This was The Beatles’ first appearance on Radio Luxembourg, one of the earliest commercial radio stations broadcasting to the United Kingdom, and an important source of rock ‘n’ roll music for many teenagers in the early 1960s.
The Friday Spectacular was one of several shows recorded by EMI for the station, and was intended to plug the label’s records. This show was recorded at EMI House, the label’s headquarters in Manchester Square, London.
The Beatles appeared before a studio audience of over 100 people. They were interviewed but didn’t perform; the studio versions of ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘PS I Love You’ were also played.
This edition of The Friday Spectacular was broadcast on Radio Luxembourg from 10-11pm on Friday 12 October 1962.
Also on this day...
- 2016: Paul McCartney live: Desert Trip festival
- 2015: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, Victoria
- 2014: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Moody Theater, Austin
- 2010: Google publishes animated tribute to John Lennon
- 2010: John Lennon fingerprint card seized by FBI
- 2005: Paul McCartney live: MCI Center, Washington, DC
- 1971: UK album release: Imagine by John Lennon
- 1969: George Harrison is interviewed for the BBC’s Scene And Heard
- 1968: Recording: Long Long Long, I’m So Tired, The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
- 1964: Recording: She’s A Woman
- 1960: The Beatles live: Kaiserkeller, Hamburg
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
I remember hearing this broadcast at home on my gran’s radio – the first time I had heard of them. I was really taken by the refreshing informality & wit and I told my mate that I’d heard this great group called the Beagles. Question – who was their interviewer ?
Either Muriel Young or Shaw Taylor. The DJ who was spinning the records on the show was a Canadian guy called Ray Orchard. 🙂
An unusually late time for a show for teenagers.
I was an U.S. Air Force brat at Aviano Air Base Italy. We used to get Radio Luxembourg on short wave. The Beatles were a big hit then. When I returned to the states in ’63 no one had ever heard of them.
I have got a Beatles interview on my PC on the .mp3 format – it’s 7 mins 20 sec long, at 7 Mb (128 kbs). The date is 27th October ’62, but I’m not sure if it’s correct.
I can share it al right, no problem at all.