Beatlemania in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The phenomenon known as Beatlemania
originated in the United Kingdom, birthplace of The Beatles
, when the band first realised enormous popularity there in late 1962. Returning from a highly formative two-year residency in Germany
, The Beatles achieved a commercial breakthrough with their second UK single release, "Please Please Me
". There followed an almost non-stop series of concerts and tours, attended with fervent enthusiasm across the UK, for the whole of the following year. The Beatles' popularity in the UK came to exceed even that of the notable US artists Tommy Roe
, Chris Montez
and Roy Orbison
, whose very evident UK chart success at the time did not keep them from being overshadowed by The Beatles—an achievement hitherto unknown for a UK act—during their 1963 nationwide tours with the lower-billed band.
With intense media interest in The Beatles during 1963, the year was also taken up with TV shows, press interviews, and a weekly radio show. Despite these demands the band continued to find time for sessions in the recording studio, releasing a number of albums and singles during the year. 1963 was also the year when Lennon's son Julian
was born.
By the end of 1963, Beatlemania
would begin to spread to other places internationally. The single "I Want to Hold Your Hand
" entered the US charts on 18 January 1964, selling one-and-a-half million copies in under three weeks, and the following month The Beatles made their first visit to America. The great interest in The Beatles brought about a major change in US attitudes to popular music and marked the start of the phenomenon known as The British Invasion
.
, the band had returned from Germany to the UK and were playing regularly at the Cavern Club. Their new manager, Brian Epstein
, had made efforts to smarten the band up, encouraging them to wear suits instead of jeans and leather jackets, and to refrain from swearing, smoking, drinking or eating onstage, or stopping and starting songs when they felt like it: Epstein had seen the band's potential and was attempting to transform the Beatles into a serious commercial proposition. He had started to approach record companies, but this had not led to any interest in the band.
store on Oxford Street
in London to transfer the Decca tapes to discs. There, recording engineer Jim Foy referred him to Sid Coleman, who ran EMI's publishing arm. Epstein eventually met with EMI's George Martin
, who signed the group to the Parlophone
label on a one-year renewable contract. The Beatles' first recording session was scheduled for 6 June 1962 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios
in north London. Martin had not been particularly impressed by the band's demo recordings, but he liked The Beatles' personalities when he met them. He concluded that they had raw musical talent, but stated in later interviews that what made the difference for him was their wit and humour.
The Beatles recording contract paid the band a penny
for each single sold, which was split amongst the four Beatles—one farthing
per group member. This royalty rate was reduced for sales outside the UK, for which they received a halfpenny per single (again split between the whole band). Martin said later that it was a "pretty awful" contract.
, who was instrumental in originally creating the hairstyle, he had "really curly hair and it wouldn't work"). Best had also missed a number of engagements because of illness. The three founding members of the band asked Epstein to dismiss Best, which he did on 16 August 1962. They asked Richard Starkey
, known as Ringo Starr, to join the band; Starr was the drummer for one of the top Merseybeat
groups, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and had performed occasionally with The Beatles in Hamburg.
The first recordings of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr together had been made as early as 15 October 1960, in a series of demonstration records privately recorded in Hamburg while the four were acting as the backing group for singer Lu Walters. Starr played on The Beatles' second EMI recording session on 4 September 1962, but Martin hired session drummer Andy White
for their next session on 11 September. White's only released performances were recordings of "Love Me Do
" and "P.S. I Love You
", found on The Beatles' first album
.
by Granada Television
on 17 October 1962.
". At the start of the recording session, George Martin
attempted to persuade them to record a different song instead (How Do You Do It, subsequently a hit for Gerry & The Pacemakers
). Martin liked the song and felt The Beatles could have big hit with it. The Beatles, however, did not like it, and furthermore they wanted to record their own compositions. They became uncooperative, as they had done at an earlier session when Martin had tried to use the song, so Martin finally abandoned the idea and "Please Please Me" was recorded instead. The record reached number two on the official UK charts, and number one on both the NME
and Melody Maker
charts. Three months after "Please Please Me", The Beatles would record their first album, also titled Please Please Me
.
