Ticket to Ride
Encyclopedia
"Ticket to Ride" is a song by The Beatles
from their 1965 album, Help!
. It was recorded 15 February 1965 and released two months later.
(credited to Lennon–McCartney), with Paul McCartney
's contributions in dispute. Lennon said that McCartney's contribution was limited to "the way Ringo
played the drums". McCartney said that was an incomplete description, and that "we sat down and wrote it together... give him 60 percent of it... we sat down together and worked on that for a full three-hour songwriting session." This song was also the first song by the band in which McCartney was featured on lead guitar.
Lennon proudly claimed that it was the first heavy metal
song given the droning bassline, repeating drums, and loaded guitar lines.
The song features a coda with a different tempo that extends the song's length past three minutes, the first Beatles single ever to do so. Lennon said this double-time section (with the lyric "My baby don't care") was one of his "favourite bits" in the song.
on the Isle of Wight", and Lennon said it described cards indicating a clean bill of health carried by Hamburg
prostitutes in the 1960s. The Beatles played in Hamburg early in their musical career, and "ride/riding" was slang for having sex.
on 9 April 1965 in the United Kingdom and 19 April in the United States with "Yes It Is
" as its B-side
, topping the Hot 100
for a week in the US and the UK Singles Chart
for three weeks in the UK. The American single's label declared that the song was from the United Artists
release Eight Arms to Hold You. This was the original title of the Beatles' second movie; the title changed to Help!
after the single was initially released. The song was also included on the Help! album released on 6 August in the UK and on 13 August in the US.
The song was the third of six number one singles in a row on the American charts, a record at the time, along with "I Feel Fine
", "Eight Days a Week
", "Help!
", "Yesterday
", and "We Can Work It Out
".
When the song hit #1 in the US, the Beatles became the fourth consecutive British group to hold down the top spot. The other three groups, Freddie & The Dreamers, Wayne Fontana
& The Mindbenders
and Herman's Hermits
, respectively, all hailed from Manchester
, England; thus, the Beatles broke a combined six-week run at the top for Manchester groups.
.
of Allmusic and Ian MacDonald
both describe "Ticket to Ride" as an important milestone in the evolution of the musical style of the Beatles. Unterberger said, "the rhythm parts on 'Ticket to Ride' were harder and heavier than they had been on any previous Beatles outing, particularly in Ringo Starr
's stormy stutters and rolls." MacDonald described it as "psychologically deeper than anything the Beatles had recorded before ... extraordinary for its time — massive with chiming electric guitars, weighty rhythm, and rumbling floor tom-toms. MacDonald also notes that the track uses the Indian basis of drone
which might have influenced the Kinks' "See My Friends
".
MacDonald wrote that Lennon played a Jetglo Rickenbacker
325 twelve-string guitar, and that Harrison was "probably" playing his 12-string Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar.
on their album, Offering/Ticket to Ride
, and it became a minor hit. The song stalled at number #54 on the Billboard Hot 100
for three weeks and #19 on the adult contemporary
. The Carpenters recorded the song as a slower ballad. At the time of its release in 1969 under the name Offering, it was a commercial failure and produced only one minor hit single - "Ticket to Ride", a ballad version of a song made famous by The Beatles. After the Carpenters' breakthrough however, the album was re-issued internationally under the name Ticket to Ride and sold moderately.
(1966), Vanilla Fudge
(1967), The 5th Dimension (1967 on The Magic Garden
), Hüsker Dü
(1986), Sly and Robbie
(1987), The Punkles
, Kids Incorporated
(1993), Atomic Kitten
(2007), and Chris Cornell
on his 2011 solo acoustic tour.
album The Dark Side of the Moon
. Initially this phenomenon was considered a mistake in remastering. However it is audible on high quality vinyl pressings from the time before the CD era as well. The Beatles and Pink Floyd both recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
The song is referenced in "Artificial Energy", by the Byrds, the opening track of The Notorious Byrd Brothers
from 1968.
The title of this song is referenced in the Red Dwarf
episode "Tikka to Ride
", in accordance with the theme of curry on which the storyline focuses.
In a Doctor Who
serial titled "The Chase
", the First Doctor and his companions Ian Chesterton
, Barbara Wright
, and Vicki
watch the Beatles perform "Ticket To Ride" on the Doctor's recently acquired time/space visualiser. The clip shown is about 15 seconds long and was of a mime performance the band gave on Top of the Pops
shortly before the recording of the Doctor Who serial, started. It is the only footage of this performance known to exist.
In 2011, the song was parodied by The Fringemunks
to recap Fringe
episode 3.13, "Immortality."
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...
from their 1965 album, Help!
Help! (album)
Help! is the title of the fifth British and ninth American album by The Beatles, and the soundtrack from their film of the same name. Produced by George Martin for EMI's Parlophone Records, it contains fourteen songs in its original British form, of which seven appeared in the film...
. It was recorded 15 February 1965 and released two months later.
