"If The Beatles’ music is special to you, then you already know why it’s such a big deal for Macca to come in. If The Beatles do little or nothing for you, then you either have no soul, or you haven’t reached your road to Damascus moment yet...
...The Beatles songs that are hardwired into my memory are ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’. The former has long since joined the ranks of nursery rhyme, so it’s easy to work out how that one got itself in there.
The latter was recorded over a decade before my brain became cognisant, but is such a template for perfect pop that it still blared out of the transistor radio, towering over the hits of the day. People often love the songs they fell in love to: ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ is the soundtrack to the world falling in love with The Beatles."
‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ was the first record I ever bought - "late December back in '63" (really!) - using a record token I had been given for my 10th birthday! I still have it - it's now a bit worn (but still in quite playable condition) and the original paper sleeve has become a bit tatty over the past 45 years, but that record represents a major point in my life.
After reading Geoff's excellent piece I just had to dig it out and play it. While enjoying hearing it again it brought back many memories of how exciting it was to go into the record shop in Ruislip, hand over the record token in exchange for that 7″ piece of vinyl and then dash home so I could play it over and over and over again. I also have to agree with Geoff that it is still a perfect piece of pop.
How many of us can still remember the first record we bought (for ourselves)?
PS. Just to prove it, here is a photo of that record being played on my trusty Pioneer PL-15R turntable.
