August 2013. The film features the song "Best Song Ever", released on 22 July 2013.
"Best Song Ever" slated to serve as the lead single of the group's third studio album Midnight
Memories. The film was a box office success, topping the UK and US box offices and grossing over
$60 million worldwide. It is currently the fourth highest grossing concert movie.

11
On 16 May 2013, the band announced their first stadium tour, the Where We Are Tour, which
is set to commence in April 2014. They plan to donate 200,000 of the tour's ticket sales to
the Stand Up to Cancer charity. On 23 November and in support of the release of their third studio
album, Midnight Memories, the band participated in "1D Day", a day dedicated to One Direction
fans. The day constituted of a landmark 7.5 hour socially interactive YouTube live-stream featuring
live band performances, celebrity guests including, Simon Cowell, Cindy Crawford, Piers
Morgan, Jerry Springer and many more. The event was unique not only due to its long runtime but
the unprecedented use of social media whereby fans got to participate in the show interact directly
with the band via Google+ Hangout. [4]
In December 2013, One Direction broke yet another UK sales record with the DVD and BlueRay release of their 3-D concert film "This is Us". In point of fact, nearly 270,000 copies of the
movie were sold in the UK within three days of its release, beating the record previously set
by Michael Jacksons This Is It in 2010 by 10,000 copies. The group was named Top Global artists
of 2013 by the IFPI due to strong digital downloads, physical albums, on-demand streams, and
music videos.
One Direction members are so unlike many other performers. They donate great sums to the
charity. That way, in 2011, the band performed on the Children in Need 2011 broadcast, helping
raise over 26 million pounds. In 2012 they extended their involvement with Children in Need as
they opened the telecast with a performance of their single Live While We're Young. The group said
it was "incredible" to be involved in the charity event as it was something that they had "always
watched as children. In February 2013, One Direction released a medley of "One Way or Another"
and "Teenage Kicks", "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)", as the 2013 Comic Relief single. In
September 2012, Niall Horan organised an event to raise money for Irish Autism Action and
another charity called and Temporary Emergency Accommodation Mullingar based in his
hometown. Due to overwhelming demand to participate in the fundraising, the ticket website for the
event broke down. Horan's brother Greg commented on the website crash, saying that "there were
500 tickets and they were all snapped up pretty quick". Horan later reflected on the fundraisings
saying that he was "honoured to be able to give back to his community".
Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph, in an article on One Direction's success in the USA
described One Direction as sparking resurgence in the interest in boy bands, and as forming part of
a new "British Invasion" in the United States. First, he issued a track called Best Song Ever.
The turmoil surrounding the Beatles in the US 50 years ago had these pop-star youngsters rewatching some archival footage and thats when it hit them: We all sat and watched the film of
the Beatles arriving in America, the intrepid Styles tells NME. And, to be honest, that really was

12
like us. Stepping off the plane, the girls, the madness. It was exactly the same as when we got there
just 50 years earlier. To be fair, One Direction became the first group to ever have each of its
first three albums debut at the top spot. But the sales figures even taking into account that
modern numbers are now skewed by Billboards decision to include streaming data and even viral
hits simply dont compare. The Beatles 1964 Capitol Records debut in the US, Meet the
Beatles, has sold 5 million copies. The Beatles Second Album went double platinum, while A
Hard Days Night has moved 4 million copies. Compare those 11 million in total sales to One
Direction which has sold just 4.8 million total for its initial three albums. Thats some 200,000
less than the Beatles stateside debut, all by itself. And that, of course, is to say nothing of their
impact musically. Perhaps sensing the looming backlash, Styles added a small caveat: But none of
us think were in the same league as them music-wise. Wed be total fools if we did. Fame-wise, its
probably even bigger, but we dont stand anywhere near them in terms of music. [4]
So, what One Direction and The Beatles have in common that make them so popular with
fans? To my mind, the answer is very simple. Young, cute boys with beautiful voices singing love
songs as if they are singing directly to you. These songs affect girls mind because they dont hear
such words in everyday life. What also these two bands have in common is that they came from
working class families. Their popularity can also be explained by the fact that both One Direction
and The Beatles were always themselves. And this simplicity is very attractive. Lets see what The
Beatles king has spoken as Paul McCartney reveals his soft spot for One Direction. I like One
Direction. Theyre young, beautiful boys and thats the big attraction, the 71-year-old said. [5, p.3]

