The Beatles record a Saturday Club Christmas Special

On 17 December 1963 the Beatles went to the Playhouse Theatre in London to record their contribution for the annual Saturday Club Christmas edition. Saturday Club was a very popular radio show on the BBC Light Programme. The Beatles rehearsed and recorded from 3pm till 6.30pm and recorded All My Loving, This Boy, I Want to Hold your Hand, Till There Was You, Roll over Beethoven and She Loves You On a lighter note they also recorded a special Christmas song which actually consisted of a medley of Love Me Do, Please Please Me, From Me To You, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand and "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". They also sang their version of "All I want for Christmas is a Beatle" but they replaced the word "Beatle" by "Bottle.

The Beatles Record Two Radio Sessions

On May 21st 1963 The Beatles spent most of the afternoon and evening in the Playhouse Theatre in London.

First they arrived around 2.30 pm to rehearse and record songs for Saturday Club. This was the first time they were the main act on the show, and they performed 6 songs: I Saw Her Standing There, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Boys, Long Tall Sally, From Me To You and Money (That's What I Want). 
They also had an interview with presenter Brian Matthew.

The show would be transmitted later that week on Saturday 25 May 1963

Later that evening they recorded 6 songs for another show: Steppin' Out, a completely new show:
Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, Roll Over Beethoven, Twist And Shout, Thank You Girl and From Me To You.

It must have been interesting for the audience to hear Roll Over Beethoven, a song that would not appear on record until later that year on 22 November 1963 on With The Beatles.

The show would be transmitted in the beginning of June (June 3, 1963)

The Beatles on Radio Pop Inn

On April 9, 1963, The Beatles went to the famous BBC Paris Studio (see cover of "The Beatles Live at the BBC") for an interview with the presenters of Pop Inn, a musical programme on the BBC light programme.

They did not perform any songs, but they promoted their upcoming single "From Me To You", which was also played during the show.

Other guests on the show were the famous trinidadian pianist Winifred Atwell, British actor and DJ David Jacobs (who would later star in the rockmovie Stardust (the follow-up to That'l Be The Day which starred Ringo Starr) and comedian Arthur Askey.

The Beatles back at Side By Side

A few days earlier The Beatles had already recorded two sessions for Side By Side radio, but they received one more booking for 4 April 1963.

They went to the BBC Paris Studio (which can be seen on the cover of The Beatles Live at the BBC) to record five songs: Too Much Monkey Business, Love Me Do, Boys, I'll Be on My Way and From Me To You.

Especially the song "I'll Be on My Way" merits special mention, because as far as we know it is the only time that this song was recorded by The Beatles. It was given to Billy J. Kramer (who has recorded many Beatles songs) who recorded it with his backing group The Dakotas as a B-single for Do You Want to Know a Secret.

This Side by Side show was broadcast on Monday 24 June 1963 on the BBC Light Programme.

The Beatles record for Easy Beat Radio

On April 3 1963, The Beatles went to the Playhouse Theatre, Westend theatre in Westminster, London.

It opened in 1882 and would become a renowned theatre, but in 1951 it was taken over by the BBC where The Goon Show was recorded.

But on April 3 1963 it was the turn of the Beatles. They performed three songs in front of a studio audience: Please Please Me, Misery and From Me To You (which had not yet been released).

After the recordings John & Paul were also taped giving their votes and reviews for some new records by Cleo Laine, The Vernons Girls, Tommy Roe and Bert Weedon.

Other panel jury members included Clare O' Rourke and Laura Lee.

Nice to know is that Bert Weedon had been a major influence on John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, because he was the first British guitar player to have a major hit.



In later years other famous rock groups performed there for the BBC: Queen, KISS, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones...

The Beatles record two sessions for Side By Side Radio

It was April Fool's Day, Monday April 1st 1963 when The Beatles arrived at the BBC Piccadilly Studios in London for two radio recordings.

They were to appear on a programme called Side By Side, where the house band (The Karl Denver Trio) chose another band to play together.

During the first session The Beatles played  I Saw Her Standing There, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Baby It's You, Please Please, Me, From Me To You and Misery.

During their second session they performed From Me To You, Long Tall Sally, A Taste Of Honey, Chains, Thank You Girl and Boys.

The first show was broadcast on 22 April 1963, the second on 13 May 1963.

The Beatles On The Scene

Exactly 50 years ago to the very minute, The Beatles arrived at the Piccadilly Studios in London (which belonged to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for a rehearsal for the BBC radio show "On The Scene".

A couple of hours later (between 1pm and 2pm) the recorded and performed three songs: Misery (John & Paul), Do You Want to Know a Secret  (George) and Please Please Me (John & Paul)

Exactly one week later (Thursday 28 March 1963 at 5pm) the show was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme service.

p.s. For address hunters: the studios were located at 201 Piccaddilly in London (City of Westminster, W1J, UK)

The Beatles on Radio Luxemburg

50 years ago on Monday 11 March 1963, The Beatles appeared on the Radio Luxembourg show called "The Friday Spectacular". I don't really understand why it would be transmitted on a Monday, but that's life. Maybe somebody out there knows the answer.

In this period The Beatles were appearing on stage during the a UK show with Tommy Roe ('Sheila' , 'Dizzy') and Chris Montez ('Let's Dance').

The Beatles had a day-off on 11 March 1963 and they appeared on The Friday Spectacular. They did not go to Luxembourg, mind you, no they went to EMI House in London where the interview was recorded. In between the radio station played Please Please Me and Ask Me Why.

First appearence on live radio

20 February 1963 was the day that The Beatles appeared for the first time LIVE on public radio.

They had finished an important concert at the Cavern, and drove down to London. In those days a normal car would have driven at least 7 or 8 hours to reach their destination.

Our Liverpudlian lads were invited to appear on Parade of the Pops and they first had a quick rehearsal at 11:15 am. The live transmission was scheduled for 12:30 on the BBC Light Programme. They played Love Me Do and Please Please Me.

The show was presented by Denny Piercy. Denny was a musician who also appeared as host of several music programmes, for example Thank Your Lucky Stars. He also had a double act with Dickie Valentine.

On 7 June 1965he would become the presenter of The Beatles Invite You to Take a Ticket to Ride" on BBC radio

After the show they jumped in their car and drove to a concert in Doncaster, more than 160 miles/250 km north of London

The Beatles first appear on the BBC radio

On 8 March 1962 at 5pm The Beatles could be heard for the first time on the BBC Light Programme. They had taped 4 songs the day before and now 3 of them were broadcast.

Peter Pilbeam, producer of 'Teenager's Turn', remembers The Beatles very well.

I wrote on their audition report that they were an unusual group, not as rocky as most, but more country and western with a tendency to play music.

The Beatles recorded 4 songs, but only 3 were transmitted:

- Hello Little Girl (sung by John)
- Memphis Tennessee (John) (Berry)
- Dream Baby (Paul) (Walker)
- Please Mr Postman (John) (Holland - Bateman - Cordy)

The Beatles record Teenager's Turn

On 7 March The Beatles entered a BBC radio studio for the first time. They had been selected to appear on "Teenager's Turn" in The Playhouse Theatre in Manchester

They recorded three songs: Dream Baby, Memphis Tennessee and Please Mr Postman.

Teenager's Turn was presented by Ray Peters and later changed its name to 'Here We Go'.

Transmissions were Thurdays from 5:00 - 5:30 pm