April 11 1964:The Beatles - Total Domination Quiz

Answer: Can't Buy Me Love

"Can't Buy Me Love" on the Capitol record label, was a number one hit for five weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964. It was number one for three weeks on the UK chart the same year.

All of The Beatles official singles were released on the Parlophone record label in the UK. "Can't Buy Me Love" was The Beatles third US and fourth UK number one hit single. It was featured in their first movie "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964. It was also included in the music from that movie on side one of their third UK number one album "A Hard Day's Night" the same year. The US version of the album with a different track listing was released on the United Artists record label and reached number one on the US album chart in 1964. "Can't Buy Me Love" replaced "She Loves You" at number one which had in turn replaced "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at number one, giving The Beatles 14 consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. This was the first time in chart history that anyone had replaced themselves at number one twice. "Can't Buy Me Love" also had record international advanced orders of at least 2,100,000 copies.

Answer: Twist And Shout

"Twist And Shout" on the Tollie record label, reached number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and stayed there for four weeks in 1964. It was not released as a single in the UK but was included on the E.P. (extended play single) "Twist And Shout". The US B-side was "There's A Place" which reached number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The "Twist And Shout" E.P. reached number one on the UK EP chart in 1963. On another music chart in the UK music paper the "New Musical Express" it sold so many copies that it reached number four on their singles chart in 1963. All four tracks on the EP were originally on The Beatles UK album "Please Please Me" which was number one on the UK album chart in 1963. "Twist And Shout" was written by Phil Medley & Bert Russell as "Shake It Up Baby". It was originally recorded by The Top Notes in 1961 but did not chart. Phil Spector was the producer but song writer Bert Russell claimed that he had ruined the song. Bert Russell produced his own version of the song sung by the Isley Brothers which reached number 17 as "Twist And Shout" on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962. It reached number 42 on the UK chart in 1963. One further twist in the tale of this song is that it was recorded by the UK group Brian Poole and The Tremeloes. This was the group that were signed by Decca UK instead of The Beatles. Their version of the song reached number four on the UK chart in 1963. It did not chart in the US.

Answer: She Loves You

"She Loves You" on the Swan record label, was number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It was number one for six weeks on the UK chart in 1963. The UK and US release had the same B-side "I'll Get You".

"She Loves You" was The Beatles second US and UK number one hit. In the UK "She Loves You" dropped from number one after four weeks. It returned to number one for two weeks and was then replaced at number one by The Beatles with "I Want To Hold Your Hand". In the US "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was replaced at number one by "She Loves You". With "Please Please Me" at number three that gave The Beatles the top three singles on the US Billboard chart. "She Loves You" was first released in the US in 1963 but after the success of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in 1964 the Swan record label reissued it. "Sie Liebt Dich" a German language version of "She Loves You" by The Beatles was released by the Swan record label and reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1964. It did not chart in the UK.

Answer: I Want To Hold Your Hand

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" on the Capitol record label, was number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It was number one for five weeks on the UK chart in 1963/64. The US B-side was "I Saw Her Standing There" which reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The UK B-side was "This Boy".

"I Want To Hold Your Hand" was the record that kicked off Beatlemania in the US. It was The Beatles first US chart hit and first US number one hit. It could have been so different because Capitol records refused to release their first four UK singles. In a quote from Fred Bronson's 1988 Billboard book of USA Number One Hits a Capitol executive said to The Beatles manager Brian Epstein, "We don't think the Beatles will do anything in this market" end quote. Epstein took an advance pressing of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to New York and met with Brown Meggs director of east coast operations for Capitol records. After listening to it he agreed a release date and we all know the rest. The release date was brought forward after Carroll Baker a disc jockey for WWDC became the first US disc jockey to play it. She had obtained a UK copy of the record from a BOAC airline stewardess. With over 10,000,000 world wide sales "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was the biggest selling UK single until 1997 when Elton John re-recorded "Candle In The Wind" in tribute to Diana Princess of Wales.