Composition
The song was written primarily by John LennonJohn Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
(credited to Lennon–McCartney), with Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's contributions in dispute. Lennon said that McCartney's contribution was limited to "the way Ringo
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...
played the drums". McCartney said that was an incomplete description, and that "we sat down and wrote it together... give him 60 percent of it... we sat down together and worked on that for a full three-hour songwriting session." This song was also the first song by the band in which McCartney was featured on lead guitar.
Lennon proudly claimed that it was the first heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
song given the droning bassline, repeating drums, and loaded guitar lines.
The song features a coda with a different tempo that extends the song's length past three minutes, the first Beatles single ever to do so. Lennon said this double-time section (with the lyric "My baby don't care") was one of his "favourite bits" in the song.
Meaning of "ticket to ride"
While the song lyrics describe a girl "riding out of the life of the narrator", the inspiration of the title phrase is unclear. McCartney said it was "a British Railways ticket to the town of RydeRyde
Ryde is a British seaside town, civil parish and the most populous town and urban area on the Isle of Wight, with a population of approximately 30,000. It is situated on the north-east coast. The town grew in size as a seaside resort following the joining of the villages of Upper Ryde and Lower...
on the Isle of Wight", and Lennon said it described cards indicating a clean bill of health carried by Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
prostitutes in the 1960s. The Beatles played in Hamburg early in their musical career, and "ride/riding" was slang for having sex.
Release
"Ticket to Ride" was released as a singleSingle (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on 9 April 1965 in the United Kingdom and 19 April in the United States with "Yes It Is
Yes It Is
"Yes It Is" is a 1965 Beatles song written by John Lennon which was first released as the B-side to "Ticket to Ride"...
" as its B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
, topping the Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for a week in the US and the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
for three weeks in the UK. The American single's label declared that the song was from the United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
release Eight Arms to Hold You. This was the original title of the Beatles' second movie; the title changed to Help!
Help! (film)
Help! is a 1965 film directed by Richard Lester, starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—and featuring Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill. Help! was the second feature film made by the Beatles and is a...
after the single was initially released. The song was also included on the Help! album released on 6 August in the UK and on 13 August in the US.
The song was the third of six number one singles in a row on the American charts, a record at the time, along with "I Feel Fine
I Feel Fine
"I Feel Fine" is a riff-driven rock song written by John Lennon and released in 1964 by The Beatles as the A-side of their eighth British single. The song is notable for the use of feedback on a recording for the first time by any musician...
", "Eight Days a Week
Eight Days a Week (song)
"Eight Days a Week" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, based on Paul's original idea, recorded by The Beatles and released on their December 1964 album Beatles for Sale.-Inspiration:...
", "Help!
Help! (song)
"Help!" is a song by The Beatles that served as the title song for both the 1965 film and its soundtrack album. It was also released as a single, and was number one for three weeks in both the United States and the United Kingdom....
", "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)
"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...
", and "We Can Work It Out
We Can Work It Out
"We Can Work It Out" is a song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was released as a "double A-sided" single with "Day Tripper", the first time both sides of a single were so designated in an initial release...
".
When the song hit #1 in the US, the Beatles became the fourth consecutive British group to hold down the top spot. The other three groups, Freddie & The Dreamers, Wayne Fontana
Wayne Fontana
Wayne Fontana is an English pop singer. In 1962, he formed his backing group, the Mindbenders and got a recording contract.-Biography:...
& The Mindbenders
The Mindbenders
The Mindbenders was a 1960s beat group from Manchester, England. They were part of the mid 1960s British Invasion with their chart-toppers "Game of Love" and "A Groovy Kind of Love"....
and Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
, respectively, all hailed from Manchester
Manchester
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...
, England; thus, the Beatles broke a combined six-week run at the top for Manchester groups.
Music video
The Beatles filmed a music video, directed by Joe McGrathJoseph McGrath (film director)
Joseph 'Apocalypse' McGrath , sometimes referred to as "'Apocalypse'" Joe McGrath or Croisette Meubles, is a Scottish film director and screenwriter best remembered for his two films, Casino Royale and The Magic Christian . McGrath frequently collaborated with Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers...
.
Critical response
Music critics Richie UnterbergerRichie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
of Allmusic and Ian MacDonald
Ian MacDonald
Ian MacCormick was a British music critic and author, best known for Revolution in the Head, his forensic history of The Beatles which borrowed techniques from art historians, and The New Shostakovich, a controversial study of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich...
both describe "Ticket to Ride" as an important milestone in the evolution of the musical style of the Beatles. Unterberger said, "the rhythm parts on 'Ticket to Ride' were harder and heavier than they had been on any previous Beatles outing, particularly in Ringo Starr
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...
's stormy stutters and rolls." MacDonald described it as "psychologically deeper than anything the Beatles had recorded before ... extraordinary for its time — massive with chiming electric guitars, weighty rhythm, and rumbling floor tom-toms. MacDonald also notes that the track uses the Indian basis of drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
which might have influenced the Kinks' "See My Friends
See My Friends
"See My Friends" is a song by The Kinks, written by the group's singer and guitarist, Ray Davies. Released in 1965, it reached #10 on the UK Singles Chart...
