ON THIS DATE IN 1961, THE BEATLES PERFORMED THEIR REGULAR SET AT THE CAVERN CLUB IN LIVERPOOL

The shows would be relatively standard, apart from one spectator. Mike Smith, an assistant A&R for Decca Records attended the bands second showing of the day, and was reportedly unimpressed.

Brian Epstein had just begun to manage the band and was using his position to attempt to sign a deal for the group. A friend and music reviewer, , declined to write about the band but agreed to mention them at Decca Records, where he worked writing album liner notes. Mike Smith was then sent out to have dinner with Epstein and watch the group perform.

The group was rejected on the day, but a future recording audition was set up with Decca for New Years Day, 1962. After this audition, Smith was asked to choose between The Beatle’s or Brian Poole and the Tremeloes by Decca’s head of A&R, Dick Rowe. Rowe then became infamous as the man who turned down The Beatle’s, one of the biggest mistakes in the music industry. Paul McCartney later said in a press interview, “I bet he’s kicking himself” to which John Lennon added, “I hope he kicks himself to death.”