Behka’s Breakfast with The Beatles Recap: Week of September 8

This week on Breakfast with Behka and The Beatles, I decided to return to another theme week. This week, I picked songs that the Lennon and McCartney team wrote, but gave to other artists to record.In fact, all of these songs are on a compilation album put out in the 70's called The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away.  The original album was released in the UK on EMI's mid-price Music for Pleasure label in 1971.  Lennon and McCartney started writing songs together in the late 1950s and by 1963 were prolific composers who wrote songs for the Beatles and also for other artists.

On Monday, I played "I'm in Love" by The Fourmost.

"I'm in Love" is a song written by John Lennon. In 1963 the English Merseybeat band the Fourmost made a recording of the song at the EMI Studios, produced by George Martin. Billy J. Kramer also recorded a version of the song, but the version by the Fourmost was selected for the issue and reached number 17 in the United Kingdom.

On Tuesday, I played "Tip of My Tongue" by Tommy Quickly.

Tip of My Tongue" is a single by Tommy Quickly backed by The Remo Four. Written by Paul McCartney and attributed to the songwriting partnership of Lennon–McCartney, it was one of their relatively few songs that were never officially released by the Beatles. Surprisingly, although Quickly's version was released in the UK as Beatlemania was taking off, the single was a flop and proved merely the first of a series of career disappointments for the singer. "Tip of My Tongue" remains one of only two original A-side written by Lennon–McCartney not to have at least made the UK charts upon its initial release.

On Wednesday, I played "Love of the Loved" by Cilla Black.

"Love of the Loved" is a song written mainly by Paul McCartney. It is one of his earliest compositions and featured in the Beatles live act in their early days. The group recorded the song at their 1962 audition for Decca Records, but never issued it on any of their official releases. Instead, Cilla Black recorded it for her debut single, which was produced by George Martin. It was not a big hit for her, reaching #35 on the UK Singles Chart. Oddly, the Beatles audition version was left off Anthology 1, even though the other Lennon–McCartney originals from the same session, "Hello Little Girl" and "Like Dreamers Do", were included.

On Thursday, I played "Bad to Me" by Billy J Kramer and The Dakotas.

"Bad to Me" is a song John Lennon wrote for Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas while on holiday in Spain. Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas released their recording of the song in 1963 and it became their first number 1 in the UK Singles Chart. Paul McCartney was present during the recording session at Abbey Road Studios. The single would be released in the US the following year, and become a top-ten hit there, reaching number 9. It became one of the first occasions a Lennon–McCartney composition made the US Top 40 recorded by an artist other than the Beatles.

On Friday, I played "World Without Love" by Peter & Gordon.

"A World Without Love" is a song recorded by the English duo Peter and Gordon and released as their first single in February 1964, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart in April. The song was written by Paul McCartney. In June 1964, "A World Without Love" topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It also reached number one on the Cash Box chart in the US for one week. It was included on the duo's debut album in the UK, and in the US on an album of the same name. It is one of two songs written by Lennon–McCartney to reach number one in the US by an artist other than the Beatles. The song was one of the seven #1s written by Lennon-McCartney that charted in the US in 1964; an all-time songwriting record for most songs to top the US charts in a calendar year.

Let me know if there's anything you'd like to hear next week, or if there's another theme week you'd like to hear.

Givingly yours,
Behka