Last night’s Beatles special did the trick. All of the albums are back on the charts. At iTunes, the “1” album with 27 hits is in the top 10. On amazon, the “red” and “blue” greatest hits albums are selling the best. But right behind those, on both charts, are “Abbey Road” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
On amazon, the “black” box set from 2009 and the new “US Albums” are in the top 30. Those two box sets are expensive, which is even better for the Beatles. My personal favorite album, “Hey Jude,” a greatest hits set released in the US and never available here on CD until now, is at number 35.
The special also seems to had had an effect on Paul McCartney’s “New” collection, which is also charting around number 90. During the special last night, Paul’s drummer had the “New” logo, not the Beatles’, emblazoned on his drum kit.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or intentional, but that logo seems like it was influenced by the wallpaper on some American Airlines planes. Funny where people get artistic inspiration these days.
Some Beatles fans have noticed that there were a scarcity of John Lennon songs in the special. There were, by our count, 12 McCartney songs, 5 Lennon, 2 Harrison, and the balance were Lennon-McCartney together. Paul said during the show that “I Saw Her Standing There” was written by him and Lennon. But in the past it’s always been attributed to Paul alone.
Noticeably absent from the line up: “Come Together,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “Across the Universe.” But the show would have been three hours long.