's Thank Your Lucky Stars
show on 11 January (televised 19 January) and recorded for the BBCs Here We Go on 16 January and the BBC's Saturday Club
and the Talent Spot on 22 January. As well as completing four nationwide tours in 1963, they performed at a great many one-off shows across the UK throughout the year, often finishing one show only to travel straight to the next show in another location—sometimes even to perform again the same day. Two of the nationwide tours were led by popular American stars, but at every show during both tours, the crowds would not stop screaming for The Beatles, who proved even more popular than the American stars. Souvenir programs were hastily reprinted in response, to show The Beatles as the tour leaders. While pleased with the positive reception, The Beatles were also embarrassed for the American performers, as it had never before happened that a UK act had topped an American act at a UK concert.
In addition to the four nationwide tours and all the other concerts, what little time remained was taken up with TV shows, press interviews, and recording sessions for the singles and albums released that year. The Beatles also had a weekly radio show. The music papers were full of stories about The Beatles, and magazines for teenage girls regularly contained interviews with the band members, colour posters and other Beatle-related articles. The intense public interest in The Beatles, coupled with Epstein's demanding schedule, ensured that they had no time for family matters. Lennon's marriage to Cynthia Powell was kept from public view as a closely guarded secret, and when Lennon's son Julian
was born on 6 April 1963, Lennon, visiting the hospital to see his wife and meet his new son for the first time, attempted to disguise himself to prevent people in the hospital from recognising him. Lennon's attempt to keep the secret was not successful, as other patients could see it was him. After the hospital visit, Epstein's schedule prevailed once more.
On 13 October 1963, The Beatles starred on "Val Parnell
's Sunday Night at the London Palladium
", the UK's top variety show. The show was televised live, watched by 15 million viewers, and in one national paper's headlines the following morning, the phenomenal nationwide interest in The Beatles was finally given a name, and one which from that day on would be adopted universally: "Beatlemania
". On 7 December 1963, The Beatles appeared on the BBC’s pop show, Juke Box Jury
, where new pop records were played and commented on by a selected panel of guests. It was filmed on stage at the Liverpool Empire Theatre
, and hosted by DJ David Jacobs
.
, Danny Williams, Kenny Lynch, Kestrels, and the Red Price Orchestra. Heading the tour bill was the 16-year-old Shapiro, followed by the other five acts, the last of which was The Beatles. The band used the nationwide tour as an opportunity to generate further interest in "Please Please Me", and the song was regularly included in their performances throughout the tour. The Beatles, though lowest on the bill, were immensely popular during the tour, as Gordon Sampson, a journalist with the tour, observed. His report did not include the word "Beatlemania"; the term would not be coined until some months later, but the phenomenon was evident, with Sampson writing that "a great reception went to the colourfully-dressed Beatles, who almost stole the show, for the audience repeatedly called for them while other artists were performing!". The first tour had a duration of four weeks, and ended on 3 March 1963.
and Chris Montez
. Both US artists had already firmly established themselves in the UK singles charts: Montez's "Let's Dance" had reached #2 four months earlier in October 1962, and another top 10 hit, "Some Kinda Fun", had recently followed; likewise Roe's "Sheila" had reached #3 five months previously in September 1962, and his new single, "The Folk Singer", would enter the charts during the tour, going on to reach #4. Throughout the tour, however, the crowds screamed and screamed for The Beatles, and for the first time in UK history, the American stars were less popular than a UK act. While enjoying the overwhelming display of enthusiasm for them, The Beatles also felt embarrassment for the American performers at this unexpected turn of events, which persisted at every show from the first day to the last. The second tour had a duration of three weeks, and ended on 31 March 1963.
