With MJ...I feel that one of 100 reasons he's a SUPER major legend is that even with the dancing, him starting as a kid, him having great presence, etc....is that a LOT of his music was really that great. So for the Disco era...people who were born after it ended (like me) can still enjoy his songs more than a lot of other artists' music because it was just that good.

So for the Beatles, it's the same. I don't like much Rock from any era, but they have some songs that I just can't deny, possibly because the elements of what made it good crossed the boundaries of what usually only appealed to Rock fans. And that's part of it too...having a sound that isn't confined within the Genre's limitations, or even within that era's limitations. This is a gamble, but when it pays off, it pays off WELL.

Same with a song like "Doin da butt"...most regular people don't even know that it's a Go-Go song, and you can even argue that they got lucky enough to make a song that was just THAT dope. But melody wise and "funk" wise, it's stronger than most Go-Go, even from that era...the hook was stronger than all other Go-Go...the chants and everything else on it just made it that great. So yea, I feel that the standout songs from each Genre + era were able to appeal to everyone because of those types of things.