John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote a large number of songs in their teens - up to 200 according to some estimates. Many disappeared without trace - a Wimpole Street spring clean by Jane Asher put paid to a pile written on scrap paper.
Others, like Lennon's 'Hello Little Girl' were fixture of their live act but then given to other artists to cover. These were generally off-cuts not deemed quite up to scratch, though arguably some like 'World Without Love' and 'Love of the Loved' deserved a seat at the top table. Quirky numbers like "When I'm 64" would eventually make it when The Beatles were in a position to dictate terms to the record company, rather than vice versa.
In 1963 only the most commercial compositions would do. George Martin reluctantly accepted Love Me Do and a revamped Please Please Me - but no other Lennon and McCartney original presented impressed him. And with The Beatles having just made number one he wanted a knock-out follow up in short order.
Tour bus tune
This daunting challenge was completed a national tour, on which The Beatles were supporting fourteen-year-old Helen Shapiro. John and Paul whiled away the hours on the road writing one of the most successful British singles of all time.
As would become customary, they broke all the conventional lyric writing rules. The structure is based on the letters page of a music paper they read avidly - The New Musical Express. Instead of the usual direct boy-girl plea format they place themselves at one remove. For the first time the besotted fans have their say:
If there's anything that you want
If there's anything I can do
The sexual suggestiveness of Please Please Me is taken a stage further:
I've got lips that long to kiss you
And keep you satisfied (oh)
Ian Macdonald points out that the 'falsetto yelps' are clearly influenced by The Four Seasons, 'Big Girls Don't Cry, then climbing the UK charts, They are, however, used in a new and distinctive way. While the barbershop approach emphasise four voice harmonisation, The Beatles set up dynamic contrast (with McCartney's pleading 'oh' a third below Lennon's strident demand.
Another feature is the sheer wildness of Lennon's abrasive vocal and the echoing harmonica. Interestingly the latter was included at George Martin's insistence, with Lennon reluctant to include it on a third successive single.
What Martin was looking for was what in radio was call an 'ident' - a sound that jumped out of the speaker ignited excitement. From Me to You would prov
