paper jukebox

1973 was a landmark year for The Beatles. It was 10 years since they scored their first UK gold disc (’She Loves You’) - ten years since the birth of Beatlemainia.

A decade is a long time in pop music. Fashions come and go in the blink of an eye. Most pop stars are lucky to last eighteen months at the top. Yet in 1973 The Beatles collected 13 gold discs between them (seven gold albums and six gold singles).

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr released milestone albums in the form of Band On The Run and Ringo. George Harrison released the follow-up album to All Things Must Pass and John Lennon his follow-up to Imagine.

Their contract with Alien Klein ended in litigation from both parties. Lennon and McCartney were being sued by ATV/Northern Songs. A publishing company they once thought they owned. Lennon was fighting deportation from the USA and a failing marriage. Despite the endless court cases, relationship breakdowns, financial and political pressures, and management problems, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr managed to write and record some of the best solo albums of their careers and continued to rack up gold discs. They did all this while in competition with the greatest pop group the world has ever known - The Beatles, whose million selling compilation albums 1962 - 66 & 1967 - 70 topped the charts.

1973 - The Last Year The Beatles Were Fab! tells the story of that landmark year - a year of remarkable highs and lows. A year that could, and would, never be repeated.