. Orbison had established even greater UK chart success than either Montez or Roe, with eight previous chart entries of his own—four of them entering the top 10, including the #2 "Dream Baby" and the #1 Only the Lonely
—and was about to achieve his next top 10 entry with "Falling", which entered the charts during the tour. However, at the tour's opening show, staged at the Adelphi Cinema, Slough, the American star proved less popular than The Beatles, just as had happened with Roe and Montez throughout the previous nationwide tour. As events unfolded it became obvious this was not going to change, and a week into the tour the covers of the souvenir programs were reprinted to place The Beatles above Roy Orbison. Despite The Beatles' ascent to the top of the bill, Starr was impressed with the response Orbison still commanded. Starr recalled, "We would be backstage, listening to the tremendous applause he was getting. He was just doing it by his voice. Just standing there singing, not moving or anything." The third tour had a duration of three weeks, and ended on 9 June 1963.
. Three days before the tour started, the band, returning from a five-day Swedish tour, were greeted at Heathrow Airport in heavy rain by thousands of screaming fans, 50 journalists and photographers, and a BBC TV camera crew. The wild scenes at the airport caused the British Prime Minister, being chauffered in the vicinity, to be delayed, his car obstructed by the crowds. Meanwhile, the current Miss World
, passing through the airport herself, was completely ignored by journalists and public alike, and when the American TV presenter Ed Sullivan
, numbered among those held up at Heathrow, was told the reason for the delay, he asked, "Who the hell are The Beatles?". Not long after, there would be similar scenes at an airport in Sullivan's own country, when The Beatles' arrived there for the first time, and he would himself introduce the band to the American nation on The Ed Sullivan Show
, watched by 73 million viewers.
On the tour's opening night at the Odeon in Cheltenham
, the volume of sound created by the screaming crowds was so great that The Beatles' amplification equipment proved unequal to it, so much so that the band members were unable to hear any sounds they were making themselves, whether speaking, singing, or playing their instruments. As a result, they were unable to count songs in or perform in unison.
The tour produced much the same reaction from those attending as the previous three had done, with a fervent, riotous response from fans everywhere the band went. Police attempting to control the crowds employed high-pressure water hoses, and the safety of the police became a matter of national concern, provoking controversial discussions in Parliament
over the thousands of police officers putting themselves at risk to protect The Beatles.
During a break in the tour, The Beatles sang before Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at the Royal Variety Performance
on 4 November, sharing the bill with Marlene Dietrich
and Maurice Chevalier
. Harrison said at the time: "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but why are The Beatles on the same stage as a mass of show business greats? . . . We're just four normal folk who have had a couple of hit records." The fourth and final nationwide tour of 1963 had a duration of six weeks, and ended on 13 December 1963.
music critic William Mann published an essay extolling The Beatles' compositions, including their "fresh and euphonious" guitars in "Till There Was You
", their "submediant switches from C major into A flat major", and the "octave ascent" in "I Want to Hold Your Hand
". The Beatles themselves were perplexed by one analysis by Mann: "...one gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, and the flat-submediant key-switches, so natural is the Aeolian
cadence
at the end of 'Not a Second Time
' (the chord progression which ends Mahler's
'Song of the Earth
')."
That year, The Beatles' iconic logo (referred to as the "drop-T" logo) made its debut. Epstein and Starr visited Drum City, one of Ivor Arbiter's stores in Shaftesbury Avenue
, to purchase a new drum kit. Epstein asked for the band name to appear on the bass drum. Arbiter designed a logo with an extended "T" emphasising the word "Beat". Drum City was paid £5 for the design, which Arbiter sketched on a scrap of paper to be painted on the drum by a local sign-writer.
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
originated in the United Kingdom, birthplace of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, when the band first realised enormous popularity there in late 1962. Returning from a highly formative two-year residency in Germany
The Beatles in Hamburg
The Beatles members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, Germany, during the period from August 1960 to December 1962; a chapter in the group's history which honed their performance skills, widened their...
