It Was 50-Years Ago Today that Sgnt Pepper...

It happened on January 01 1962; fifty years ago. Let me write that again; fifty-years ago...

On that fateful day four young men from Liverpool filed into the Decca studios in North London for an audition. And as everyone knows, they failed it; Decca preferred to sign Brian Poole and the Tremeloes to this other band who didn´t quite measure up to the promise they´d shown when playing live at Liverpool´s Cavern Club.

Fifty-years and millions of records on, The Beatles are still the biggest name in popular music.

Who would have thought on that grey, early 1960s day (we didn´t even get a holiday for New Year´s Day in those far oft times!) that half a century later their music would not only still be selling by the truckload (or more recently download) but, for example, be providing the accompanyment to the New Year´s fireworks on Rio´s Copacabana Beach? Or indeed, that one of their surviving members would still be conducting world tours? Not bad for a band that didn´t show any promise!

2012 is a big year in Beatle history. Some might argue that it is the real 50th Anniversary of the band as it marked not only the begining of their recording career but the line-up that featured Ringo. Perhaps it´s unfair to write Pete Best out of the story in this way but 1962 was certainly a momentous year as it marked their arrival in London. Liverpool was now behind them; history.

Boy, did Decca screw up.

Fairplay though, the Tremeloes did go on to have some cracking hits and Brian Poole is still fronting a band today. Not too sure that I´ll be hearing their music on Copacabana beach anytime soon though...