The Beatles, The Band Of Many Firsts.

Incredible merely describes the tip of the Iceberg when one takes a close hard look at the innovations led by our four favorite Lads of Liverpool. Many triumphs in connection with the group’s long list of fabulous achievements might have never occurred had they not boldly stepped away from the norm. Ignorance, curiosity, or sheer guts all had opened new and improved methods for these fine musicians and their recording engineers to produce better than ever marvelous music.

Follow along with me and witness the brilliance captured by the Beatles originality mindset, the band of many firsts.

1: The first group from England to conquer America: Nobody ruled by the Queen had ever broken through the borders throughout the USA like the Mop-Tops, notable before featured on the Ed Sullivan Show with record breaking viewers. “Even the criminals took a break while the Beatles played on TV as cities had no reports of crime.” George Harrison, Anthology.  

2: The first group to disrupt Airports: Thousands of fans couldn’t miss golden opportunities at the chance of seeing their favorite stars coming to town.

3: Unbelievable Chart Success: Although many musical acts hold various chart-topping marketing successes, no specific artist has ever come close to the nearly inexplicable global phenomenon the Beatles enjoyed in the Spring of 1964. On March 21, the Beatles held #1, #2, and #3 in Billboard’s Hot 100 (for a total of seven songs during that week’s poll). On March 28, they held #1, #2, #3, and #4 (ten songs in all) for that week’s Billboard Hot 100. On April 4, they blew the lid off and held #1, #2, #3, #4, AND #5 (for a total of twelve songs) in the Billboard Hot 100. On April 11, the Beatles added two more songs to the Billboard Hot 100 (fourteen in all). Through this same time frame, they were also snagging most of the album and singles Top Ten lists in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Truly a first!

4: Studio Techniques: The Beatles (and their recording engineers) pioneered Artificial Double Tracking (ADT) first used on ‘Revolver.’ Reverse tape spool, or back masking, first used on ‘Rain.’ High volume tuned feedback, first used on “I Feel Fine.’ Multi spliced audio loops, first used on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows.’ Distortion actually started with the Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’ in 1964, the Beatles used it on Helter Skelter in 1968. And of course, George Martin helped refine equalization, stereo effects, multi-tracking (overdubbing), compression, phase shifting, and innovative “microphoning.”

5: Music videos: Although early jazz artists created short music-film performances of their songs, Ozzie Nelson promoted his son Ricky at the end of The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet Show, and Elvis filmed unique settings of his songs that were parts of movies, the Beatles were the pioneers of marrying the two ideas into the concept we now know as the music video – a short, stand-alone film of a musical act presenting a current song that may or not be a live performance. The idea came to the Beatles as a way to ease their dreaded tight schedule – instead of the band having to make tons of public appearances on TV shows around the world, they could send a video of themselves instead. The first dedicated music video was for the single “Paperback Writer/Rain” in 1966.

6: First Band necessary to utilize Outdoor Stadiums: Although the Beatles were highly successful in selling out their early concerts in 1963, 1964, and 1965, they were only playing shows booked in auditoriums, theaters, and amphitheaters that seated anywhere between 1000 and 10,000 ticket-holders. When manager Brian Epstein initially booked the Beatles to play a concert at New York’s Shea Stadium in August 1965, the idea was considered almost too absurd to consider. However, the tickets sold out within hours (priced between $4.50 and $5.75), and over 55,000 berserk, screaming fans (mostly teenage girls) packed Shea Stadium for the first-ever stadium rock concert. The Beatles only played 30 minutes, and the fans kept their distance first by a human blockade of seated policemen. Next, a sturdy gray barrier with words ‘Do Not Cross’ printed in bold discouraged foolish attempts. Next, standing policemen positioned about ten feet apart made themselves ready to tackle rushers. Written on the Giant Screen heeded everyone good advice with, “For Your Safety, Please Stay in Your Seats.” And finally, a yellow barrier circled the pop stars, which if anyone violated the caution yellow blockade, rough treatment consequences followed. All this fuss linked with the stadium’s atrocious sound system proved much too inadequate for a musical concert, but the night’s gross climbed over $300,000, which stood as an industry record for many years.

7: The first band who announced: “No more touring.”: The typical music industry recording contract of the 1960s required a band to tape and release enough singles for a company to issue at least one album per year, and the Beatles went far beyond the call of duty (they released two albums per year in every year with EMI Records except 1966). Another aspect of the standard recording contract required a band to give a prescribed number of public concerts as a highly effective means to promote and sell the band’s singles and albums. However, in August 1966, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, the Beatles played their last public concert after over six years of extended touring. The decision for the Beatles (or any band, for that matter) to end touring had death sentence potential. They each based their decision on multiple factors, such as exhaustion, inability to perform newest songs in a live format, inability to hear themselves onstage, wandering musical focus, safety concerns following death threats and boycotts, and boredom. The Beatles made only one more public musical appearance, and it came in January 1969 in the form of an impromptu semi-private concert on the rooftop of their London studios.

