I'm doing a project on a brand, and I've decided to do something different and go for the Beatles brand. I'd really appreciate it if someone here could give me a few facts/pieces of information, etc.

Josh,

 

The Beatles brand was/is one of the most lucrative brands on the planet. To say they were the biggest band "ever" is an understatement. Although all their music was released in the 1960's, followed by their solo stuff from 1970 onwards, their music will probably be remembered for as long as we listen to music.

 

They have so many chart records, it is difficult to remember them all. They came up with the idea of Apple records, which went onto become Apple Corps, which came up with the Apple Mac, Ipod, etc.

 

They are frequently sighted as the inspiration for hundreds of artists that followed them in the music business. Most people over 30 own at least one Beatle record, and some us a lot more, lol.

 

Feel free to look back some of the older threads in the forum, I am sure you will find some interesting articles.

 

Richard (This is pop) could come up with a lot more than I ever could about the Beatles brand.

 

Hope your project develops well, Josh.

 

Here is a miscellaneous list of just some of their achievements:

 

Most Number 1s

 

The Beatles are the top group with 17 number 1s.

 

It is worth pointing out that Paul McCartney has appeared on more Number 1s than any other artist under a diverse range of credits. He has, in fact, appeared on 24 Number 1s; solo (1), with Wings (1), Stevie Wonder, The Christians et al (1), Ferry Aid (1), Band Aid (1), Band Aid 20 (1) and The Beatles (17).

 

In total, twenty-one artists have appeared on ten or more number one singles. The top 6 are:

Paul McCartney (24), Elvis Presley (21), John Lennon (20), George Harrison (18), Ringo Starr (16), Cliff Richard (15)

 

Artist with Most Weeks at Number 1

Top group is The Beatles (69 weeks)

 

Most Consecutive Number 1s

7 - by The Beatles

 

The Beatles' stretch began with "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964 and lasted to "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby" in 1966. The run was broken when "Penny Lane"/"Strawberry Fields Forever" merely made the number 2 position the following year!

 

Beatles fans are, however, quick to point out that "Ain't She Sweet" (which made number 29 in 1964) was recorded in 1961, well before their EMI contract. It was issued by Polydor to 'cash in' on the success of the fab four. Fans argue that this was not an "official" Beatles release. If this logic is accepted (though the track did make the charts), The Beatles run of successive number ones begins with "From Me To You" in April 1963 - making a total of 11.

 

Fastest Hat-Trick of Number 1s

The record for the fastest hat-trick of non re-issued number ones is held by John Lennon. Following his death in December 1980, there was an almost frenzied buying of his singles. This resulted in him topping the chart no fewer than three times within an 8 week period ["(Just Like) Starting Over" w/e 20th Dec 1980; "Imagine" (a re-entry but nevertheless, not a re-issue, w/e 10th Jan 1981; "Woman" w/e 7th Feb 1981.]Self-Replacement At Number One

The Beatles (Dec 1963) "She Loves You" replaced by "I Want To Hold Your Hand." John Lennon (Feb 1981) "Imagine" replaced by "Woman."

 

 

Longest Gap Between Number 1s

31 years 0 months - for George Harrison. "My Sweet Lord" first made the top spot in Jan 1971. A few weeks after his death, it returned to number 1 (Jan 2002).

 

Posthumous Number 1s

John Lennon shot Dec 1980

 

(Just Like) Starting Over Dec 1980

Imagine (re-entry) Jan 1981

Woman Feb 1981

 

George Harrison cancer Nov 2001 My Sweet Lord (re-issue) Jan 2002

 

On 20th January 2002, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" replaced Aaliyah's "More Than A Woman" at the top spot. This is the only time in chart history that one deceased artist has taken over from another at number 1 (though John Lennon and Elvis Presley have each replaced themselves at no. 1 posthumously.)

 

Best-Selling Artist

Cliff Richard has sold more singles than any other artist (21.0 million). The Beatles are the top group (20.8 million)

 

Consecutive Top 10 Hits

The Beatles had 18 consecutive Top 10 hits. (Beatles from "A Hard Day's Night" 1964 to "Yesterday" in 1976, broken by "Back In The USSR" which stalled at no. 19.

 

All-Time Best-Selling Singles

 

4. "Mull Of Kintyre" - Wings (2.05m)

8. "She Loves You" - The Beatles (1.89m)

14. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" - The Beatles (1.75m)

20. "Can't Buy Me Love" - The Beatles (1.52m)

23. "Imagine" - John Lennon (1.49m)

27. "I Feel Fine" - The Beatles (1.41m)

32. "Day Tripper" / "We Can Work It Out" - The Beatles (1.39m)

 

Fastest-Selling Singles

Though The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love" had pre-orders of 1.2m in March 1964, it is unclear how many of these were shifted in that first week. Indeed in those days before motorways there is doubt whether that number of singles could be distributed to the shops in a single week.

