THE HIT HAMMER: The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer to the "Poor Little Fool" post)

The Beatles - "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

Hit Number 1: February 1, 1964

Stay at Number 1: 7 Weeks

This was it. This was the moment that things were going to change, and change forever. The moment America discovered four young, good-looking, British boys who liked to jam out, they absolutely lost their minds. These four boys: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr called themselves the Beatles, with an obvious play on words with the bug, beetle, and the music word, beat. They were the ones to start the famous British Invasion, where instead of the gloopy meaningless ballads that were starting to take over the charts, there were songs that actually served a purpose on this planet, and they were FUN. But for most of 1964, the Beatles were really the only British band that were on the charts, and they weren't just ON the charts, they straight up hijacked the charts, and claimed them as their own for pretty much the first half of 1964. This period of time is referred to now as "Beatlemania".

The first song of the Beatles to hit #1 in America was "I Want to Hold Your Hand". The song was written by the Lennon-McCartney team in the basement of McCartney's girlfriend Jane Asher's house, in a music room where her mother, Margaret, taught the oboe. Lennon and McCartney sat at the piano in the basement and composed the song together. Lennon would tell Playboy Magazine in 1980 "We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in 'I Want to Hold Your Hand', I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher's house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, 'Oh you-u-u/ got that something...' And Paul hits this chord and I turn to him and say, 'That's it!' I said, 'Do that again!' In those days, we really used to absolutely writ like that- both playing into each other's noses." These two would go on to write the bulk of the Beatles hits together, creating fun and simple songs, made up of addicting hooks that would lodge themselves in your brain and stay there for a while! (On a separate note, Jane Asher's brother, Peter, will appear in this blog shortly, as a member of Peter & Gordon)

Quite honestly, it isn't too hard to see why everyone lost their minds over these guys, and why "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was so popular. The song is jam-packed with hooks, energy, and tireless yelps and screams by Lennon and McCartney. As far as the band, they appealed to girls because of their good looks, rocker sound, and long hair, so they almost seemed like the "bad boys" for that time. Guys liked them, simply because it was a completely new sound, and the slow ballads in late 1963 were just draining the excitement in life for everyone. So when these new guys came along, it had to have been so refreshing.

Another reason why I think songs like "I Want to Hold Your Hand" caught fire, was that the lyrics were so simple and easy to remember, and didn't get too sexual or nasty. The song is only about wanting to hold a girl's hand. But this song is one of those where most people know all the words to it. It's also probably the Beatles' most signature song, though there are a few others that might challenge it. I would have to give the nod to this one though. Not only did it appeal to all kinds of Americans, but it remained at the top for 7 weeks, eventually being tied with by "Hey Jude" for the longest run at #1 by a Beatles song in 1968.

Obviously, this is far from the last time we will see the Beatles in this blog. In fact, we will see them in the next post, and the post after that. These guys ruled the 60s, even with other bands like the Rolling Stones and the Supremes having some chart dominance of their own, the Beatles are the group with the best success in the 60s. You're living under a rock if you think otherwise. Unfortunately, there will be a couple times where the Beatles put out some pretty mediocre music that somehow found its way to #1, so not every Beatles post in here will warrant a high score from me. But as far as "I Want to Hold Your Hand" goes, it's not only an awesome song, but it was a very significant moment in American history.

GRADE: 10/10

JUST MISSED:

Another great song was behind "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at the #2 spot. That was Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me", though it is nowhere near as historically significant as "I Want to Hold Your Hand". It's a 9.