8: Concept Album:  Prior to 1966, popular musical acts went into the recording studio to create a stack of singles. These singles were first released individually by the record company, and then again in a few months as part of a long-playing album. Typically, the band had no input as to which songs went on the album, which order they appear, or what design features the latest release as the cover art – these decisions blossomed independently of the band and took shape by the record company. However, with the invaluable guidance of their producer, George Martin, the Beatles released the industry’s first concept album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The idea behind “Sgt. Pepper” crafted the Beatles into playing the part of another band giving a concert in the park, and all of the songs on the album signified parts of that outdoor affair. However, none of the songs on that album had released as singles – Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane got the honors. The first time the public heard any part of “Sgt. Pepper” took place when the entire album found its way to the stores in June 1967.

9: Lyrics printed on the Album: The first pop album to feature printed lyrics on the album was the Beatles’ 1967 epic release “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Soon, it would be considered non-standard not to do so or at least include all the lyrics inside the LP sleeve.

10: First Live Global Broadcast: Although the Beatles did not invent satellite television, they were the highlighted subject of the first ever live global satellite television broadcast in June 1967. The TV program was called “Our World,” and it featured the contributions of artists and citizens of 19 different nations. Using four different orbiting satellites, the program was able to be broadcast live to anyone interested in receiving the signal anywhere in the world, and the Beatles performed an in-studio live version of “All You Need Is Love,” which was specially written by John for the broadcast, to close out the program.

11: Rock Stars Self-Owned Record Label: This was one of those magnificent ideas where everybody learned more from Beatle mistakes than Beatle successes. In 1966, the Beatles’ recording contract with EMI Records expired, and they re-entered into a 9-year contract with EMI in 1967. The next year, the Beatles decided to form their own record company, Apple Records and discovered that EMI was not willing to release them. In a complicated series of confusing maneuvers, the Beatles remained with EMI but signed a separate agreement between EMI’s American subsidiary, Capitol Records, and Apple. The result was that American releases contained the Apple label while British releases did not (at first). In addition to this mess, the Beatles legally hired two different business managers (American Allen Klein and Paul’s new father-in-law Lee Eastman) at Apple, and all contracts between Apple, EMI, and Capitol were revised. Hilarity and lawsuits soon followed, and the Beatles painfully set the standard for what NOT to do when forming your own record company.

12: Radio: By 1968, the American radio dial preferred to have music on AM and talk radio on FM, and most AM stations played music in a three-minute single format. This meant that any singles significantly longer or shorter than three minutes were ignored by AM stations because it would wreck their repetitive hourly format to play it. When the Beatles released “Hey Jude” as a single in August 1968, it was nearly 7 1/2 minutes long, and AM stations simply chopped off the song at the 3:00 mark, which denied listeners the chance to hear their favorite part – “Na Na Na Nanananaaa.” At KSAN-FM in San Francisco, radio pioneer Tom Donahue used the promise of a whole “Hey Jude” single coupled with other innovative ideas (commercial-free blocks of music, playing whole album sides at a time, etc.) as a means to lure listeners away from local AM stations to his uniquely programmed FM station, and the idea eventually snowballed across the country. Within ten years, American radio stations had almost completely switched places, and put music on FM and talk radio on AM.

13: First Group to have a number 1 record after disbanding: Let It Be, the single and the LP both soared up the charts proving the fans wanted their favorite band to keep going. regardless if they suffered inner uproar. 

14: First Group to release a new single twenty-five years after closure with all original members including the deceased: ‘Free As A Bird’ backed with ‘Christmas Time is Hear Again’ in December 1995 and ‘Real Love’ backed with Baby’s in Black’ issued in March 1996.

15: First Rock Band to offer an Anthology: Superb chronological treasures released as a DVD plus musical CD Trilogy as well as a Hardcover Manuscript weighing in nearly seven pounds. Definitely a coffee table book.

16: First musical group honored with at least 4,000 different renditions of their original composition: Yes, that’s right, The Beatles song ‘Yesterday’ holds the record as most recorded melody of all time.

Okay, friends, help me out here and fill in the blank as you recollect other Beatle firsts–– name more if you can. . .

The Beatles became the very first band to________________________________

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