THE BEATLES’ FIRST hit was released 50 years ago today.

The release of Love Me Do saw the four boys from Liverpool begin their journey as one of the most popular bands of all time. We take a look at some of the Fab Four’s top moments on video…

Please, please me

In 1963, after the success of singles Love Me Do and Please, Please Me the band’s record label was keen to release a full album to appetite to satisfy growing demand… but an album didn’t exist. A nine-hour marathon recording session at Abbey Road studios produced a further ten songs and the subsequent first album, which was released in March and secured the number one spot on the UK charts for a staggering 30 weeks.

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Clap your hands and rattle your jewellery

Beatles fans packed out the Royal Variety Performance in November 1963, when Lennon uttered the now-famous words: “For the people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands. And the rest of you, just rattle your jewellery…”

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USA Invasion

Ringo Starr said that the band’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show 1964 was The Beatles’ “USA Invasion”.

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A Hard Day’s Night

The boys made their big screen debut in the 1964 mockumentary, A Hard Day’s Night.

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Bigger than Jesus

In 1966, Lennon made an off-hand remark to American teenage magazine Datebook, quipping that the band were “bigger than Jesus”. The comment sparked a backlash, particularly in the southern United States where radio stations enforced a ‘Beatles boycott’ and refused to play their songs. Teenagers were encouraged to bring records and Beatles paraphernalia  to public dumping spots to be destroyed in huge bonfires.

As well as being accused of being accused of being sacrilegious and “antiAmerican”, some commentators even speculated the band were involved in such shady activities as the civil rights movement. Gosh.

Check out some of the hysteria below…

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