".
| Chart 1965 | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
1 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| NL Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
Personnel
- John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
– double-tracked lead vocal, rhythm guitarRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together... - Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– harmony vocalBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, lead guitarLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure... - George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
– rhythm guitar - Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard 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...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, tambourineTambourineThe tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, handclaps
- Personnel per MacDonald
MacDonald wrote that Lennon played a Jetglo Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
325 twelve-string guitar, and that Harrison was "probably" playing his 12-string Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar.
The Carpenters' version
In 1969, it was released by The CarpentersThe Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
on their album, Offering/Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride (album)
-Charts:-Credits:*Producer: Jack Daugherty*Engineer: Ray Gerhardt*Guest Artist: Herb Alpert *Bass: Joe Osborn and Bob Messenger*Guitar: Gary Sims*Art Director: Tom Wilkes*Photographer: Jim McCrary-"Ticket To Ride":...
, and it became a minor hit. The song stalled at number #54 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for three weeks and #19 on the adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
. The Carpenters recorded the song as a slower ballad. At the time of its release in 1969 under the name Offering, it was a commercial failure and produced only one minor hit single - "Ticket to Ride", a ballad version of a song made famous by The Beatles. After the Carpenters' breakthrough however, the album was re-issued internationally under the name Ticket to Ride and sold moderately.
| Chart 1969 | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
54 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 19 |
Other cover versions
Many artists have covered "Ticket to Ride", including The Bee GeesBee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
(1966), Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band's original lineup – vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice – recorded five albums during the years 1966–69, before disbanding in 1970...
(1967), The 5th Dimension (1967 on The Magic Garden
The Magic Garden
The Magic Garden is the second album by American pop group The 5th Dimension, released in 1967 .-Track listing:All songs written by Jimmy Webb, except where noted#"Prologue" – 1:24#"The Magic Garden" – 2:48...
), Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
(1986), Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie
Sly and Robbie is the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production team of drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare who joined in the mid 1970s after having established themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians...
(1987), The Punkles
The Punkles
The Punkles were a band performing songs by The Beatles in punk style. They formed in 1998 in Hamburg, Germany and it was actually a side project of Prollhead!....
, Kids Incorporated
Kids Incorporated
Kids Incorporated, is an American children's television program that was produced from 1984 to 1993. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as an integral part of each and every storyline....
(1993), Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten
Atomic Kitten were an English girl group from Liverpool, first established in 1997. Created by Andy McCluskey, the final line-up, and most commercially successful, consisted of Natasha Hamilton, Liz McClarnon, and Jenny Frost...
(2007), and Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
on his 2011 solo acoustic tour.
Cultural references
It is believed that an orchestral version of the song is barely audible in the fadeout at the very end of the Pink FloydPink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
album The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
. Initially this phenomenon was considered a mistake in remastering. However it is audible on high quality vinyl pressings from the time before the CD era as well. The Beatles and Pink Floyd both recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
The song is referenced in "Artificial Energy", by the Byrds, the opening track of The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
The Notorious Byrd Brothers is the fifth album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in January 1968 on Columbia Records . Musically, the album represents the pinnacle of The Byrds' psychedelic experimentation, with the band blending together elements of folk rock, psychedelic rock,...
from 1968.
The title of this song is referenced in the Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
episode "Tikka to Ride
Tikka to Ride
"Tikka To Ride" is the first episode of science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series VII and the 37th in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 17 January 1997...
", in accordance with the theme of curry on which the storyline focuses.
In a Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
serial titled "The Chase
The Chase (Doctor Who)
The Chase is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 22 May to 26 June 1965. The story is set on multiple locations including the Mary Celeste, the Empire State Building, and the planet Aridius...
", the First Doctor and his companions Ian Chesterton
Ian Chesterton
Ian Chesterton is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who and a companion of the First Doctor. He was played in the series by William Russell, and was one of the members of the programme's very first regular cast, appearing in the bulk of the first two...
, Barbara Wright
Barbara Wright
Barbara Wright was an English translator of modern French literature.Wright, born in Worthing, studied music and art in Paris in the years before World War II...
, and Vicki
Vicki
Vicki is a fictional character played by Maureen O'Brien in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. An orphan from the 25th century, she was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in the programme in Seasons 2 and 3 in 1965...
watch the Beatles perform "Ticket To Ride" on the Doctor's recently acquired time/space visualiser. The clip shown is about 15 seconds long and was of a mime performance the band gave on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
shortly before the recording of the Doctor Who serial, started. It is the only footage of this performance known to exist.
In 2011, the song was parodied by The Fringemunks
The Fringemunks
The Fringemunks are a music group created by Seattle musician David Wu in 2008 consisting of three "cloned" anthropomorphic chipmunks: Feebo, Notchy and Pie. They are known mostly for recapping all episodes of Fox television series Fringe with song parodies...
to recap Fringe
Fringe (TV series)
Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
episode 3.13, "Immortality."