, The Beatles achieved a commercial breakthrough with their second UK single release, "Please Please Me
Please Please Me (song)
"Please Please Me" is a song and the second single released by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States. It was also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single...
". There followed an almost non-stop series of concerts and tours, attended with fervent enthusiasm across the UK, for the whole of the following year. The Beatles' popularity in the UK came to exceed even that of the notable US artists Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe
Tommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
, Chris Montez
Chris Montez
Chris Montez , is an American singer.-Early life:Montez grew up in Hawthorne, California, influenced by the Latino-flavored music of his community and the success of Ritchie Valens....
and Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
, whose very evident UK chart success at the time did not keep them from being overshadowed by The Beatles—an achievement hitherto unknown for a UK act—during their 1963 nationwide tours with the lower-billed band.
With intense media interest in The Beatles during 1963, the year was also taken up with TV shows, press interviews, and a weekly radio show. Despite these demands the band continued to find time for sessions in the recording studio, releasing a number of albums and singles during the year. 1963 was also the year when Lennon's son Julian
Julian Lennon
John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...
was born.
By the end of 1963, Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
would begin to spread to other places internationally. The single "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
" entered the US charts on 18 January 1964, selling one-and-a-half million copies in under three weeks, and the following month The Beatles made their first visit to America. The great interest in The Beatles brought about a major change in US attitudes to popular music and marked the start of the phenomenon known as The British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
.
Return from Hamburg, and the Cavern Club
Following The Beatles' Hamburg periodThe Beatles in Hamburg
The Beatles members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best regularly performed at different clubs in Hamburg, Germany, during the period from August 1960 to December 1962; a chapter in the group's history which honed their performance skills, widened their...
, the band had returned from Germany to the UK and were playing regularly at the Cavern Club. Their new manager, Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein , was an English music entrepreneur, and is best known for being the manager of The Beatles up until his death. He also managed several other musical artists such as Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, The Remo Four & The Cyrkle...
, had made efforts to smarten the band up, encouraging them to wear suits instead of jeans and leather jackets, and to refrain from swearing, smoking, drinking or eating onstage, or stopping and starting songs when they felt like it: Epstein had seen the band's potential and was attempting to transform the Beatles into a serious commercial proposition. He had started to approach record companies, but this had not led to any interest in the band.
Record contract
After failing to impress a number of record companies, most recently at the Decca audition, Epstein went to the HMVHMV Group
HMV is a British global entertainment retail chain and is the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company also operates in Hong Kong and Singapore. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index...
store on Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
in London to transfer the Decca tapes to discs. There, recording engineer Jim Foy referred him to Sid Coleman, who ran EMI's publishing arm. Epstein eventually met with EMI's George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
, who signed the group to the Parlophone
Parlophone
Parlophone is a record label that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company which...
label on a one-year renewable contract. The Beatles' first recording session was scheduled for 6 June 1962 at EMI's Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
in north London. Martin had not been particularly impressed by the band's demo recordings, but he liked The Beatles' personalities when he met them. He concluded that they had raw musical talent, but stated in later interviews that what made the difference for him was their wit and humour.
The Beatles recording contract paid the band a penny
British One Penny coin (pre-decimal)
The English Penny, originally a coin of 1.3 to 1.5 g pure silver, includes the penny introduced around the year 785 by King Offa of Mercia. However, his coins were similar in size and weight to the continental deniers of the period, and to the Anglo-Saxon sceats which had gone before it, which were...
for each single sold, which was split amongst the four Beatles—one farthing
British Farthing coin
A farthing was a coin of England, Great Britain, and finally of the United Kingdom, worth one quarter of a penny, 1/960th of a pound sterling...
per group member. This royalty rate was reduced for sales outside the UK, for which they received a halfpenny per single (again split between the whole band). Martin said later that it was a "pretty awful" contract.
