Posted By Dan Greenfield on Oct 5, 2022 | 1 comment

AN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: The world begins to tip on its axis

By PETER BOSCH

October 5 is the 60th anniversary of the release of the Beatles’ first single, Love Me Do, in 1962. I gave thought to listing my 13 favorite Beatles songs to mark this occasion, but when I started jotting them down and I was nearing 30 of them I gave it up as sheer folly (plus think of the arguments that would stir up with other Beatles’ fans).

In place of that idea, I decided to list their first 13 singles to reach #1 in the UK or in the US (whichever country came first) with the date they became #1 — NOT their original release date. (By the way, some songs stayed #1 for several weeks, but I am listing only the first week.)

All songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

(Data below gathered from The Beatles 1 CD release)

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1. From Me to You — #1 in the UK (May 2, 1963)

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2. She Loves You — #1 in the UK (Sept. 12, 1963)

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3. I Want to Hold Your Hand — #1 in the UK (Dec. 12, 1963)

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4. Can’t Buy Me Love — #1 in the UK (Apr. 2, 1964)

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5. Love Me Do — #1 in the US (May 30, 1964)

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6. A Hard Day’s Night — #1 in the UK (July 23, 1964)

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7. I Feel Fine — #1 in the UK (Dec. 10, 1964)

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8. Eight Days a Week — #1 in the US (Mar. 13, 1965)

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9. Ticket to Ride — #1 in the UK (Apr. 22, 1965)

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10. Help! — #1 in the UK (Aug. 5, 1965)

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11. Yesterday — #1 in the US (Oct. 9, 1965)

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12. Day Tripper — #1 in the UK (Dec. 16, 1965)

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13. We Can Work It Out — #1 in the UK (Dec. 16, 1965)

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MORE

— Feast Your Eyes on NEAL ADAMS’ Original BATMAN-‘BEATLES’ Cover Art. Click here.

— How THE BEATLES Made Me an Even Bigger Comics Fan. Click here.

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PETER BOSCH’s first book, American TV Comic Books: 1940s-1980s – From the Small Screen to the Printed Page, has just been published by TwoMorrows. He has written articles and conducted celebrity interviews for various magazines and newspapers. Peter lives in Hollywood.