Answer: Please Please Me

"Please Please Me" on the Vee-Jay record label, reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It reached number two on the UK chart in 1963. The US B-side was "From Me To You" which reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. The UK B-side was "Ask Me Why".

The original UK format of "Please Please Me/Ask Me Why" was released in the US by the Vee-Jay record label in Feb 1963. Some of the early copies had the groups name as The Beattles so are rare and valuable now. A copy of the record was brought to WLS Chicago by the owner of Vee-Jay records Ewart Abner to get some airplay. Dick Biondi of WLS Chicago played the record so may have been the first US disc jockey to play a Beatles record. Even with the airplay it only sold approx. 7,500 copies locally so wasn't a national hit. It was was re-released after the success of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" with "From Me To You" as the B-side. Del Shannon had already had a minor US hit with "From Me To You" which reached number 77 in 1963. It was the first Lennon/McCartney song to chart in the US. "Please Please Me" gave The Beatles their first UK top 10 hit. It even reached number one on some of the various pop charts around at the time. The UK music papers New Musical Express and Melody Maker both had it at number one. The Record Retailer only had it at number two and that chart was subsequently chosen as the British standard. The writing credit on the UK single "Please Please Me" is McCartney/Lennon not the usual Lennon/McCartney.

Answer: Do You Want To Know A Secret

"Do You Want To Know A Secret" on the Vee-Jay record label, reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It was not released as a single in the UK. The US B-side was "Thank You Girl" which was the B-side of the UK release of "From Me To You".

"Do You Want To Know A Secret" was from The Beatles first UK album "Please Please Me". It was the first Beatles song sung by George Harrison to reach the US Top 10. If you have ever felt that you have heard a Beatles song before, you might be right. "Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell?" are the opening lines from "I'm Wishing" a song from Disney's 1937 movie "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". John Lennon's mum used to sing it to him when he was a child. Another group from Brian Epstein's stable, Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas had a hit with the song in the UK. Their version reached number two on the UK chart in 1963. It did not chart in the US but it was the B-side of the second US release of "Bad To Me". "Bad To Me" was first released in the US with the original UK B-side "I Call Your Name". The third "Bad To Me" release reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 as the B-side of "Little Children" which reached number seven in 1963. "Do You Want To Know A Secret", "Bad To Me" and "I Call Your Name" were all written by Lennon/McCartney.

Answer: I Saw Her Standing There

"I Saw Her Standing There" on the Capitol record label reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It was not released as a single in the UK. In the US it was the B-side of "I Want To Hold Your Hand".

In the UK "I Saw Her Standing There" was track one on side one of The Beatles first album "Please Please Me". The Album spent 30 consecutive weeks at number one on the UK album chart and stayed on the chart for 70 weeks in total. The CD release in 1987 spent a further four weeks on the chart and the remastered CD version in 2009 added a further two weeks. Vee-Jay records also released the track in the US on the album "Introducing...The Beatles" in 1964. They had sat on this album since 1963 and when it was released the engineers had tried to edit the one, two, three, four opening countdown intro. They thought it had been left on the recording by mistake but never quite succeeded in erasing it altogether. The song was further released by Capitol records on the US album "Meet The Beatles" and again on the US album "Chart Busters Volume 4" in 1964. As if this wasn't enough, Vee-Jay released it on two further Albums "The Beatles vs. The Four Seasons" and "Songs, Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles" both in 1964. "I Saw Her Standing There" is one of my favourite Beatles songs but enough is enough.

Answer: You Can't Do That

"You Can't Do That" on the Capitol record label reached number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It was the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love" in the US and UK. It did not chart in the UK.

