On this day in 1963, The Beatles released their second single Please Please Me

After the release of their debut Love Me Do in late 1962, The Beatles had enjoyed moderate success but were still relatively unknown outside of their hometown Liverpool and Hamburg, where they had played the majority of their shows. Love Me Do peaked at number 17 on the UK Charts, which most attribute to a lack of promotion. Despite this, producer George Martin was still optimistic about the band and decided to push ahead with a second single.

Martin wanted the group to release a cover of a Mitch Murray song,  How Do You Do It? but the band was determined to release their own material instead. The early version of Please Please Me  was considered to be too slow and dreary by Martin, but when showed a new version agreed with the bands decision to use it as their second single. After a radical change in the songs arrangement, the final version was recorded on the 26th November 1962, and Martin immediately predicted the song would be the groups first major hit.

Please Please Me would release in the UK during one of the worst winters in recorded history. Most of the country was snowed in at home, and the band would therefore get huge audiences for their television performance on the show Thank Your Lucky Stars. This, combined with the bands unusual style and appearance would garner them a lot of media attention, which they used to promote upcoming tours with Tommy Roe and Roy Orbison. Their newfound fame helped push the song to up the charts, with it receiving number one on the New Musical Express and Melody Maker charts, though it only went to number two on the Record Retailer chart, which subsequently became the UK Singles Chart. 

The success of Please Please Me pushed The Beatles to national fame and allowed the song to become their first US single as well. From this point the group attained a new level of fame and success, which they would enjoy for close to a decade.