Love Me Do – Today’s classic song and two covers from opposite ends of the music spectrum. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #TheBeatles #DavidBowie #JeffBeck #TheBradyBunch

It’s been a while since I have featured the Beatles. Today’s Ted Tocks will feature a musical milestone that is truly mindboggling. On this day 55 years ago, The Beatles ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This was remarkable in its own right, but in the Beatles world, it was normal. So normal in fact that it was fortified by an unprecedented 13 other songs that resided between #1 and #81. That’s right! 14 songs on the Hot 100 at one time. Here is that list of Beatles songs and where they resided on this day all those years ago.

The Beatles’ 14 simultaneous Hot 100 Hits (April 11, 1964)
No. 1, “Can’t Buy Me Love”
No. 2, “Twist and Shout”
No. 4, “She Loves You”
No. 7, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
No. 9, “Please Please Me”
No. 14, “Do You Want to Know a Secret”
No. 38, “I Saw Her Standing There”
No. 48, “You Can’t Do That”
No. 50, “All My Loving”
No. 52, “From Me to You”
No. 61, “Thank You Girl”
No. 74, “There’s a Place” (debut)
No. 78, “Roll Over Beethoven”
No. 81, “Love Me Do” (debut)

Almost as mind boggling is the fact that somehow Drake matched this feat in 2015. Maybe it is just me, but I find this guy virtually unlistenable and whatever lyrics I have heard are mind numbingly simplistic, but that is just my opinion and I could be wrong.

Back to ‘Love Me Do’, it has always been one of my early Beatles favourites. It was originally released in 1962 and it peaked at #17 with Pete Best on drums. It was re-released in 1964 in the United States when it became a #1. The 1964 version displayed Ringo on drums and there is also a popular version of ‘Love Me Do’ which is prominently featured on the compilation known as The Red Album, that has Andy White on drums and Ringo playing the tambourine. This was due to the fact that Ringo had just replaced Pete Best on drums and wasn’t 100% familiar with the band’s material. To me the best part of the song is John Lennon’s distinctive harmonica introduction. This was George Martin’s idea and a tip of the hat to the great Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Lennon had learned to play the instrument that was given to him by his Uncle George (the late husband of his Aunt Mimi) as a young child.

Now imagine this…By the time in 1962 that the Beatles had chosen to record this song, it was mostly by default. Producer George Martin had just recently been procured as their guy, but he was not fully convinced of the band as songriters. He agreed to work with the Beatles because of their ‘charismatic appeal’. Yes! To George Martin, the Beatles were a project. Martin decided to record ‘Love Me Do’ based on the fact they had nothing better to record at the time.

“It wasn’t a question of what they could do (as) they hadn’t written anything great at the time. But what impressed me most was their personalities. Sparks flew off them when you talked to them.”

George Martin

The eventual result is a clear display of the fact that the vibe the Beatles sent out translated into an unprecedented run of success.

For today’s cover I am going to cheat a little bit, but I just had to share this version because the combination of musicianship and musical legends is too much to pass on. Check out this recording of David Bowie and Jeff Beck doing ‘Jean Genie’ with a little dab of ‘Love Me Do’. The interplay between Bowie, Beck and Mick Ronson is a treat to watch and listen. So good.

And finally…Listen to this. Nope…it is not Barney and Friends. It is the Brady Bunch. It’s awful but hey. The Brady Bunch was absolutely huge in the late 60’s and early ‘70s. Listen and enjoy a little nostalgia.

Have a great day.