The Beatles Prevented a John Lennon Song From Becoming a No. 1 Hit

The Beatles practically owned the charts in the 1960s. They had 20 No. 1 hit singles and several No. 1 albums. Since the Fab Four were constantly at the top, it blocked other acts from reaching the summit. The Beatles even prevented a cover of a John Lennon song from becoming a No. 1 single in 1963.

The Beatles prevented the John Lennon song ‘Do You Want to Know a Secret’ from reaching No. 1

It’s hard to overstate The Beatles’ success in the 1960s. They had an incredible 64 top-100 songs during their active career. Nearly half of those — 31, to be precise — came in 1964 alone.  On three occasions, their albums kept other Beatles records from hitting No. 1.

The band started cannibalizing their own success almost as soon as they hit the charts in 1963. The Beatles kept a cover of the John Lennon song “Do You Want to Know a Secret” from hitting No. 1 in May 1963.

“Do You Want to Know a Secret,” one of The Beatles’ originals on Please Please Me, was officially a Lennon-Paul McCartney song. Yet John wrote the song and recorded a demo (complete with a flushing toilet) during one of the Fab Four’s Hamburg, Germany, residencies. 

Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas’ cover of “Do You Want to Know a Secret” rose to No. 2 for two weeks in late May and early June 1963, per Official Charts Company. The Beatles’ tune “From Me to You” held the top spot both weeks. 

Interestingly, the B-side to Kramer’s cover of “Do You Want to Know a Secret” was the Paul song “I’ll Be On My Way.” So the success of “From Me to You” kept Paul’s song from hitting No. 1 just as it did for John’s A-side. 

John and Paul McCartney gave Kramer his first No. 1 hit with a Beatles reject

Beatles manager Brian Epstein also managed Kramer. Artists under Epstein’s banner frequently shared music. That is to say, John and Paul supplied hits to other Epstein acts. So it’s not surprising they helped push Kramer up the charts more than once.

John and Paul gave away the song “Bad to Me,” which became Kramer’s first No. 1 hit in August 1963. That was another song credited to John and Paul that Lennon penned almost entirely on his own.

Kramer took “I’ll Keep You Satisfied” into the top five in late 1963. “From a Window,” a song mainly written by Paul, was a top-10 song for Kramer in 1964. 

Taking songs from John and Paul was lucrative for other artists besides Kramer. They gave up on “That Means a Lot” being a Beatles song. American singer P.J. Proby took it off the scrap heap, and it became a success in England. 

“From Me to You” was so successful for The Beatles that it prevented John Lennon’s song “Do You Want to Know a Secret” from becoming a No. 1 hit for Billy J. Kramer. It was the first but far from the last time the duo kept their own songs and albums from hitting the top of the charts.

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