The Beatles’ 1 album, a compilation of some of the band’s greatest hits, continues to sell at an incredible rate of around 1,000 copies per week, and it doesn’t look like sales will decrease anytime soon.
Forbes reports that not only is 1 selling well in the United States, but throughout the world, it’s been a best-selling album many times over, reaching No. 1 in the past decade in more than 35 countries.
Last month, 1 landed at No. 186 on Billboard’s Top 200 chart. What makes this so impressive is that it’s the only album on the charts that’s still selling over 1,000 records per week , 15 years after its release.
While other albums, such as Taylor Swift’s Fearless and Ed Sheeran’s X are much higher in the charts at No.1 and No. 3, it’s 1 that truly dominates, as none of the songs on the album were recorded within the last three decades.
This week also marks the band’s 52nd anniversary of their first LP release, Please Please Me . Released on March 22, 1963, the album introduced the world to a fresh, young band from Liverpool, England, that would soon change music forever and create a fan frenzy that has arguably yet to be topped.
Numerous people, including University of Illinois professor, Michael Cheney, feel that The Beatles’ combination of several different American genres is what eventually led to super-stardom for the band.
“Where the Beatles were different is that music of the Beatles sound came from listening to American records, a lot of the rhythm-and-blues records that came out, Chess Records. They were even into girl groups and Motown.”
Others feel that the band’s expansion and development of the two-electric guitar sound changed rock music forever, whereas others think that the Fab Four broke the barrier between adult and teen music, creating a bond through songs and lyrics that all ages could enjoy.
In essence, it was a combination of the aforementioned traits and several other factors that catapulted the band to fame. Perhaps Paul McCartney summed up the band the best with,
“The basic thing in my mind was, that for all our success, The Beatles were always a great little band. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“Love Me Do,” a hit single from Please Please Me , is the first track on the 1 album.
1: Track Listing
- “Love Me Do”
- “From Me to You”
- “She Loves You”
- “I Want to Hold Your Hand”
- “Can’t Buy Me Love”
- “A Hard Day’s Night”
- “I Feel Fine”
- “Eight Days a Week”
- “Ticket to Ride”
- “Help”
- “Yesterday”
- “Day Tripper”
- “We Can Work It Out”
- “Paperback Writer”
- “Yellow Submarine”
- “Eleanor Rigby”
- “Penny Lane”
- “All You Need is Love”
- “Hello Goodbye”
- “Lady Madonna”
- “Hey Jude”
- “Get Back”
- “Ballad of John and Yoko”
- “Something”
- “Come Together”
- “Let It Be”
- “The Long and Winding Road”
[Image from Getty Images]
