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12.36pm
25 August 2021
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On November 12, 1995, a week before ABC broadcast the first part of the miniseries version of Anthology, an article appeared in The Washington Post, and the excerpt below details that there was going to be much more extensive plans for the campaign than what we got:
All this is just the beginning of what Capitol has called “the multimedia musical event of the century” (translation: big, big sales, not only for this Christmas season but for next year’s as well). By the end of 1996, we will be able to purchase two coffee-table books, three double CDs, a 10-hour version of “The Beatles Anthology” (somewhat belying ABC’s claim that its version — 4 1/2 hours without commercials — is “definitive”), a 26-hour syndicated radio show in the mold of “The Lost Lennon Tapes,” a larger boxed set of archival CDs with bonus tracks, reissues of the Beatles’ albums on vinyl and Beatle-logo merchandise ranging from apparel, housewares and toys to greeting cards, posters and collectibles. The head of Sony Signatures, which is handling the licensing, estimates a $200 million gross over the next two years.
The coffee table books were supposed to the Anthology book that was released in 2000, and were to have accompanied both the special audio box set and the video box set; but Derek Taylor’s cancer delayed the book entirely, so it didn’t happen.
The audio box set would’ve had Anthology 1 , Anthology 2 and Anthology 3 in their entirety, and the bonus tracks likely would’ve been the songs on the Free As A Bird and Real Love maxi singles as well as the potential tracks (other than Carnival Of Light ) that were considered for release on Anthology 2 .
The radio series, this is a lot more speculative, since it never happened, but I wonder if it would’ve included stuff not on the albums or on the 50th anniversary box sets that would later emerge.
As best I can guess, these expansive plans were curtailed, both by moving Anthology 2 ‘s release from February to March and the VHS set and Anthology 3 from spring to fall (September for the VHS, Anthology 3 for October), as well as the fact that Free As A Bird and Real Love didn’t top the charts or sell beyond being certified gold, so Capitol/EMI felt they had to scale back.
Shame, though. How do you think these plans, even with Derek’s illness delaying the book, would’ve gone over?
4.33pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline The Beatles Book magazine published early contenders for ‘Anthology 2 ‘ (one being a live version of ‘Nowhere Man ‘) along with a different track listing for ‘A3’ (an alternate ‘AR’ medley was included) and there was a plan for some ‘FAAB’ video release (the ditched artwork is somewhere on this forum). As for all the other stuff, it should be said tho that the 10-hour version was issued a few years later when the DVD set came out.
On the radio series, there were similar plans in 1998 for a US syndicated radio series and box set of outtakes to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘The White Album ‘ but they got cancelled and instead we got a $200 luxury ‘WA’ pen. Apple really know how to turn the fans on.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
4.37pm
25 August 2021
Offline The 10-hour version already came out with the VHS release in 1996, didn’t it? The DVD release in 2003 is the same, except with the bonus features disc
A plan for a FAAB video release? As in there would’ve been a video single, as some bands did in those days? Was there going to be such a video for RL?
But anyways, do you think that if the original plans had been more or less stuck to, except for the book because it was necessary to delay it without Derek’s involvement, it would’ve been a really big success, as much as the CDs, the VHS and DVD sets and the book release in 2000 were?
4.43pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Was the video 10 hours? Can’t remember. I thought the DVD was longer but you are probably right. Where is the 73 hour blu-ray?
I think it wouldn’t have made any difference, the world went nuts for a while due to the reunion. How many books, variety of series, types of merchandise didn’t really matter.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
5.02pm
25 August 2021
Offline I think it would’ve all gone over like gangbusters as well; if anything scaling things down because of critics’ reactions to FAAB and RL and their chart performance not reaching number 1 on the Top 40 charts was the wrong move, in my opinion. The fans would’ve come in droves regardless at that point.
As for the FAAB video release, what it going to be a video single? Would there have been an RL one, or would they have appeared on the same video release? Also, why was RL not on the VHS release at all, initially?
