June 8, 1964 (2 weeks)
John Lennon and Paul McCartney were once part of the biggest act in pop. The Beatles commanded the charts and conquered the world in 1963 and '64 before it all began to crumble around them the following year. Where once their creative decision making had never failed, they're missteps only seemed to compound. Lennon believes the decline began with the title of their second film.
"Dick Lester came in and told us, "I've got it! It'll be called Eight Arms to Hold You". I went home and tried to write something with that in mind and couldn't come up with anything good. But I thought, "well, Paul will think of something". The next day, Paul came up to me and said, "I have no idea! What should we do?" We normally work so easily but this time we were dry. I had a feeling we might be in trouble at that point, you know".
The decision was soon made to scrap having a title track but their troubles only continued. Fans who flocked to see A Hard Day's Night a year earlier mostly stayed away ("I think they were turned off by the title," McCartney speculates, "Everyone must have thought we'd be fighting an octopus or something"; "Or embracing one", Lennon quips) Some of the songs they ended up using were as strong as ever but others missed. They still insist that the tune Paul wrote for the song "Scrambled Eggs" is still among the finest they've been attached to but they acknowledge that its lyrics are "naff". Once again, they couldn't come up with anything better.
Still a reliable chart act for the next year, The Beatles foolishly embarked on a disastrous world tour. The venues they played were half full at best and with the smaller attendance figures came a considerable reduction in the screaming which had once been so deafening as to drown out what their playing. Then they began to hear the boos. Audiences could hear them and they evidently didn't like what they heard. Finally, Lennon's infamous 'Bigger than Jesus' remark was printed in American newspapers and the backlash was complete. While some protested by burning Beatle records, others laughed at the absurdity of such a claim. ("I might have got away with it had I said it a year earlier, you know," Lennon shrugs) It had only been three years since the Fab Four took the UK by storm but now it was all over.
While drummer Ringo Starr returned to Merseyside to open a hair salon ("It's a nice place," says McCartney, "He and Maureen are set to open a second shop soon") and guitarist George Harrison has done session work for the likes of Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton as well as tentatively getting a solo project going, Lennon and McCartney are now full time composers, contributing songs for old colleagues like Cilla Black and a returning Peter and Gordon. They've also been in touch with Hollywood producers over possible film scores and there have been persistent rumours that they'll be writing old rival Cliff Richard's potential entry into next year's Eurovision Song Contest. ("We might do it if we can think of something to rhyme with 'Jesus'", Lennon claims) They're even currently at work on a West End musical that will either be about their childhoods back in Liverpool or a fancifully tale about a fictional band led by a hopeless individual called Billy Sheers. (Here's hoping it ends up being the former) Has their songwriting changed since the demise of The Beatles?
"I don't think so," say McCartney confidently, "It's still very much the same process. If John gets an idea, he'll work on it and then show me what he's got and I do likewise. He's my favourite consultant and I hope I'm his".
"And I hope he's his", says a rueful Lennon. But are the songs they give to others in danger of being too much like the Fab Four? "I think we worried bit a about that when we moved into full time songwriting but I don't think about it anymore, you know. Besides, we get some groups who'll call us up and request material that sounds like The Beatles".
"Yeah, back when we were stars we also wrote songs for other people", chimes in McCartney. "Usually we'd give them stuff that didn't suit us, like when we gave Peter and Gordon "A World Without Love". I thought about us recording it but John hated how it opened with that line...how did it go?"
"Please lock me away", Lennon responds in a comedy operatic voice. "That bit always left me in hysterics".
"But I think we learned how to write with other people in mind", McCartney says helpfully. Indeed, their song "Misery" had been written with an eye on submitting it to teen singing sensation Helen Shapiro but her handlers balked at the very idea of it. And even though The Beatles are no more, the Lennon-McCartney credit still carries plenty of weight. Do they feel that their mere presence guarantees a number one smash?
"No and I'm not sure that's ever been the case", the former bassist argues. "I'm sure it helps quite a bit but nothing's for certain. We gave "A World Without Love" to Peter and Gordon and "Bad to Me" to Billy J. Kramer and they both went to number one but nothing else we didn't perform on ever did that well".
"Who else did we give our castoffs to?" lennon asks his partner.
"Let's see, The Fourmost, The Applejacks...". McCartney can only think of a pair of examples.
"The Dirty Laundry Ladies, Herbert and the Squires 4, The Passion Sharks...we made stars out of a lot of nobodies in our day, you know".
And what of the future for the pair? Do they foresee getting their old band back together?
"Maybe someday but we don't have plans to do so anytime soon", says McCartney.
"Let's see if anyone remembers us in the future first", Lennon agrees. "For now, I'm happy to suspect I'm a has-been but I'd rather not have it confirmed". Their time as kings of pop may be at an end but I think we'll be enjoying the fruits of the Lennon-McCartney partnership for years to come.
~~~~~
This entry brings the CHUM chart era to an end. While the longtime Toronto-based radio station would continue to print Top 40 or Top 50 listings until the mid-eighties,the lauch of RPM magazine meant that there was a true national alternative to opt for. I was going to say that it was more reliable but, sadly, that isn't the case. While the dedicated folks at CHUM printed charts every week (while also having fun doing so: their April Fool's hit parades being an annual treat), RPM would take weeks off or go on hiatus for extended periods. Then there's the fact that almost every chart topper from this point through to the end of the sixties was just a one week wonder; very few singles managed two or more weeks on top. I'm still planning to use the invaluable CHUM Tribute Site for reference purposes and to compare chart toppers. Good as it is, there's no escaping the fact that it was a Toronto chart that just sort of became Canada's national hit parade because there was nothing else. Time to go naitonal: on to RPM!
Score: 5
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