The singular adventures of the Beatles

This week we're going back to an old style post for a reason the way things were around 2006 to early 2008 where posts often had "icon" images of which the standard one I used for posts about anything covering the Beatles, common enough in those Capitol Albums Vol:2 days was a cheerleader, part an attempt at projecting the feminine me and part a play on being a cheerleader for the groups legacy.

 

Like most artists, their singles were issued to an agreed  timetable often comprising of recording not in the studio albums and in the UK came in fairly plain Parlophone or Apple sleeves unlike much of Europe or North America that used picture covers.

Because of the dominance by the end of the nineteen sixties and into early seventies of the lp having issued the 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 double compilations, while still available to order there was little interest in the preserving of the singles 7 inch form as a vehicle for telling their story although their reputation and fame was made as much at 45 rpm as 33 1/3.

With a nod towards the resurgence of the single that as New Wave dislodged the old which was more singles focused, EMI Records mail order section, World Records put together a box set of singles  many of which charted separately in April 1976.

These had a fairly generic green front with a handful of images for the rears.

To the original twenty-two UK singles a couple of others were added, Yesterday in April 1976 that had never been issued as a single in the UK although it was the title of a four track seven inch EP in 1966 and Back In The USSR from 1976's Rock N' Roll Music double compilation and these were in stereo too.

In 1978 Sgt Pepper became a single and this had a more familiar full picture cover on front and rear, being added to later versions of the box set.

There you might of felt this set would of stayed.

1982 was an important year for the Beatles, October as I well recall in school at the time was the 20th anniversary of their first single, Love Me Do that upon reissue in a period paper label became a top five hit - better than it did first time.

This had a picture sleeve and set the tone for a second attempt at doing a singles collection with a new design of box featuring their signatures.

Each Parlophone or Apple single now had its very own picture cover, period correct which really looked the part.

The 1976 singles had new covers made too looking more like a regular modern reissue with real fan appeal

You could say adding 1978's Sgt Pepper showed the difference in the original set  from the 24 initially issued 1976 and the more modern and this was just apaper rather than card version of the original.

In 1982 their films started coming out on Video and taking its cue at the Medley-mania  of the previous year with Stars on 45 and the Hollies Holidaze medley of hollies hits, a movie medley was issued  and a song from the movies album "Reel Music" was issued.

I have the Capitol version with a special booklet.

The box set came out in late 1982 ready for the Christmas market while the individual discs were issued in dribs and drabs.

I had the early set in it's original 24 single form and it's still here although the actual box with flip down lid has a air bit of wear and tear but have acquired the much nicer later version for presenting well a bunch of singles that helped change popular music both by subject and by the music itself.

The fact recently a remixed version of Rubber Soul has topped the album chart shows how today's young people get and value this music in a way some fifty years ago would have seemed unthinkable