5.46pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Here’s the page for the ‘FAAB’ video. My memory, as always, is wrong as it’s not for a 1995 release but 2000 so wouldn’t have been the original release, no idea why Apple were faffing about with such a thing when the video set was out in 1996 and the DVDs in 2003. The plans were scrapped before anything for ‘RL’ was ever considered.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
5.55pm
25 August 2021
Offline Well, it’s a lovely idea concept. Maybe Apple was getting ready to do a video EP at some point. I don’t know. Either way, it’s lovely and I’m sorry this artist’s work didn’t get utilized. I think it would’ve been nice for a VHS single in the ’90s as well.
I would’ve done a similar enough idea for such one for RL. I still don’t know what that video wasn’t on the VHS box set; maybe it would’ve been on the special video set to accompany the original planned book for Christmastime 1996.
6.08pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline If I recall correctly, the ‘FAAB’ video was on the US edition of the ‘Anthology’ TV series when initially broadcast (unlike in the UK where it got it’s own 30-minute TV special broadcast on ITV) which is why it was on the video. ‘RL’ was not so it wasn’t.
A few months later ITV screened the ‘RL’ video in a prime-time spot (8pm comes to mind).
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
6.10pm
25 August 2021
Offline Well, the FAAB video was aired on the first night of the ABC broadcast in the States, and an alternate edit of the RL video was aired on the second night, so America got a video before the UK did, even if it wasn’t the finished product. But I guess the rules of how the British fans got it won the day in the end.
If it were up to me, I would’ve had both videos on the 8th and final tape, though.
6.23pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline Apparently ITV broadcast ‘RL’ only a few days later, I’ve mixed it up with the March ’96 release.
The screening of the video for ‘Real Love ’ on ITV on 23rd November caused some confusion among the general publish as to exactly what was being issued by The Beatles and when. One TV insider suggested that the unusual timing for the premiere of ‘Real Love ’ – so soon after ‘Free As A Bird ’, and three months prior to its commercial release – was to counter the possibility of bootleggers getting hold of the recording. Although the water-tight security evidently paid off for ‘Free As A Bird ’, and the single remained under wraps until its official launch, it’s understood that measures to secure ‘Real Love ’ weren’t as successful, and a copy was leaked from either EMI or Apple as early as October.
Details of the UK screening of the ITV ‘FAAB’ special (from Keith Badman’s ‘The Beatles Diary Volume 2: After The Break-Up 1970-2001′)
Monday November 20
…
The promotional video to accompany the song is also a major unveiling. Original plans to premiere broadcast both the song and the video at the end of this evening’s ITV network special All Together Now (broadcast between 8:01 and 8:28pm) are soon shelved when clips of this video appear on Channel 4’s Big Breakfast Show this morning, as well as the TV news broadcasts throughout the day on the BBC, ITN and Channel 4. The reactions to the song though are mixed…
Later tonight, a complete screening of the ‘Free As A Bird ‘ promo video is shown at the end of the Granada/ITV network tribute programme All Together Now , which features interviews with celebrities who reminisce about The Beatles.
and ‘Real Love ‘
Thursday November 23
While in the UK, in an attempt to foil the bootleggers, the ITV Network (between 8:00 and 8:04pm), screens the video to accompany The Beatles’ second comeback single ‘Real Love ‘, in a five-minute programme, aptly titled The Beatles – Real Love . The video to accompany the song was directed by the former member of 10cc Kevin Godley, and comprised archive clips from the Sixties and the Geoff Wonfor footage of Paul, George and Ringo recording the song at The Mill, East Sussex, on February 6 and 7 this year.
I’m convinced I saw Spectre in Aberdeen when it first came out in 2016, the only issue is that ‘Spectre’ came out in 2015 and I wasn’t in Aberdeen at any point during that year. The point is that my memory is dreadful.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
7.05pm
25 August 2021
Offline Hey, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, so it’s fine.