A change of drummer
Martin was critical of Pete Best, who, according to Martin, was not able to keep time. Martin privately suggested to Epstein that the band use another drummer in the studio. There was speculation by some that Best's popularity with fans was another source of friction. In addition, Epstein became exasperated that Best would not adopt the distinctive Beatle haircut as part of the band's unified look (although according to Astrid KirchherrAstrid Kirchherr
Astrid Kirchherr is a German photographer and artist and is well known for her association with The Beatles and her photographs of The Beatles during their Hamburg days....
, who was instrumental in originally creating the hairstyle, he had "really curly hair and it wouldn't work"). Best had also missed a number of engagements because of illness. The three founding members of the band asked Epstein to dismiss Best, which he did on 16 August 1962. They asked Richard Starkey
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, known as Ringo Starr, to join the band; Starr was the drummer for one of the top Merseybeat
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
groups, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and had performed occasionally with The Beatles in Hamburg.
The first recordings of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr together had been made as early as 15 October 1960, in a series of demonstration records privately recorded in Hamburg while the four were acting as the backing group for singer Lu Walters. Starr played on The Beatles' second EMI recording session on 4 September 1962, but Martin hired session drummer Andy White
Andy White (drummer)
Andrew "Andy" White is a Scottish drummer, best known for replacing Ringo Starr on drums on The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do". White featured on the American 7" single release of the song, which also appeared on the band's debut British album, Please Please Me. He also played drums on the...
for their next session on 11 September. White's only released performances were recordings of "Love Me Do
Love Me Do
"Love Me Do" is The Beatles' first single, backed by "P.S. I Love You" and released on 5 October 1962. When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom, it peaked at number seventeen; in 1982 it was re-issued and reached number four...
" and "P.S. I Love You
P.S. I Love You (The Beatles song)
"P.S. I Love You" is a song composed principally by Paul McCartney and recorded by The Beatles. It was released on 5 October 1962 as the B-side of their debut single "Love Me Do" and is also included on their 1963 album Please Please Me...
", found on The Beatles' first album
Please Please Me
Please Please Me is the debut album by the English rock band The Beatles. Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of singles "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" .Of the album's fourteen songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney...
.
Minor commercial success, and the first TV appearance
The Beatles' first EMI session on 6 June 1962 did not yield any recordings considered worthy of release, but "Love Me Do" from the September sessions produced a minor UK hit which peaked on the charts at number seventeen. "Love Me Do" would reach the top of the US singles chart over eighteen months later in May 1964. The band's first televised performance was on the People and Places programme, transmitted live from ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
on 17 October 1962.
Please Please Me: the breakthrough
On 26 November 1962, The Beatles recorded their second single, "Please Please MePlease Please Me (song)
"Please Please Me" is a song and the second single released by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, and the first to be issued in the United States. It was also the title track of their first LP, which was recorded to capitalise on the success of the single...
". At the start of the recording session, George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
attempted to persuade them to record a different song instead (How Do You Do It, subsequently a hit for Gerry & The Pacemakers
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat music group prominent during the 1960s. In common with The Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with...
). Martin liked the song and felt The Beatles could have big hit with it. The Beatles, however, did not like it, and furthermore they wanted to record their own compositions. They became uncooperative, as they had done at an earlier session when Martin had tried to use the song, so Martin finally abandoned the idea and "Please Please Me" was recorded instead. The record reached number two on the official UK charts, and number one on both the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
and Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
charts. Three months after "Please Please Me", The Beatles would record their first album, also titled Please Please Me
Please Please Me
Please Please Me is the debut album by the English rock band The Beatles. Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of singles "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" .Of the album's fourteen songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney...
.
