With a million preorders for “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in the UK, the single shot to number 1 in December 1963 knocking The Beatles’ own “She Loves You” from the top spot.

This was to be the first official single for The Beatles on Capitol records and was backed by an extraordinary marketing campaign. With “I Saw Her Standing There” replacing “This Boy” for the other side, the single was rush-released in the USA in January 1964, climbing to number 1 on the Hot 100 by 1st February.

Remaining on the chart for 15 weeks, it went on to sell more than 12 million copies worldwide – and with it, an unstoppable force was unleashed and Beatlemania had truly arrived. Cut from the original US version of the master tapes by Kevin Reeves in Nashville, using all-analogue cutting process and using the original replica artwork.

1. I Wanna Hold Your Hand
2. I Saw Her Standing There