7.44pm
25 August 2021
Offline By the way, does anyone have a link to the original press release by Apple announcing the Anthology as well as the two songs, sometime in the spring of 1995?
9.09am
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline @Toxic34
Is this what you are looking for? It’s from 10th May 1995 and was a joint release from ABC and Apple.
“DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF THE BEATLES WILL BE TOLD IN THE BAND’S OWN WORDS IN A FIVE-HOUR SPECIAL WHICH WILL AIR OVER TWO NIGHTS IN NOVEMBER, 1995, ON THE ABC TELEVISION NETWORK.”
“The definitive history of The Beatles, the most significant band in the annals of popular music, will finally be told in the band’s own words, in a five-hour television special which will air on the ABC Television Network over two nights in November, 1995. The special, featuring the world premiere of two songs – the first new Beatles recordings in 25 years – was announced jointly today by ABC Entertainment president Ted Harbert, and Apple Corps Ltd.
“The unprecedented musical event will feature John, Paul, George and Ringo, with the latter three bringing additional instrumentation, voices and arrangements to two unreleased John Lennon songs on which he sings and plays.
” ‘The Beatles story will be an extraordinary event on ABC,’ Harbert said. ‘The five-hour special is designed to provide a comprehensive look at the lives and sound of the band that changed the culture of a generation.’
“The surviving Beatles will teil their own stories in exclusive interviews, and the special will incorporate a rich archive of interviews on audio and video tape left by the late John Lennon . Together the four recall the group’s formation in Liverpool and its meteoric rise, along with seminal moments from their career – such as the first trip to the United States, the making of their films, and inside stories behind specific record releases.
“The special will also reveal the impact of these developments on their private lives, including reminiscences by other key players in The Beatles’ story. There will also be never-before-seen footage of the legendary musicians in their youth through home movies, film outtakes and other rarities.
“The new Beatles songs featured on the special, ‘Free As A Bird ‘ and ‘Real Love ‘, will be released by Apple Records.
“The making of the television special and associated video series has been the responsibility of Apple Productions Ltd., a company owned by the surviving Beatles and the estate of John Lennon , administered by his widow, Yoko Ono Lennon. The executive producer is Neil Aspinall, the producer is Chips Chipperfield and the director is Geoffrey Wonfor.”
The following people thank meanmistermustard for this post:
Rube"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
11.06am
25 August 2021
Offline I believe so. Thanks!
7.04pm
25 August 2021
Offline Meanwhile, since the proposed audio box set meant to have been released in Christmas 1996 was to have included bonus tracks in addition to what ended up becoming the Anthology book, is it fair to say this box set would’ve had a bonus seventh disc containing the bonus tracks, many of which would’ve been in the running for the original three albums as well as those from the FAAB and RL singles? If so, as far as I can tell, these are the tracks that would’ve been considered for that:
-Putting On The Style (The Quarrymen)
-Baby Let’s Play House (The Quarrymen)
-Red Hot (Hamburg)
-To Know Her Is To Love Her (Decca)
–I Saw Her Standing There (Take 9)
–This Boy (Takes 12 and 13)
–From Me To You (Outtake)
-Love Of The Loved (Demo)
-Bad To Me (Demo)
-Goodbye (Demo)
–Woman (Demo)
-World Without Love (Demo)
–I Want To Tell You (Outtake)
-Granny Smith (Outtake)
–Love You To (Outtake)
–Think For Yourself (Outtake)
–Here, There And Everywhere (Take 7 and Take 13 Mix)
–Baby’s In Black (Hollywood Bowl)
–Paperback Writer (Vocals Only)
–She’s A Woman (Shea Stadium)
–Yellow Submarine (Remix)
–Nowhere Man (Budokan)
–Getting Better (Outtake)
–Magical Mystery Tour (Outtake)
-Hey La Le Lu/All Together Now
-Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
–Yer Blues (Outtake)
The following people thank Toxic34 for this post:
Rube 