Post by yerblues1968 on Jul 11, 2011 0:15:48 GMT -5
John Jackson's book, "American Bandstand:
Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock 'n Roll Empire.
According to John Jackson’s excellent book, American Bandstand: Dick Clark and the Making of a Rock ‘n Roll Empire[/i], Bernie Binnick acquired the American rights for She Loves You for his Swan Record label while on vacation in England in the summer of 1963. When he returned, he pressed his old friend Dick Clark about the song, obviously hoping for some American Bandstand attention. What do you think? he reportedly asked Clark, who replied that the song sounded like Buddy Holly and the Crickets and Chuck Berry and a lot of other early American songs sort of mixed together. Clark was not reassuring, though Binnick tried to interest Clark in the new group’s novel look. But after glancing at a picture of the Beatles, Clark noticed their long hair and reportedly told Binnick, you’re absolutely insane….It’ll never fly.
The Beatles "She Loves You"
on Swan Record Label.
Still, Binnick’s Swan label released She Loves You to the American market in mid-September 1963. But nothing happened. Clark, meanwhile, appears to have given the record a review on American Bandstand’s rate-a-record segment – probably in the October-November period. Bandstand‘s rate-a-record consisted of a selected group of teenagers reviewing several new records that were played, then rated on a numeric scale by the teens who were interviewed by Clark. She Loves You reportedly did poorly on the rate-a-record segment, earning a seventy-one out of a possible ninety-eight points – not an impressive showing. According to another account, Clark would later explain that the Beatles’ disc rated just fair, and then I pulled a picture of the group out, and the audience just giggled. I figured these guys were going nowhere. But as Clark then added, We all found out the truth soon enough. New songs were rated by teens on Bandstand, who reportedly gave the Beatles’ She Loves You a poor rating in 1963.
Dick Clark of American Bandstand with
"Rate a Record" during 1967. (8:07 minutes).
youtu.be/5Y9IBwihU4w
Binnick, meanwhile, had a pile of newly pressed Swan recordings of She Loves You going nowhere. Then in late 1963 he got a telephone call from Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, who was then in New York arranging an American television appearance for the Beatles. Epstein wanted to know how She Loves You was doing in America. Binnick replied that the record was a stiff. Epstein shot back that it might soon become a huge hit, explaining that the Beatles were going to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show. Binnick, unimpressed, told Epstein he blew it, saying he should have had the Beatles appear on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand rather than The Ed Sullivan Show, suggesting that Clark’s show was more popular.
The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show
on February 4, 1964. (10:37 minutes)
youtu.be/xoZ18rO1Rj0
About a month or so later, Jack Paar, who hosted a Friday evening variety TV show on NBC, had just returned from England that December, marveled to his viewing audience over the Beatlemania that he had observed overseas. Paar was also able to get a film clip of the Beatles performing She Loves You in an English town, and he aired it on his show Friday, January 3, 1964, showing the Beatles performing the song as their teenage fans went wild. According to Binnick, "the record exploded [in sales] the following Monday." Binnick and Swan, re-issued She Loves You to meet demand. By March 21st it would become the No. 1 hit in the land. She Loves You, in fact, would sell 1 million copies, creating a temporary windfall for Binnick and Swan Records. However, Swan’s option on future Beatles songs had been lost since it stipulated that She Loves You had to sell 50,000 copies in its first year, 1963, which it did not. Swan also had the rights to the German version of She Loves You, which did reasonably well too, but not enough to save Swan from its troubles. The company went out of business in 1967.
The Beatles performing "She Loves You" on The Jack Paar Show.
Video clip aired on January 3, 1964. (2:34 minutes)
youtu.be/BCnENAj2jhs
www.pophistorydig.com/?tag=beatles-brian-epstein