What does a still-influential group of mop-topped British youths founded nearly 50 years ago and the SW saga have in common?

As it turns out, they have a lot in common. Sometimes there comes a moment in popular culture not unlike those old Reese's ads where some guy with a chocolate bar stumbles into an open jar of peanut butter and discovers they taste awesome together. Such is the case with The Beatles and with SW.

I think the first time I witnessed this incredible convergence was back in 1982 while reading a newspaper article about ANH coming out on home video. The article was really about how ANH was truly a theater-going experience than a t.v. one, but it did mention that SW was to the '70s what the Beatles were to the '60s. Suddenly I had a vision of Luke, Leia, and Han getting chased down some London street by a bunch of screaming fans a la "A Hard Day's Night," not unlike what would happen today at a Celebration.

By the way, the cinematographer on "A Hard Day's Night" was none other than Gil Taylor, who later on, was hired to work on ANH. All because Lucas loved the style of the sorta-documentary film.

Oooh, ahhh.

The Beatles had to have been the first heavily merchandised rock and roll band, more than a decade before KISS took merchandising to a whole new level. People to this day collect Beatles stuff the way many of us collect SW stuff. Several years ago, one of my (sadly late) fan friends went to see Mark Hamill at an autograph signing and she overheard him chatting with someone who collected Beatles memorabilia. Mark got all excited because apparently he collected Beatles memorabilia too.

It gets better than that.

Some months ago, I linked to a bizarre clip from a Ringo Starr t.v. special circa 1978 featuring a duet with Carrie Fisher of "You're Sixteen (You're Beautiful And You're Mine)."

It doesn't stop there.

Sean Lennon, the son of John Lennon, recently revealed on starwars.com that he grew up a SW fan and counts Carrie Fisher among his friends. She has even appeared in his videos.

You'd also be interested to know that several of the SW soundtracks were recorded at Abbey Road, title of a particularly famous Beatles album and where the band once recorded as well.

Consider this as well...ex-Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have "appeared" on "The Simpsons," a show with many SW references itself and where SW alumni Mark Hamill and Natalie Portman have done guest appearances as well.

In fact, not even the younger prequel stars cannot avoid Beatles connections themselves. One of Hayden Christensen's good friends is Dhani Harrison, son of the late George Harrison. And just recently, Natalie Portman plays a dancing spirit in the video for Sir Paul McCartney's "Dance Tonight."

Amazing to think a band whose popularity continues unabated since its last album in 1970 and a series of films that began 30 years ago both have influenced the popular culture and continue to attract new fans. That they are connected in other ways is astonishing.

If you can think of any other connections that I missed, do share!