1963: a year of touring
With the runaway success of the single "Please Please Me", The Beatles found themselves in huge demand for the whole of 1963. They appeared on ABC TVAssociated British Corporation
Associated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
's Thank Your Lucky Stars
Thank Your Lucky Stars (TV series)
Thank Your Lucky Stars was a British television pop music show made by ABC Television, and broadcast on ITV from 1961 to 1966. Many of the top bands performed on it, and for millions of British teenagers it was essential viewing...
show on 11 January (televised 19 January) and recorded for the BBCs Here We Go on 16 January and the BBC's Saturday Club
Saturday Club (BBC radio)
Saturday Club was an influential BBC radio programme in Britain, broadcast on the Light Programme and later Radio 1 between 1957 and 1969. It was one of the earliest - and for several years almost the only - radio programme in the country to broadcast pop music...
and the Talent Spot on 22 January. As well as completing four nationwide tours in 1963, they performed at a great many one-off shows across the UK throughout the year, often finishing one show only to travel straight to the next show in another location—sometimes even to perform again the same day. Two of the nationwide tours were led by popular American stars, but at every show during both tours, the crowds would not stop screaming for The Beatles, who proved even more popular than the American stars. Souvenir programs were hastily reprinted in response, to show The Beatles as the tour leaders. While pleased with the positive reception, The Beatles were also embarrassed for the American performers, as it had never before happened that a UK act had topped an American act at a UK concert.
In addition to the four nationwide tours and all the other concerts, what little time remained was taken up with TV shows, press interviews, and recording sessions for the singles and albums released that year. The Beatles also had a weekly radio show. The music papers were full of stories about The Beatles, and magazines for teenage girls regularly contained interviews with the band members, colour posters and other Beatle-related articles. The intense public interest in The Beatles, coupled with Epstein's demanding schedule, ensured that they had no time for family matters. Lennon's marriage to Cynthia Powell was kept from public view as a closely guarded secret, and when Lennon's son Julian
Julian Lennon
John Charles Julian Lennon is an English musician, songwriter, actor, and photographer. He is the son of John Lennon and Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Powell. Beatles manager Brian Epstein was his godfather. He has a younger half-brother, Sean Lennon. Lennon was named after his paternal...
was born on 6 April 1963, Lennon, visiting the hospital to see his wife and meet his new son for the first time, attempted to disguise himself to prevent people in the hospital from recognising him. Lennon's attempt to keep the secret was not successful, as other patients could see it was him. After the hospital visit, Epstein's schedule prevailed once more.
On 13 October 1963, The Beatles starred on "Val Parnell
Val Parnell
Valentine Charles Parnell , known as Val Parnell, was a British television producer and theatrical impresario.-Life and career:...
's Sunday Night at the London Palladium
Sunday Night at the London Palladium
Sunday Night at the London Palladium is a British television variety show produced by ATV for the ITV network, originally running from 1955 to 1967, with a brief revival in 1973 and 1974...
", the UK's top variety show. The show was televised live, watched by 15 million viewers, and in one national paper's headlines the following morning, the phenomenal nationwide interest in The Beatles was finally given a name, and one which from that day on would be adopted universally: "Beatlemania
Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that originated during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy directed toward The Beatles during the early years of their success...
". On 7 December 1963, The Beatles appeared on the BBC’s pop show, Juke Box Jury
Juke Box Jury
Juke Box Jury was a musical panel show which originally ran on BBC Television from 1 June 1959 until December 1967. The programme was based on the American show Jukebox Jury, itself an offshoot of a long-running radio series....
, where new pop records were played and commented on by a selected panel of guests. It was filmed on stage at the Liverpool Empire Theatre
Liverpool Empire Theatre
Liverpool Empire Theatre is located on the corner of Lime Street and London Road in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The theatre is the second to be built on the site, and was opened in 1925. It has the largest two-tier auditorium in Britain and can seat 2,350 people...
, and hosted by DJ David Jacobs
David Jacobs (disc jockey)
David Lewis Jacobs CBE is a British actor and broadcaster who gained prominence as presenter of the peak-time BBC Television show Juke Box Jury and the BBC Radio 4 political forum, Any Questions?-Early career:...
