I don't agree that Paulie is just a "corn dog", a light weight who wouldn't have done much on his own.
Paul was the musician of the bunch, especially in the earlier days. You want someone who could imagine a diminished sound, who could deal with an augmented chord? Vocal harmony, etc. Paul was the man; he had all that British vaudeville (or whatever it's called) stuff in his genes. George learned on the job. John was an artist and seer who also picked up a bit of music on the go.
But it's a silly argument -- you don't have a Beatles without the pair of writers, and you don't have a Beatles without all of 'em together, including George Martin (the musical Big Daddy who pushed 'em a lot harder than they'd be pushed these days by a producer.)
Lennon & McCartney are just as important in pop music history as Rodgers & Hart or any other songwriting duo you want to name. Their styles are very much of their times, for sure, but they wrote a lot of stuff that will still be popular after we're all gone. They've got the same mojo in a lot of those tunes that you see when a young person picks up on, say, Berlin's "Blue Skies" and whistles it all day long. Timeless. That means something.
Britney ain't got none of that going. None.
