I dig the Beatles... it's as simple as that.
but The Kinks, with their guitar solo on You Really Got Me... that invented garage punk music as we know it.
As a dweller in the moody vein of Garage, I am influenced by The Beatles, Zombies et al.
I like The Beatles from Hamburg up until Magical Mystery Tour (excluding Sgt Pepper minus a song or two)
If the Beatles didn't happen... I dunno what garage music would have been like, I think a great deal of it would have remained Pacific North-West styled.
Paul