.
February 1963: first nationwide tour
On 2 February 1963, The Beatles opened their first nationwide tour at a show in Bradford, featuring Helen ShapiroHelen Shapiro
Helen Kate Shapiro is an English singer and actress. She is best known for her 1960s UK chart toppers, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness".-Early life:...
, Danny Williams, Kenny Lynch, Kestrels, and the Red Price Orchestra. Heading the tour bill was the 16-year-old Shapiro, followed by the other five acts, the last of which was The Beatles. The band used the nationwide tour as an opportunity to generate further interest in "Please Please Me", and the song was regularly included in their performances throughout the tour. The Beatles, though lowest on the bill, were immensely popular during the tour, as Gordon Sampson, a journalist with the tour, observed. His report did not include the word "Beatlemania"; the term would not be coined until some months later, but the phenomenon was evident, with Sampson writing that "a great reception went to the colourfully-dressed Beatles, who almost stole the show, for the audience repeatedly called for them while other artists were performing!". The first tour had a duration of four weeks, and ended on 3 March 1963.
March 1963: second nationwide tour
For The Beatles' second nationwide tour, which began on 9 March 1963 at the Granada Cinema in London, the group appeared on a bill headed by the American stars Tommy RoeTommy Roe
Tommy Roe is an American pop music singer-songwriter.Best-remembered for his hits "Sheila" and "Dizzy" , critic Bill Dahl wrote that Roe was "widely perceived as one of the archetypal bubblegum artists of the late 1960s, but Roe cut some pretty decent rockers along the way, especially early in his...
and Chris Montez
Chris Montez
Chris Montez , is an American singer.-Early life:Montez grew up in Hawthorne, California, influenced by the Latino-flavored music of his community and the success of Ritchie Valens....
. Both US artists had already firmly established themselves in the UK singles charts: Montez's "Let's Dance" had reached #2 four months earlier in October 1962, and another top 10 hit, "Some Kinda Fun", had recently followed; likewise Roe's "Sheila" had reached #3 five months previously in September 1962, and his new single, "The Folk Singer", would enter the charts during the tour, going on to reach #4. Throughout the tour, however, the crowds screamed and screamed for The Beatles, and for the first time in UK history, the American stars were less popular than a UK act. While enjoying the overwhelming display of enthusiasm for them, The Beatles also felt embarrassment for the American performers at this unexpected turn of events, which persisted at every show from the first day to the last. The second tour had a duration of three weeks, and ended on 31 March 1963.
May 1963: third nationwide tour
The Beatles began their third nationwide tour on 18 May 1963, the bill this time headed by Roy OrbisonRoy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
. Orbison had established even greater UK chart success than either Montez or Roe, with eight previous chart entries of his own—four of them entering the top 10, including the #2 "Dream Baby" and the #1 Only the Lonely
Only the Lonely
"Only the Lonely " is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Recorded by Orbison, it became his first major hit. As an operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, described by the New York Times as expressing "a clenched, driven urgency". It is seen as a seminal event...
—and was about to achieve his next top 10 entry with "Falling", which entered the charts during the tour. However, at the tour's opening show, staged at the Adelphi Cinema, Slough, the American star proved less popular than The Beatles, just as had happened with Roe and Montez throughout the previous nationwide tour. As events unfolded it became obvious this was not going to change, and a week into the tour the covers of the souvenir programs were reprinted to place The Beatles above Roy Orbison. Despite The Beatles' ascent to the top of the bill, Starr was impressed with the response Orbison still commanded. Starr recalled, "We would be backstage, listening to the tremendous applause he was getting. He was just doing it by his voice. Just standing there singing, not moving or anything." The third tour had a duration of three weeks, and ended on 9 June 1963.