"You Can't Do That" was intended to be The Beatles 6th UK single but ended up on the B-side of "Can't Buy Me Love" and on the second side of The Beatles 3rd UK album "A Hard Day's Night". John Lennon not George Harrison played the guitar solo on "You Can't Do That". In an interview in the UK music paper "Melody Maker" in 1964 John Lennon said quote, "I never play anything as lead guitarist that George couldn't do better but I like playing lead sometimes, so I do it" end quote. The "A Hard Day's Night" album featured 13 tracks, seven of which were from the "A Hard Day's Night" movie soundtrack. This was the first Beatles album to contain all Lennon/McCartney songs and none sung by Ringo. The US version of the album contained some of the tracks from the UK version and four instrumental tracks from the movie soundtrack played by the George Martin orchestra. The UK album spent 21 weeks at number one and the US album spent 14 weeks at number one.

Answer: All My Loving

"All My Loving" on the Capitol Records of Canada record label reached number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was not released as a single in the UK.

"All My Loving" was track three on side one of The Beatles second UK album "with the beatles". The album contained the first recorded song written by George Harrison and his first on a Beatles album, "Don't Bother Me". Most of the songs from "with the beatles" were released in the US on the "Meet The Beatles!" album. The others were on their next US album "The Beatles' Second Album". The "with the beatles" album was released in Canada by Capitol Records of Canada as "Beatlemania! With The Beatles" in 1963. It was the first album by The Beatles to be released in North America. The album "with the beatles" spent 21 weeks at number one on the UK album chart. It replaced their own "Please Please Me" album at number one giving The Beatles 51 consecutive weeks at number one. The "with the beatles" album out sold many singles and even reached number 11 on the UK singles chart of the music paper the New Musical Express.

Answer: From Me To You

"From Me To You" on the Vee-Jay record label reached number 41 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1964 as the B-side of "Please Please Me" It was number one for seven weeks on the UK chart in 1963.

"From Me To You/Thank You Girl" was first released in the US by Vee-Jay records in 1963. Vee-Jay records had first choice of Beatles records at the time so it wasn't offered to Capitol records. It was a bigger failure than "Please Please Me" and sold less than 4,000 copies. Del Shannon recorded the song and in reaching number 77 in 1963 he became the first singer to enter the Billboard Hot 100 with a Lennon/McCartney song. At this point DJ Dick Biondi (see Question #5) steps into the story again. Now an ex-employee of WLS Chicago he is working at KRLA 1110 in Los Angeles. He gets "From Me To You" added to the stations play list and subsequently it bubbles under the Billboard Hot 100 at number 116. The records sales had now improved to over 20,000 copies, around three times as many as "Please Please Me". After the success of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" on the Billboard Hot 100, Vee-Jay records re-released "From Me To You" as the B-side of "Please Please Me" in 1964. That is when it reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Answer: Thank You Girl

"Thank You Girl" as the B-side of "Do You Want To Know A Secret" on the Vee-Jay record label reached number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. In the UK it was the B-side of "From Me To You" and did not chart.

"Thank You Girl" was originally released in the US as the B-side of "From Me To You" on the Vee-Jay record label in 1963 but both sides failed to chart. "Thank You Girl" was not on any original UK Beatles album but was included on The Beatles third US album "The Beatles' Second Album" in 1964. "The Beatles' Second Album" (their second on the Capitol record label) replaced their first Capitol records album "Meet The Beatles!" at number one on the US Billboard album chart in April 1964. This was the first time that any act had replaced themselves at number one on the US Billboard album chart. In between these two Capitol records album's they reached number two on the US Billboard album chart with "Introducing...The Beatles Englands No.1 Vocal Group" in 1964 on the Vee-Jay record label. To add more confusion, this Vee-Jay album was actually the first Beatles album to be released in the US. It was released 10 days before the "Meet The Beatles!" album on the Capitol record label.

Answer: There's A Place

"There's A Place" as the B-side of "Twist And Shout" on the Tollie record label reached number 74 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It did not chart in the UK.