 

 

Global All-Time Top 10

1. "Candle In The Wind '97" - Elton John (37 million)

2. "White Christmas" - Bing Crosby (30m)

3. "Rock Around The Clock" - Bill Haley and His Comets (17m)

4. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" - The Beatles (12m)

5= "Hey Jude" - The Beatles (10m)

5= "It's Now Or Never" - Elvis Presley (10m)

5= "I Will Always Love You" - Whitney Houston (10m)

8= "Hound Dog" - Elvis Presley (9m)

8= "Diana" - Paul Anka (9m)

10= "I'm A Believer" - The Monkees (8m)

10= "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" - The Bryan Adams (8m)

 

 

Same Version Topping The Chart More Than Once

"My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison (1971 and 2002; though with different 'B-sides'),

 

 

Artist having hits as a Solo, Duo, Trio, Quartet, Quintet etc

We were prompted to research this following a number of emails from folks taking part in trivia quizzes. The question asked was "which artist has had hit singles solo, and as part of a duo, trio, quintet and quartet." After some head scratching, we were contacted by the quiz-setters who acknowledged that they had made an error. But in our research we discovered perhaps one of the most impressive chart facts of all.

 

Paul McCartney not only had hits but topped the chart in each of the following guises.

1) Solo - "Pipes Of Peace" (1983)

 

2) Duo - with Stevie Wonder "Ebony And Ivory" (1982)

 

3) Trio - Wings ("Wings Mull Of Kintyre" / "Girls' School") (1977) (at this time Wings consisted of Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Laine, [guitarist Jimmy McCulloch left the month before to join the re-formed Small Faces])

 

4) Quartet - Beatles (with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) (16 no. 1s from 1963-1969 in this formation).

 

5) Quintet - Beatles with Billy Preston - Get Back (1969)

 

Now, the above is impressive enough. But it gets get better, if a little tenuous;

6) Sextet - Ferry Aid (with Mel Appleby, Kim Appleby, Kate Bush, Boy George, Jim Diamond) (1987)

 

9) Nine - - with The Christians (Garry & Russell Christian and Henry Priestman), Holly Johnson, Gerry Marsden & Stock Aitken Waterman - "Ferry Cross The Mersey" (1989) - counting Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman as three separate 'performers' as they had artist credits.

 

Multi - difficult to know exactly how many performed on this - Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas" (with Bananarama, Bob Geldof, Culture Club, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Heaven 17, Human League, Kool and the Gang, Midge Urge, Paul Young, Phil Collins, Spandau Ballet, Status Quo, Sting, The Style Council U2, Wham!). Paul also did a narration for the 'b' side to this disc.

 

Best-Selling Albums of All Time

2. "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - The Beatles (1967) (4.8 million)

24. "1" - The Beatles (2.7m)

 

 

Album with Most Weeks At Number One (in total)

Top group album is The Beatles' "Please Please Me" (30 weeks)

 

 

Album with Most Weeks At Number One (consecutive)

Top group album is The Beatles' "Please Please Me" (30 straight weeks)

 

Artist with Most Number 1 Albums

The Beatles with 15 chart-toppers.

 

Artist with Most Weeks at Number 1 in the Album Chart

The Beatles; they have topped the album chart for 174 weeks.

 

Artist with Most Weeks in the Album Top 40

Top group is The Beatles (897; last there w/e 13th Dec 2003)

 

Longest Span Of Album Chart-Toppers

The group record is held by The Beatles; 37 years, 8 months and 9 days (11th May 1963 to 20th Jan 2001).

 

 

Global All-Time Top 20 Albums

The Top 20 Best-Selling albums of all time in the whole wide world are:

 

1. "Thriller" - Michael Jackson (60 million)

2. "Black In Black" - AC/DC (42m)

3. "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" - The Eagles (41m)

4. "Saturday Night Fever" - (Soundtrack) (40m)

5. "Dark Side Of The Moon" - Pink Floyd (40m)

6. "Come On Over" - Shania Twain (39m)

7. "The Bodyguard" - (Soundtrack) (37m)

8. "Bat Out Of Hell" - Meat Loaf (37m)

9. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - The Beatles (32m)

10. "Led Zeppelin IV" - Led Zeppelin (32m)

11. "Dirty Dancing" - (Soundtrack) (32m)

12. "Falling Into You" - Celine Dion (32m)

13. "Let's Talk About Love" - Celine Dion (31m)

14. "Rumours" - Fleetwood Mac (30m)

15. "Jagged Little Pill" - Alanis Morissette (30m)

16. "Titanic" - (Soundtrack) (30m)

17. "Millenium" - Backstreet Boys (30m)

18. "1" - The Beatles (30m)

19. "Abbey Road" - The Beatles (30m)

20. "Bad" - Michael Jackson (29m)

 

Oh wow thank you so much :o :D