Tony Sheridan With The Beatles

(Polydor EPH21610)
Released 12th July 1963

Side A: My Bonnie [With Tony Sheridan] / The Saints [With Tony Sheridan]
Side B: Why [With Tony Sheridan] / Cry For A Shadow

This was just a collection of songs from their Hamburg days. The Beatles were already famous by 1963 so Polydor packaged them up and tried to make a bit of money. It was deliberately released on the same day as the Beatles' debut EP, Twist And Shout, to grab some of it's sales.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) did not enter

Twist And Shout

(Parlophone GEP 8882 MONO)
Released 12th July 1963

Side A: Twist And Shout / A Taste Of Honey
Side B: Do You Want To Know A Secret / There's A Place

This is the best-selling EP in British history, and it was the first one to sell a quarter of a million copies (and the first to win a silver disc!). It even made it to number two in the singles chart (...keeping Brian Poole's version of 'Twist And Shout' at number four). All of these songs had previously been released on the Please Please Me LP, so god knows why they bought it - it had already been at number one for ten weeks! The Beatles' Hits was actually ready to ship before this one, but they released this one first because of the popularity of the song 'Twist And Shout'.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for a combined total of 21 weeks (ten weeks from 27th July, and eleven weeks from 23rd November 1963)
Weeks in chart: 64 (from 20th July 1963)

The Beatles' Hits

(Parlophone GEP 8880 MONO)
Released 6th September 1963

Side A: From Me To You / Thank You Girl
Side B: Please Please Me / Love Me Do

This made it to No. 17 in the singles chart.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for 3 weeks (from 2nd November 1963)
Weeks in chart: 44 (from 21st September 1963)

The Beatles (No. 1)

(Parlophone GEP 8883 MONO)
Released 1st November 1963

Side A: I Saw Her Standing There / Misery
Side B: Anna (Go To Him) / Chains

This stalled at No. 2, because The Beatles' Hits was still riding high at No. 1. But it made No. 19 in the singles chart as well.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #2
Weeks in chart: 29 (from 9th November 1963)

All My Loving

(Parlophone GEP 8891 MONO)
Released 7th February 1964

Side A: All My Loving / Ask Me Why
Side B: Money (That's What I Want) / P.S. I Love You

This was knocked off the top by the Long Tall Sally EP. It also made No. 12 in the singles chart.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for 8 weeks (from 29th February 1964)
Weeks in chart: 44 (from 8th February 1964)

Long Tall Sally

(Parlophone GEP 8913 MONO)
Released 19th June 1964

Side A: Long Tall Sally / I Call Your Name
Side B: Slow Down / Matchbox

This was their first EP to contain unreleased material. Capitol had a habit of sending albums out with only ten songs on them, and they found that they were just a few songs shy of a whole extra album. So The Beatles knocked off some cover versions to keep them sweet. The first two songs appeared on The Beatles' Second Album, and the last two were held back for the Something New LP.

It became one of their best-selling EPs and sold a quarter of a million in it's first six months, and over a million worldwide.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for 7 weeks (from 11th July 1964)
Weeks in chart: 37 (from 4th July 1964)

Extracts From The Film 'A Hard Day's Night'

(Parlophone GEP 8920 MONO)
Released 6th November 1964

Side B: I Should Have Known Better / If I Fell
Side B: Tell Me Why / And I Love Her

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for a combined total of 6 weeks (two weeks from 12th December 1964, three weeks from 9th January, and one week from 6th February 1965)
Weeks in chart: 30 (from 14th November 1964)

Extracts From The Album 'A Hard Day's Night'

(Parlophone GEP 8924 MONO)
Released 6th November 1964

Side A: Any Time At All / I'll Cry Instead
Side B: Things We Said Today / When I Get Home

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #8
Weeks in chart: 17 (from 9th January 1965)

Beatles For Sale

(Parlophone GEP 8931 MONO)
Released 6th April 1965

Side A: No Reply / I'm A Loser
Side B: Rock And Roll Music / Eight Days A Week

This reached No. 1 twice. It started off with five weeks in April, and came back for another go in June.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for a combined total of 6 weeks (five weeks from 24th April, and one week from 12th June 1965)
Weeks in chart: 47 (from 10th April 1965)

Beatles For Sale (No. 2)

(Parlophone GEP 8938 MONO)
Released 4th June 1965

Side A: I'll Follow The Sun / Baby's In Black
Side B: Words Of Love / I Don't Want To Spoil The Party

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #5
Weeks in chart: 24 (from 12th June 1965)

The Beatles' Million Sellers

(Parlophone GEP 8946 MONO)
Released 6th December 1965

Side A: She Loves You / I Want To Hold Your Hand
Side B: Can't Buy Me Love / I Feel Fine

This made it to No. 1 twice! It had two weeks at the beginning of February, and then another two weeks in March. When it was released in '65, the combined sales for these singles had already reached five and a quarter million, and over twenty-seven million globally, so god knows why they bought it. There couldn't have been a kid left without a copy! They were originally going to release it a year earlier, as Golden Discs, but they pulled it because they didn't want to flood the market.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for a combined total of 4 weeks (two weeks from 5th February, and two weeks from 12th March 1966)
Weeks in chart: 26 (from 11th December 1965)

Yesterday

(Parlophone GEP 8948 MONO)
Released 4th March 1966

Side A: Yesterday / Act Naturally
Side B: You Like Me Too Much / It's Only Love

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #1
It stayed top for 8 weeks (from 26th March 1966)
Weeks in chart: 13 (from 12th March 1966)

Nowhere Man

(Parlophone GEP 8952 MONO)
Released 8th July 1966

Side A: Nowhere Man / Drive My Car
Side B: Michelle / You Won't See Me

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #4
Weeks in chart: 18 (from 16th July 1966)

Magical Mystery Tour

(Parlophone MMT-1 MONO / SMMT-1 STEREO)
Released 8th December 1967

Side A: Magical Mystery Tour / Your Mother Should Know
Side B: I Am The Walrus / No You're Not [Speech]
Side C: The Fool On The Hill / Flying
Side D: Blue Jay Way

The Magical Mystery Tour project caused a bit of a conundrum for the Beatles, because they found that they'd written too many songs for an EP, but not enough for an album - so they decided to do the world's-first double EP. It was one of their best-selling issues (having advance orders of 400,000), and within a month it had sold half a million copies. But the specialist EP chart was no longer running, so it only made number two in the singles chart. (It was kept off the top-spot by 'Hello, Goodbye'.)

It came with: “A 32-page full colour book packed with exclusive pictures, a strip cartoon of the original story, plus the words to the songs in the show.”

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #2
Weeks in chart: 12 (from 16th December 1967)

The EP Collection

(Parlophone BEP14)
Released 7th December 1981

This was just a collection of their British EPs, with a bonus one called Rarities.

(front cover)

(back cover)

Rarities

(Parlophone SGE1)
Included as part of the 'The EP Collection'

Side A: The Inner Light / Baby, You're A Rich Man
Side B: She's A Woman / This Boy

All of these songs had previously been released, but never before in stereo. 'She's A Woman' also featured a 1-2-3-4 count-in.

Baby It's You

(Apple 58349)
Released 20th March 1995

Side A: Baby It's You / I'll Follow The Sun
Side B: Devil In Her Heart / Boys

This was released to help promote the Live At The BBC LP. Each song features a different Beatle singing.

Highest chart position: Record Retailer) #7
Weeks in chart: 7 (six weeks from 1st April, and one week from 8th July 1995)

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