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The Beatles were one the most successful pop groups of all time. Their domination of the charts throughout the 1960s provoked immense change, for in shaping our understanding of pop music and pop stardom, they made themselves (and a lot of other people) very rich indeed. So, what was the Beatles’ highest-selling single of all time?
In the September of 1963, The Beatles’ track ‘She Loves You’ was sitting comfortably at the top of the UK charts. To celebrate, they decided to take their second holiday since signing with EMI, returning in October. During this period of respite, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the A and B side of their next single, making it the first song in nearly two years not to have been written mid-tour.
By this time, Brian Epstein was becoming concerned by Capitol’s refusal to issue The Beatles products in the US. Both Epstein and The Beatles knew the importance of breaking America, with Epstein encouraging the Fab Four to write with American audiences in mind. They came up with ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’, which Lennon and McCartney apparently wrote “eyeball to eyeball” in the basem*nt of Jane Asher’s family home on London’s Wimpole Street, where Paul was staying at the time.
‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ is a shining example of early Lennon-McCartney songwriting. The pair make little attempt to form sustained melodies, instead relying on half-bar phrases. The overall impact is one of two writers battling for authorial supremacy. Indeed, Lennon and McCartney sat side by side at the same grand piano while writing the song, which The Beatles bought into the studio just four days after the press announced the onset of Beatlemania.
By December 1963, I Want To Hold Your Hand’ had become The Beatles’ first Christmas hit, having entered the shops in November. In the US, however, the single arrived too late for the festive season. With news of JFK’s assassination still ringing in everyone’s ears, one wonders if anyone would have paid much attention anyway. When Capitol finally agreed to release ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ in America, the joyful and irreverent record immediately lifted people’s spirits, helping to bring America out of mourning. Immensely grateful for this much-needed shot of energy, American audiences threw themselves at The Beatle’s feet and went out to buy the single in droves.
Today, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ remains The Beatles’ highest-selling physical single of all time, with no less than 12 million copies sold worldwide.
