The fabled lore that would carry The Beatles along the 1960s as a musical thread, from Merseybeat rock and roll covers act to countercultural titans by the decade’s close, was barely a glint in pop’s eye, way back when 1962’s debut single ‘Love Me Do’ was dropped.
It’s not a bad song. Songwriting bounce between Paul McCartney and John Lennon already shines with a hooky infection; both their vocals interplay nicely, and the harmonica flourish adds a raw, bluesy edge, rendering the chart competition pedestrian in comparison. Yet, it’s a tame number, shuffling along with a somewhat staid pace to number 17 on the UK Singles chart and bested by its superior ‘PS I Love You’ B-side.
A giant leap forward was taken for The Beatles’ second single, however. Released two months before their namesake debut LP, ‘Please Please Me’ truly heralded the arrival of a pair of songsmiths set to dominate the charts with a God-given grasp of rock-solid pop craft that would stir the decade’s new kids into a frenzy. While Beatlemania was not quite apparent, the Fab Four’s second single effort made several strides toward that cultural phenomenon, brimming with confidence and a sharper shock of radiance than their previous effort.
Lennon originally sketched out ‘Please Please Me’ as a slower, bluesier affair in the style of an old Roy Orbison tune. EMI producer George Martin wasn’t much impressed. Failing a second time to convince The Beatles to release a recording of Mitch Murray’s ‘How Do You Do It?’, a rearranging of ‘Please Please Me’ to a more jauntier and sped-up incarnation, meeting the team’s satisfaction after 18 takes would make the cut. Fellow Merseybeater Gerry and the Pacemakers would ultimately release ‘How Do You Do It?’, scoring a UK number one just as Martin had predicted for moptop boys.
‘Please Please Me’ was a bigger smash than ‘Love Me Do’. Released in January 1963, a steady climb to number two was helped by the fortunate bout of freeze that cast across the country that winter, one of the coldest in recorded history. Playing on ITV’s Thank Your Lucky Stars on the 19th, a nation stuck indoors with two TV channel options yielded a significantly high viewership for The Beatles’ performance, affording the band an essential leg-up on the road to Fab.
While peaking at number one on the New Musical Express and Melody Maker charts, ‘Please Please Me’s’ silver medal on the UK singles chart predecessor Record Retailer meant that The Beatles’ second single was never collated on 2000’s 1 compilation.
So what kept ‘Please Please Me’ from topping the charts?
With the coveted UK number one just within reach, the original British Elvis impersonator, Cliff Richard, just nudged The Beatles from the top spot with ‘The Next Time’. One of three chart toppers from the Summer Holiday musical, Richard and his backing band, The Shadows, scored a three-week top spot with their syrupy love song, documenting one of the last embers of a pop charts yet to be fussed over by the four lads from Liverpool.
The Shadows would win the next number one by themselves with the ‘Dance On!’ instrumental, but once The Beatles had unleashed ‘From Me to You’ to the world, their number one streak began in earnest, and Beatlemania was set to conquer the country, then the world.