50 Years Ago Today: Beatles occupy top 5 spots on Billboard 100, April 4, 1964
Another excerpt from my book-in-progress, "I Read the News Today: The Beatles Phenomenon, 1963-1970":
“Can’t Buy Me Love” received advance orders of a million copies in Britain and more than two million in the United States. It quickly went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic and, in the U.S., resulted in a pileup of Beatles hits atop the charts.In the confused situation regarding rights to the band’s early recordings, Beatles singles were being released on four different labels: Capitol, Swan, Vee-Jay and the latter’s subsidiary, Tollie. As a result, the April 4 issue of Billboard listed “Can’t Buy Me Love” at number one, followed by a succession of previously released Beatles songs at numbers two, three, four, five, 31, 41, 46, 58, 65, 68 and 79. The following week found 14 Beatles songs in the U.S. Top 100.Even their first recordings with Tony Sheridan, “My Bonnie” and “Ain’t She Sweet,” eventually made the U.S. charts, much to the group’s chagrin. “‘My Bonnie,’ we hated,” Paul told a radio interviewer. “It was a terrible record. We weren’t even on it [they played backup, Sheridan sang lead]. ‘Ain’t She Sweet,’ we’re on it, but it’s a terrible record.”The takeover, by one musical artist, of the record chart was unprecedented, noted Billboard on March 14. “In the past three weeks, the Beatles have absorbed more than 60 percent of all singles sales. Only the Four Seasons, Elvis Presley and a few other disks have come fairly close to the sensational sales racked up by the British act on four different labels.” Sales by other artists, the magazine noted, had “gone soft as a grape.”
New and upcoming pop culture books: Kiss; Miyazaki; Spielberg's Duel; Orson Welles; Bruce Lee; Brick Fairy Tales; Game of Thrones pop-up; Wonder Woman; Mary Blair; Veronica Mars, more!
Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.
John Wayne: The Life and Legend
Face the Music: A Life Exposed
A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man
The Art of DreamWorks Animation
Turning Point: 1997-2008 (hardcover)
Nothin' to Lose: The Making of KISS (1972-1975)
The Art of the Wind Rises
Starting Point: 1979-1996 (paperback)
There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll by Lisa Robinson
Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman, Godzilla, and Friends in the Golden Age of Japanese Science Fiction Film
The Master of Suspense: The Life and Legacy of Alfred Hitchcock
Art of Princess Mononoke (The Art of Princess Mononoke)
Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career
My Lunches with Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles
The Archaeology of Hollywood: Traces of the Golden Age
Alien the Archive: The Ultimate Guide to the Classic Movies
Hitchcock and Adaptation: On the Page and Screen
Bruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden Dragon (Bruce Lee Library)
Brick Fairy Tales: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel, and More
Game of Thrones: A Pop-Up Guide to Westeros
Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine
The Beatles
The Art and Flair of Mary Blair (Updated Edition): An Appreciation (Disney Editions Deluxe)
Genius, Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth
Happy Clouds, Happy Trees: The Bob Ross Phenomenon
Welcome to Mars: Politics, Pop Culture, and Weird Science in 1950s America
The Origins of Comics: From William Hogarth to Winsor McCay
Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy, Mass Culture, and Modernism in the Art of Winsor McCay (Great Comics Artists)
The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey
Carl Barks' Donald Duck: Your Average American
Veronica Mars: An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Vintage)
Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be a Pop Star
God Save The Kinks: A Biography
Frank Thorne's Red Sonja Art Edition HC
Andy Warhol: The Complete Copmmissioned Posters, 1964-1987
John Wayne: The Life and Legend
Face the Music: A Life Exposed
A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man
The Art of DreamWorks Animation
Turning Point: 1997-2008 (hardcover)
Nothin' to Lose: The Making of KISS (1972-1975)
The Art of the Wind Rises
Starting Point: 1979-1996 (paperback)
There Goes Gravity: A Life in Rock and Roll by Lisa Robinson
Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman, Godzilla, and Friends in the Golden Age of Japanese Science Fiction Film
The Master of Suspense: The Life and Legacy of Alfred Hitchcock
Art of Princess Mononoke (The Art of Princess Mononoke)
Steven Spielberg and Duel: The Making of a Film Career
My Lunches with Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles
The Archaeology of Hollywood: Traces of the Golden Age
Alien the Archive: The Ultimate Guide to the Classic Movies
Hitchcock and Adaptation: On the Page and Screen
Bruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden Dragon (Bruce Lee Library)
Brick Fairy Tales: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel, and More
Game of Thrones: A Pop-Up Guide to Westeros
Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World's Most Famous Heroine
The Beatles
The Art and Flair of Mary Blair (Updated Edition): An Appreciation (Disney Editions Deluxe)
Genius, Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth
Happy Clouds, Happy Trees: The Bob Ross Phenomenon
Welcome to Mars: Politics, Pop Culture, and Weird Science in 1950s America
The Origins of Comics: From William Hogarth to Winsor McCay
Wide Awake in Slumberland: Fantasy, Mass Culture, and Modernism in the Art of Winsor McCay (Great Comics Artists)
The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey
Carl Barks' Donald Duck: Your Average American
Veronica Mars: An Original Mystery by Rob Thomas: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Vintage)
Bedsit Disco Queen: How I Grew Up and Tried to Be a Pop Star
God Save The Kinks: A Biography
Frank Thorne's Red Sonja Art Edition HC
Andy Warhol: The Complete Copmmissioned Posters, 1964-1987
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)