Myriad Muzik

John Lennon

The Beatles – “Ticket to Ride” Released Today, 54 Years Ago

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Beatles single “Ticket to Ride” was released on Capitol records today, 54 years ago. Written by John Lennon and credited by both Lennon and Paul McCartney, the song quickly became the band’s seventh consecutive number 1 hit in the United Kingdom and their third consecutive number 1 hit in the United States. As stated by the single’s label, the song was from the film  ‘Eight Arms to Hold You’ (the original name for the movie ‘Help!’). Well-known music critic, Ian MacDonald, described the song as “psychologically deeper than anything the Beatles had recorded before” and “extraordinary for its time”. The Carpenters covered the song and 1969 and managed to peak at #54 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their version. 

 

Beatles State of Affairs, 52 Years Ago

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Today, 52 years ago, The South African Broadcasting Corporation banned all Beatles records in response to John Lennon’s remark about the band being bigger than Jesus. Lennon stated: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first – rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.” The comment was ignored in Britain as it was seen to be typically provocative. Five months later, however, the statement was reprinted in an American teen magazine, Datebook, and erupted great controversy. In the conservative southern and Midwest states, Beatles records and memorabilia were burned, radio stations refused to play their music and concerts were cancelled. Also on this 8th day of August 1966, The Beatles LP, Revolver, was released in the US. This was the band’s seventh album and featured songs like ‘Taxman’, ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘I’m Only Sleeping’, ‘Here, There and Everywhere’, ‘She Said She Said’, ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ and ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. The album spent 77 weeks on the Billboard chart on the #1 position.