"There's A Place" was never released as a single or B-side in the UK. It was track six on side two of The Beatles first UK album "Please Please Me". The album was number one on the UK chart for 30 weeks in 1963. It was replaced at number one by The Beatles next album "With The Beatles". "There's A Place" was first released in the US as track five on side two of "Introducing... The Beatles Englands No.1 Vocal Group" on the Vee-Jay record label. The album reached number two on the US Billboard album chart and sold over 1,250,000 copies. Back in the day US albums has 12 tracks so the songs "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" from the original UK album "Please Please Me" were dropped. Later because of legal problems "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" were replaced by "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why". Confused?, read on. Not only was the album released with three different back panels it was later repackaged twice. Once as "Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles" and second as "The Beatles vs the Four Seasons". Both of these versions made the US Billboard album chart.

Answer: Roll Over Beethoven

"Roll Over Beethoven" on the Capitol records of Canada record label reached number 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1964. It was not a single or B-side in the UK.

"Roll Over Beethoven" was written by Chuck Berry and his recording of it reached number 29 on the US pop chart in 1956. It did not chart in the UK. It was track one on side two of The Beatles second UK album "With The Beatles". The album replaced their own "Please Please Me" album at number one and was number one for 21 weeks. The UK album "With The Beatles" contained the least number of Lennon/McCartney tracks of any of their UK albums. Seven songs by Lennon/McCartney, one by George Harrison and seven cover versions of US songs. The seven cover versions are "Till There Was You" written by Meredith Wilson, "Please Mister Postman" written by Dobbins-Garrett-Holland-Bateman-Gorman, "Roll Over Beethoven" written by Chuck Berry, "You Really Got A Hold On Me" wrotten by William "Smokey" Robinson Jr., "Devil In Her Heart" written by Richard Drapkin and "Money (That's What I Want)"written by Janie Bradford & Berry Gordy.

Answer: Love Me Do

"Love Me Do" on the Tollie record label reached number one for one week on the US Billboard Hot 100 on 1964. It reached number 17 on the UK chart in 1962.

"Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You" was the first Beatles record to be released on the Parlophone label in the UK. It entered the UK chart on the 11 Oct 1962. It only reached number 17 but was on the chart for 18 weeks. It re-entered the UK chart on the 16 Oct 1982, reached number four and was on the chart for seven weeks. It re-entered the UK chart again on the 17 Oct 1992, reached number 53 and was on the chart for one week. There are three versions of the song. The first version is with Pete Best on drums, the second version is with Ringo Starr on drums and the third version is with Andy White on drums and Ringo on tambourine. The version with Ringo on drums was the first UK single issue. Later re-pressings and the version on The Beatles first UK album "Please Please Me" used the Andy White version. The Pete Best version was released on The Beatles "Anthology 1" album in 1995. In the US it was the imported Ringo Starr version on the Canadian Capitol label that started its chart rise in 1964, followed by the re-release of the Andy White version on the Tollie record label. A single ("My Bonnie") recorded by Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers (The Beatles) reached number five on the German chart in 1961. It was released in the UK by Tony Sheridan and The Beatles on the Polydor record label in 1962 before "Love Me Do" but only made number 48 in 1963. It reached number 26 on the US pop chart on the MGM record label in 1964.

Answer: Can't Buy Me Love

Up to 1964 a number of records had jumped to number one from outside the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. "Can't Buy Me Love" was the first record to jump to number one from outside the top 20. It entered the Hot 100 at number 27 and jumped to the number one position the following week.

On February 1 1964 "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was number one. On March 21 1964 "She Loves You" was number one, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was number two and "Please Please Me" was number three. This was the first time that any artist had held the top three positions on the Billboard Hot 100. On April 4 1964 "Can't Buy Me Love" was number one, "Twist And Shout" was number two, "She Loves You" was number three, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was number four and "Please Please Me" was number five. This gave The Beatles an unprecedented top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100. After the record breaking 14 Hot 100 entries on April 11 The Beatles went on to have 30 US chart entries in 1964. These chart entries included A & B sides, E.P. singles (extended play singles) and a foreign language version of their own hit song.