The Beatles are a product of Liverpool, which had a population of some 300 rock and roll bands( or "beat groups," as Liverpudlians are wont to call them). The beat groups hawked their musical wares in countless small cellar clubs, old stores and movie houses, even in a converted church, nearly all of which are in proximity to the Mersey River. Out of all these groups came, somehow, the Beatles. And they had to go to Germany to do it. In order to better their Liverpool take-home pay of around $15. per week apiece, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo (so called because of his penchant for wearing at least four rings) Starr took a tramp steamer to Hamburg and a job which moved them up a bit financially, if not in class. There, in a raucous and rowdy strip joint, the Indra Club, the Beatles became the first entertainers to play louder than the audience. There, too, they were "discovered" by English promoter and talent agent, Brian Epstein, who has since become deservedly known as "the fifth Beatle." Under Epstein's shrewd guidance, the Beatles soon found themselves signing a contract with Britain's giant Electric & Musical Industries, Ltd., the largest recording organization in the world and major stockholder in Capitol Records, Inc.; headlining concerts throughout Britain; and appearing on television. Their first recording, "Love Me Do," was issued by
EMI's Parlophone label in October, 1962. It sold a respectable 100,000 copies, and it was the last time a Beatle single sold less than half million copies. The first million-seller, "She Loves You," came out in the spring of 1963. It was followed by two albums, "Please, Please Me" and "With the Beatles." Both LP's sold over 300,000 copies.1 Then, finally, came the unprecedented success of the newest single record,
"I Want to Hold Your Hand." In between there was three extended play (a 45 r.p.m. disk containing four tunes) recordings which also racked up sales of several hundred thousand apiece. All this resulted in what is universally known in Britain as Beatlemania and, as Newsweek said of young Liverpudlians, "the sound of their music is one of the most persistent noises heard over England since the air-raid sirens were dismantled." Their popularity reached a head of sorts when, in November of 1963, at the request of the Royal Family, The Beatles headlined the annual command performance at the Prince of Wales
theater. It was a glittering affair and, probably out of deference to attending royalty (including the Queen Mother-she found them "young, fresh, and vital" - and Princess Margaret), notable for the absence of even a small riot.