Purely by coincidence, I am heading out to film an interview for the new Dick Biondi Documentary this evening, where I am certain to be asked about the article we first published in 2002, proving conclusively WHO PLAYED THE FIRST BEATLES RECORD IN AMERICA ... so this seemed a most appropriate time to address this question once again.
First the email ...
After just reading a Beatles book, I decided to do some web research and fortunately found your amazing website.
I am just coming up to 80 years old and now live in Ontario, Canada. I emigrated to Canada in 1966, originally hailing from Birkenhead, across the River Mersey from Liverpool. I lived through the Beatles era, and had close contact through my Grandfather with the McCartney family.
After graduating from Sheffield University, I spent the summer of 1962, initially as a counselor, at a boys' camp, Camp Lenape,Tafton, in Pike County, PA.
After my approximately three month stint there, I traveled with my British Pal, Roger Jones (no relation), across America by Greyhound Bus to Seattle, Washington. Roger had a relative there who worked as an announcer for the largest radio station in Seattle. The timing was late September, 1962.
Roger's uncle asked me to pick two requests that he could play on his radio station. I picked Frank Ifield, I Remember You, and the Beatles, Please Please Me.
He said that he had never heard of the Beatles. I replied, "You soon will."
However, he did manage to find the Beatles record and played it for me along with Frank Ifield's hit. This was definitely late September, 1962.
Shortly after, Roger and I returned by Greyhound to New York City and flew back to the U.K the first week of October, 1962 .
What I would like to point out through this e mail was that the Beatles were played by a Seattle radio station in late September, 1962, prior to your findings in your extensive research.
Thank you for reading this.
Dennis Jones
Now as most of you already know, nearly twenty years ago we did an intensive study to determine, once and for all, Who Played The First Beatles Record in America. The point of this research was to dispel, conclusively, that all but one of those disc jockeys out there laying claim to having done so, in fact, did not. (Let's face it ... there can really only be one "first.") It was this article (now often quoted in reference to this topic in nearly all of the Beatles journals published since) that really put Forgotten Hits on the map for the very first time.
http://forgottenhits.com/who_played_the_very_first_beatles_record_in_america
As you can imagine, our findings have been challenged numerous times over the years ... and I have always promised to amend my article accordingly if anyone out there could provide concrete, conclusive proof to the contrary ... and I can show several reasons why this story falls apart. (Please don't take it personally, Dennis ... like I said, I've had to address these claims numerous times before. I'm not disputing any of the circumstances that you're telling me ... it's just that my best guess is that your timeline is off ... by possibly as much as a year.)
http://forgottenhits.com/who_played_the_very_first_beatles_record_in_america
As you can imagine, our findings have been challenged numerous times over the years ... and I have always promised to amend my article accordingly if anyone out there could provide concrete, conclusive proof to the contrary ... and I can show several reasons why this story falls apart. (Please don't take it personally, Dennis ... like I said, I've had to address these claims numerous times before. I'm not disputing any of the circumstances that you're telling me ... it's just that my best guess is that your timeline is off ... by possibly as much as a year.)
And here is why ...
NOBODY in America (or Great Britain either for that matter) could have POSSIBLY played "Please Please Me" in September of 1962 because The Beatles didn't even record the song until November 26th of that year ... and then it wasn't officially released as a single in the UK until January 11th of the following year ... four months AFTER you say it was played on Seattle radio. (The other reason I think your timeline is off by a year is because in September of 1962, their first record, "Love Me Do," hadn't even been released yet ... that wouldn't happen until October 5th of that year.) And if you were already here three months PRIOR to that, (putting us at roughly June of 1962), there is virtually NO way you could have been a Beatles fan of this stature (short of seeing them, perhaps, at The Cavern Club???), enthralled enough by their chart performance and success in the UK to push their records to an American DJ and promise how big they would become ... because at this point in time, NOBODY within the world of radio and records knew who they were because NONE of this had happened yet. (Yes, they had a huge local fan base before they made their first record ... but they had absolutely no track history at this time because they hadn't even released their first record yet.) Taking it one step further, John Lennon claims to have written "Please Please Me" on June 8th, 1962 ... while you were here in The States ... so even with a Paul McCartney family connection, how could you possibly have heard it? They didn't record it until November!
Now as for "I Remember You," it premiered on the US Charts on September 8, 1962 ... so that's a bit more believable because it had already been a hit in Great Britain in July of that year. But once again, in July of that year, you were here in The States ... and wouldn't have heard it being played in The UK ... so again, I think your timeline is a bit suspect. (Like I said, don't take it personal ... but the facts are the facts ... and they're indisputable.) Your friend's uncle might have been able to lay hands on a US pressing of "I Remember You" ... but NO pressing of "Please Please Me" (British or otherwise) existed in September of 1962, so it was more likely 1963 when these events took place. (This makes me think that your trip to Seattle took place in 1963 ... because in THIS time frame, you were still home in Jolly Ol' England in '62 and would have seen the first measure of success The Beatles were enjoying there. Their "Please Please Me" album came out in January of 1963 and a third, follow-up single ("From Me To You") would have also been released that spring ... so you would have come to The States fully armed with tales of Beatlemania on at least a local level in the UK.
Now in all fairness, even in September of 1963, nobody here in The States were playing The Beatles yet anyway ... "Please Please Me" wouldn't become a hit here in the US until March of 1964. (For the record, the first US pressing came out on February 7th, 1963 ... so again, this DJ could not possibly have gotten his hands on a copy some five months earlier.)
And the truth is, it tanked ... America wasn't ready for four mop tops from Liverpool. (The record company, Vee Jay, was so disinterested they misspelled the band's name on the label as The Beattles! And that's the way it came out.)
Other than the two weeks it spent near the bottom of The WLS Silver Dollar Survey, we have not found it charting on any other US Chart during this time frame. It would take "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and a series of appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" to launch Beatlemania into full tilt here in February of 1964 ... and the rest, as they say, is history. But history ... which is determined by matters of FACT ... cannot be denied ... and a disc jockey in Seattle playing "Please Please Me" in September of 1962 simply isn't possible. (kk)