iv. Psychological portrait of a fan

There is no place in a fanatic's head where reason can enter.
- Napoleon Bonaparte
Fandom (consisting of fan plus the suffix -dom, as in kingdom, freedom, etc.) is a term used to
refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with
others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the
object(s) of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with
their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices (a fandom); this is what
differentiates "fannish" (fandom-affiliated) fans from those with only a casual interest. Members of
a fandom associate with one another, often attending fan conventions and publishing and
exchanging fanzines and newsletters. Originally using print-based media, these sub-cultures have

13
migrated much of their communications and interaction onto the internet, which they also use for
the purpose of archiving detailed information pertinent to their given fanbase.
Fans have a desire for external involvement they are motivated to demonstrate their
involvement with the area of interest through certain behaviors (attending conventions, posting
online, displaying team banners outside their homes, etc.). Fans often have a "wish to acquire"
material objects related to the area of interest, such as a baseball hit by a famous slugger or a used
guitar pick from their musical hero. As well, some fans have a desire for social interaction with
other fans. There are several groups of fans that can be differentiated by the intensity level of their
level of involvement or interest in the hobby (level of fanaticism).The likelihood for a subject of
interest to be elevated to the level of fandom appears to be dictated by its complexity. Complexity
allows further involvement of fans for a longer period of time because of the time needed to work
the subject of interest 'out.' It also contributes to a greater sense of belonging because of the mental
effort invested in the subject.
Some fans write fan fiction, stories based on the universe and characters of their chosen
fandom.

This

fan

fiction

can

take

the

form

of

video-making

as

well

as

writing.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fandom - cite_note-9 Some also dress in costumes ("cosplay")

or recite lines of dialogue either out-of-context or as part of a group reenactment. Others create fan
vids, or analytical music videos focusing on the source fandom, and yet others create fan art. Such
activities are sometimes known as "fan labor" or "fanac", an abbreviated form of the phrase "fan
activity." The advent of the internet has significantly facilitated fan association and activities.
Activities that have been aided by the internet includes the creation of fan "shrines" dedicated to
favourite characters, computer screen wallpapers, avatars. Furthermore, the advent of the internet
has resulted in the creation of online fan networks who help facilitate the exchange of fanworks.
Of course, fans (usually fangirls) have a specific behavior. Fangirling: is the reaction of a
fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her "affection". These reactions include
shortness of breath, fainting, highpitched noises, shaking, fierce head shaking. It also means a
gathering of two or more fangirls in which they proceed to waste endless amounts of time ogling,
discussing/arguing, stalking the object of their "affection".[6, p.2]
As psychologists think, fans can be divided into four categories. The first type is a Fan
Romantic. First of all he is focused on an image of an idol. The fan romantic has feeling of love and
a spiritual and emotional connection with an idol. The second type a sexually-focused fan. The
idol seems as an ideal sexual partner. The fan of this type pays more attention to the idols
appearance, then to the music. The third type of a fan is the fan rationalist. This kind is the same
as a romantic type. The last type is a fan stalker. They usually send letters with threats, declarations

14
of love. This type of the fan is most often presented by lonely persons for whom idol became the
sense of living. Stalkers can be extremely dangerous to their idols from the social point of view.
Here is a more concrete example of fans behavior. She cries every night because she can't
know you personally. She cries because you will never know about her existence. She smiles when
you smile. She smiles, looking at your photos. She smiles, listening to your songs. She sings your
songs everywhere: while taking shower, while eating or doing home tasks. She smiles when you
say that you love your fans because she knows that she is one of them. She doesn't sleep, expecting
your new video or your photos. Her computer is filled with million photos and video, but it isn't
important to her because she doesn't want to delete something from this. She is the person who tires
the friends talking about you the whole day. She tried dozens of times to stop fangirling and every
time she returns back to the fandom. She writes you tweets (Twitter network) with the same words
every day, speaking about how strong she loves you. She is the weird girl" at school, because she
is your fan. She is your fan, she loves you unconditionally, and she will give anything for you. And
these "she" mean tens of millions your fans. She loves you without any intentions to stop.
To my mind, fans can be divided into two groups: active dreamers and passive ones. Active
dreamers differ from passive at the point of realising their dreams at all other criteria they are the
same. This difference is in doing something which will make their dreams come true. It may sound
silly, but even doing some school tasks might bring you closer to the dream. Passive dreamers do
nothing at this point. They just sit and complain about how unfair life is.