November 1963: fourth nationwide tour
On 1 November 1963, The Beatles began their fourth and final nationwide tour of 1963. Tour stops this time included Dublin and BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. Three days before the tour started, the band, returning from a five-day Swedish tour, were greeted at Heathrow Airport in heavy rain by thousands of screaming fans, 50 journalists and photographers, and a BBC TV camera crew. The wild scenes at the airport caused the British Prime Minister, being chauffered in the vicinity, to be delayed, his car obstructed by the crowds. Meanwhile, the current Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
, passing through the airport herself, was completely ignored by journalists and public alike, and when the American TV presenter Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
, numbered among those held up at Heathrow, was told the reason for the delay, he asked, "Who the hell are The Beatles?". Not long after, there would be similar scenes at an airport in Sullivan's own country, when The Beatles' arrived there for the first time, and he would himself introduce the band to the American nation on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
, watched by 73 million viewers.
On the tour's opening night at the Odeon in Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
, the volume of sound created by the screaming crowds was so great that The Beatles' amplification equipment proved unequal to it, so much so that the band members were unable to hear any sounds they were making themselves, whether speaking, singing, or playing their instruments. As a result, they were unable to count songs in or perform in unison.
The tour produced much the same reaction from those attending as the previous three had done, with a fervent, riotous response from fans everywhere the band went. Police attempting to control the crowds employed high-pressure water hoses, and the safety of the police became a matter of national concern, provoking controversial discussions in Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
over the thousands of police officers putting themselves at risk to protect The Beatles.
During a break in the tour, The Beatles sang before Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother at the Royal Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...
on 4 November, sharing the bill with Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
and Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
. Harrison said at the time: "I don't want to sound ungrateful, but why are The Beatles on the same stage as a mass of show business greats? . . . We're just four normal folk who have had a couple of hit records." The fourth and final nationwide tour of 1963 had a duration of six weeks, and ended on 13 December 1963.
Reputation and image
In 1963 The Beatles were prominent in the public eye with the sweeping phenomenon of Beatlemania but, in addition, The Beatles' music was beginning to attract the attention of serious critics. On 23 December 1963, The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
music critic William Mann published an essay extolling The Beatles' compositions, including their "fresh and euphonious" guitars in "Till There Was You
Till There Was You
"Till There Was You" is a song written by Meredith Willson for his 1957 musical play The Music Man, and which also appeared in the 1962 movie version...
", their "submediant switches from C major into A flat major", and the "octave ascent" in "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
". The Beatles themselves were perplexed by one analysis by Mann: "...one gets the impression that they think simultaneously of harmony and melody, so firmly are the major tonic sevenths and ninths built into their tunes, and the flat-submediant key-switches, so natural is the Aeolian
Aeolian mode
The Aeolian mode is a musical mode or, in modern usage, a diatonic scale called the natural minor scale.The word "Aeolian" in the music theory of ancient Greece was an alternative name for what Aristoxenus called the Low Lydian tonos , nine semitones...
cadence
Cadence (music)
In Western musical theory, a cadence is, "a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution [finality or pause]." A harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music...
at the end of 'Not a Second Time
Not a Second Time
"Not a Second Time" is a song by John Lennon performed by The Beatles on their second United Kingdom album, With the Beatles...
' (the chord progression which ends Mahler's
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
'Song of the Earth
Das Lied von der Erde
Das Lied von der Erde is a large-scale work for two vocal soloists and orchestra by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler...
')."
That year, The Beatles' iconic logo (referred to as the "drop-T" logo) made its debut. Epstein and Starr visited Drum City, one of Ivor Arbiter's stores in Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major street in central London, England, named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, that runs in a north-easterly direction from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus....
, to purchase a new drum kit. Epstein asked for the band name to appear on the bass drum. Arbiter designed a logo with an extended "T" emphasising the word "Beat". Drum City was paid £5 for the design, which Arbiter sketched on a scrap of paper to be painted on the drum by a local sign-writer.