Post by Lydia Purple on Dec 12, 2013 14:08:09 GMT -8
The Beatles became the first act to replace themselves at the top of the British chart - and the first act to hold the top two places simultaneously - when their fifth single, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" relegated "She Loves You" to second place to top the chart for five weeks. It also overtook "She Loves You" as the bigges-selling British single. It was written by John and Paul in the basement of Jane Asher's family home in Harley Street, London and was, it was said, written with the prime intention of making a breakthrough into the American market.
The song was greeted by raving fans on both sides of the Atlantic but was dismissed by some critics as nothing more than another fad song that would not hold up to the test of time. Cynthia Lowery of the Associated Press expressed her exasperation with Beatlemania by saying of the Beatles: "Heaven knows we've heard them enough. It has been impossible to get a radio weather bulletin or time signal without running into 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'."
The song was greeted by raving fans on both sides of the Atlantic but was dismissed by some critics as nothing more than another fad song that would not hold up to the test of time. Cynthia Lowery of the Associated Press expressed her exasperation with Beatlemania by saying of the Beatles: "Heaven knows we've heard them enough. It has been impossible to get a radio weather bulletin or time signal without running into 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'."
Bob Dylan was impressed by the Beatles' innovation, saying, "They were doing things nobody was doing. Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid. For a time Dylan thought the Beatles were singing "I get high" instead of "I can't hide". He was surprised when he met them and found out that none of them had actually smoked marijuana.
The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, but the award went to Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz for "The Girl from Ipanema". However, in 1998, the song won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award. It has also made the list in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In addition, the Recording Industry Association of America, the National Endowment for the Arts and Scholastic Press have named "I Want to Hold Your Hand" as one of the Songs of the Century. In 2004, it was ranked no.6 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2010, Rolling Stone placed the song at no.2 on the 100 Greatest Beatles Songs after "A Day in the Life". It was ranked no.2 in Mojo's list on the "100 Records That Changed the World", after Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti". The song was ranked no.39 on Billboard's All Time Top 100 "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is currently ranked as the 23rd best song of all time, as well as the no.3 song of 1963, in an aggregation of critics' lists at acclaimedmusic.net. Time included the song on its list of the All-TIME 100 Songs. The Beatles' recording of this song also appeared as the opening track in the 1997 Time-Life 6-CD boxed set, Gold And Platinum: The Ultimate Rock Collection.
Starting at the song's final week at no.1 on the American charts, the Beatles had a record of seven no.1 songs in one year. In order, these were "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Love Me Do" (a somewhat out-of-place 1962 re-release), "A Hard Day's Night", "I Feel Fine", and ending with "Eight Days a Week" one year later.