15
III. LOOKING FOR THE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM OF MUSICAL FANATICISM

Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the
imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.-Plato
Musical fanaticism is a form of obsessive love, which is a form of love where one person is
emotionally obsessed with another. Obsessive lovers believe that only the person they fixate on can
make them feel happy and fulfilled. Also an obsessed person doesnt accept if their partners are
happy then they arent. It affects not only the obsessed one, but also all people around them,
especially the loved ones. Obsessed people become very emotional and physical related to their
love object. It is possible that the other person doesnt even know about the other sides
love. Obsessive love can lead to dangerous consequences, as extreme as stalking, rape, and murder,
among other things. There was an example in the United States that a man killed the president,
because he decided that it is the way to be noticed by his love. There are 4 phases in this disorder:
the first one is attraction phase, the 2nd is anxious phase. Then it leads to the obsessive phase and the
last one is the destructive phase. It is very hard to cure and its almost impossible to do without
psychotherapist. [7]
Unfortunately, the most common danger connected with musical fanaticism is suicide.
Suicide is often committed out of despair, the cause of which is frequently attributed to a mental
disorder such as depression, schizophrenia. However, fans understand that their dreams are just
dreams and they will never be together with their idols. After that life has no sense for them, and
they find the only solution in dying.
It was mentioned above that obsessive love sometimes leads to murder. Turning again to the
history, it is a common knowledge that John Lennon was shot by Mark David Chapman (his fan) at
the entrance to the building where he lived, The Dakota, in New York City on 8 December 1980.
Lennon had just returned from Record Plant Studio with his wife, Yoko Ono. [3]
Another important danger connected with musical fanaticism is in living your idols life not
your owns. Because fans are so obsessed with their idols, there is a possibility of becoming clones.
If you have already become a fan, then its not going to be easy to get out. Here I propose
some solutions.

Doing sport activities. Physical development may make teenagers feel more
confident, because their body gets more attractive form.

16

Communication with parents. It may also get you out of your obsession because
parents can give you some nice advises. But this will only work you want to help
yourself.

Going out with friends. Communication with friends and a will to have is about that
you need to leave some of your weirdness behind, and be more appropriate.

Listen to different music. When for a long period of time teenagers listen to one
specific kind of music their brains start to work in the direction with the music they
are listening. The change of the music listen may help the brains to work in a new
direction.

Try to realise that musical fanaticism is a common teenage problem. Teenagers try
to differ one from another but the understanding of the fact that they are the same is
also a good way out.

Try to look at a different angle. Try to analyse your behaviour from the outside.

17
CONCLUSIONS

Teenagers try to find support, which they commonly find in music and sometimes it leads to
musical addiction.

Fanaticism is a belief or behaviour involving uncritical zeal or (with) an obsessive

enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby.

Musical fanaticism is defined as a type of mental disorder, psychological addiction.

Boy bands stay more popular. This is explained by the fact that boy bands are mostly pop
and pop reaches a larger audience, which is mainly girls who find the boys in the band cute
rather than talented.

Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy
directed toward British rock band The Beatles during the early years of their success.

Fans' behaviour (both The Beatles and One Direction) was characterised by intense levels of
hysteria and high-pitched screaming, demonstrated by female fans both at concerts and
during the band's travels.

One Direction is the English-Irish pop boy band based in London, consisting of Niall
Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.

One Direction became the first band in US Billboard 200 history to have their first three
albums debut at number one. Additionally, the album was a global success, debuting at
number one on the UK Albums Chart and becoming the fastest and biggest selling album of
2013 in the UK.

The simplicity (of the Beatles and One Direction) is very attractive.

