BEATLES NEW SINGLE AT No. 1 AFTER 54 YEARS

A new number by The Beatles, "Now And Then", has hit the UK music charts number one spot yesterday, 10th November. But The Beatles broke up in 1972, John Lennon was assassinated in December 1980 and George Harrison died in November 2001. So how can we have a new number from the group now? Thanks to 'Artificial Intelligence' or AI for short. 

While there is controversy surrounding this technology what with deepfakes, morphs and "hallucinations" whereby AI sites give imagined replies in case of information they don't have, there are two outstanding musical events we have to be thankful to AI for. The first is ABBA's Voyage concert which had its opening ceremony in London in May last year. All four members of the group were in the audience watching their virtual 'avatars' as in 1979 called ABBAtars perform on stage. The Voyage show will continue till 29 November 2024. And now we have this recording by The Beatles. 

The story behind "Now and Then" is interesting. John Lennon wrote it at the piano and recorded it on tape in 1978. Yoko Ono found the cassette with some others in 1994 and gave the lot for the compilation of The Beatles "Anthology". The sound quality of "Now and Then" was very poor and George Harrison was initially not interested. But Ringo and Paul in particular, were keen to pursue it. So they got George to contribute electric and acoustic guitar accompaniment while Ringo provided drums and Paul, bass, guitar and piano in support of John's voice. This was recorded in 1995 but the sound quality of John's voice remained poor and the project was shelved.

Two years ago, filmmaker Peter Jackson found the tapes in a dusty cupboard and, with advanced technology, succeeded in isolating John's voice clearly. He contacted Paul and Ringo and, with George's old recording, they added their own accompaniment combining all to produce a complete song. Paul and Ringo were happy and satisfied that the recording retained the originality of The Beatles' voices and instruments and that AI was used only as a facilitator and not to clone for the Beatles.

The song was released on 2 November and within 10 hours, made its entry in the UK music charts at No. 42. In three days, it had become the Fab Fours' most streamed track ever beating the previous best "Here Comes the Sun". And in one week, it climbed to the top spot in the charts knocking off the most popular singer of today, Taylor Swift. "Now And Then" became the group's 18th topper, 54 years after the 17th, "The Ballad of John and Yoko" in 1969 and 61 years after their first single, "Love Me Do". It is now being played and sung along all over including the quaint Beatles-themed cafe in Rishikesh along river Ganga, their three month home in 1968.

The Beatles also became the oldest band ever to hit number one spot with Paul aged 82 and Ringo 83. 

So what is the secret of the intense and immediate appeal of The Beatles even after 60 years during which pop music has seen so many new and popular singers and forms? Ian Leslie, who is writing a book about the relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, wrote in the New York Times, "Beatles songs still speak to us so directly because they are vehicles for the transmission of feelings too powerful for normal speech.... Almost everything they felt -and they felt a lot- was poured into music." John Lennon himself said, "Talking is the slowest form of communicating. Music is much better."

The Beatles could clearly bring this out in their songs, short and sweet, simple and direct. Most of their songs were only about 2 1/2 minutes long, with just a few lines which were often repeated. Sweetly sung, they are easy to sing along. Take "Love Me Do", written by Paul, age 16, for his girlfriend. 2 minutes and 22 seconds with the following major lines repeated-

"Love, love me do, You know I love you, I'll always be true, So please love me do....

Someone to love, Somebody new, Someone to love, Someone like you."

Simple love lines were sung captivatingly and listeners just loved them. In their first top single "From Me To You", they declared 'If there's anything that you want, if there's anything I can do, Just call on me and I'll send it along, with love from me to you.' The title of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" says it plainly; the physical contact is so good that 'when I touch you I feel happy inside, it's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide.' In "Can't Buy Me Love", it is love over money- 'I'll give you all I've got to give if you say you love me too, I may not have a lot to give but what I've got I'll give to you. I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love.' And in "Hard Day's Night", it is the comfort of the loved one at home that would wipe away all the fatigue of the day's hard work- 'It's been a hard day's night, and I've been working like a dog....But when I get home to you, I find the things that you do, will make me feel alright....'Cause when I get you alone, you know I feel okay.' 

And so on to the 'last' song, "Now And Then"  which sings of a former partner or lover and the wish to be together again. It is believed that John Lennon missed Paul McCartney a lot and wanted to make up and reunite. Paul probably sensed this and hence his eagerness to produce the song-

'I know it's true, it's all because of you, and if I make it through, it's all because of you.

And now and then, if we must start again, well, we will know for sure that I will love you.

Now and then, I miss you, Oh, now and then, I want you to be there for me, always to return to me....

Now and then, I miss you, Oh, now and then, I want you to be there for me."

Did we say 'last song'? There are many cassettes left behind by John Lennon and something may still be waiting to be discovered. As John sang, "Imagine!"