Fandom (consisting of fan plus the suffix -dom, as in kingdom, freedom, etc.) is a term used
to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and
camaraderie with others who share a common interest.

Fangirling is the reaction of a fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her
"affection". These reactions include shortness of breath, fainting, high-pitched noises,
shaking, fierce head shaking.

Musical fanaticism is a form of obsessive love, which is a form of love where one person is
emotionally obsessed with another.

One of the most important danger connected with musical fanaticism is in living your idols
life not your owns. Because fans are so obsessed with their idols, there is a possibility of
becoming clones.

18

REFERENCES
1. The Bible: Exodus 20:4-6 (KJV).
2. Kaplan H.I., Sadock B.J. Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 6th ed. Baltimore: Williams
and Wilkins, 1995, pp. 12.
3. Beatlemania // Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatlemania.
Accessed: 01.02.2014
4. One Direction // Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Direction.
Accessed: 01.02.2014
5. Robertson, James. Paul McCartney admits do compare with The Beatles, Daily Mirror (15
October 2013).
6. American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Infantile Disorders, 4th
ed. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1994, pp. 12.
7. Resmussen S.A., Eisen J.L. Clinical features and phenomenology of obsessive compulsive
disorder. Psychiatric Annals (179); 1989; 19:6773.

19
APPENDIX:
i. Glossary
Addiction is the continued repetition of a behavior despite adverse consequences, or a
neurological impairment leading to such behaviours. Symptoms of withdrawal generally include but
are not limited to anxiety, irritability, intense cravings for the substance, nausea, hallucinations,
headaches, cold sweats, and tremors.
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy
directed toward British rock band The Beatles during the early years of their success.
Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church, or other sacred building. It also
refers to the inscription of books or other artifacts when these are specifically addressed or
presented to a particular person. This practice, which once was used to gain the patronage and
support of the person so addressed, is now only a mark of affection or regard. In law, the word is
used of the setting apart by a private owner of a road to public use.
Directioner-someone who stands by the band One Direction no matter what. Who would be
there to support the boys 100%. Whether it's acting, singing, dancing, anything... they'll be there for
it all. Even when the band grows up and goes on with their lives, these girls that call themselves
"directioners" will NEVER forget the happiness and the joy that Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam
Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik brought to them for so many years!("Directioners have to
stick together!)
Fangirling - 1. the reaction a fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her
"affection". These reactions include shortness of breath, fainting, highpitched noises, shaking, fierce
head shaking as if in the midst of a seizure, wet panties, endless blog posts, etc. 2. a gathering of
two or more fangirls in which they proceed to waste endless amounts of time ogling,
discussing/arguing, stalking, etc. the object of their "affection" .
Fandom (consisting of fan plus the suffix -dom, as in kingdom, freedom, etc.) is a term used
to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie
with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the
object(s) of their fandom and spend a significant portion of their time and energy involved with
their interest, often as a part of a social network with particular practices (a fandom); this is what
differentiates "fannish" (fandom-affiliated) fans from those with only a casual interest. Members of
a fandom associate with one another, often attending fan conventions and publishing and
exchanging fanzines and newsletters.
Obsession -1. Compulsive preoccupation with a fixed idea or an unwanted feeling or
emotion, often accompanied by symptoms of anxiety. 2. A compulsive, often unreasonable idea or

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emotion. 1. (Psychiatry) Psychiatry a persistent idea or impulse that continually forces its way into
consciousness, often associated with anxiety and mental illness. 2. a persistent preoccupation, idea,
or feeling.
OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, is an anxiety disorder and is characterized by
recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive
behaviors such as hand washing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed with the hope
of preventing obsessive thoughts or making them go away.

ii. Illustrations

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One Direction arriving at hotel/

Directioners/Beatlemaniacs

The Beatles arriving at the hotel

One Direction performing at the Times Square/

The Beatles at the Abbey road/

The Beatles performing at the Times Square

One Direction crossing street in New York

iii.Questionnaire

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1. Do you listen to music more than 1 hour a day?

2. Do you consider yourself a fan of any band?
3. Do your parents like the music you listen to?
4. Do you/any of your friends suffer from musical fanaticism?