Wow! That is too cool. I used to listen to Dick Biondi on WLS when I lived in Columbus, OH back in the early '60s - he was a legend even back then. I heard "Please Please Me" on the radio on WCOL AM in Columbus in November of '63.
I WAS THERE! Guaranteed! This was an 'interesting' song, and I bought a copy of it at our little record store in Bensenville soon after. My copy is cracked & worn out now, but it IS the BEATTLES on VJ Records. The rest is history!
This is just an astonishing recording. It sounds cliche, but given the records played around it, "Please Please Me" literally JUMPS out of the speaker. People literally were not ready for them yet.
what a great catch. interesting comments too. timing is/was everything, because it was really Feb 64 when Beatlemania hit the US, with She Loves You/I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Ed Sullivan, Murray the K in NYC, etc. For reference, the Apple docu-movie will make you feel good every time you hear it. That said, this is an amazing piece of history. Fired from WLS, Dick went to L.A. where he introduced the Beatles, in person, at the Hollywood Bowl in '65. I know Dick personally, wonderful man.
i grew up in chicago in the sixties. i can remember 63-68 having my little portable transistor am radio under my pillow, and heard all this fantastic music coming from wls. i can also remember the first time i saw a radio station i got a tour at wls, and mr biondi was on the air.... i remember going to the record store and buying the first beatle records on vj and swan 45's, capitol had turned them down, chicago was ground zero for rock, before brucie in nyc got the attention....
In the early 60's (during the winter months because that's when atmospheric condition were favorable) I listened constantly to the "Dick Biondi Show" each night as a live broadcast over "89 WLS" an AM radio station broadcasting from Chicago. The first time I heard "The Beatles" was on his program. Back then what was popular on WLS would be the rage in my hometown of Clemson, SC - usually a month to 6 weeks later...
Thanks for sharing this fantastic piece of broadcast history. It's great to hear Dick Biondi introducing The Beatles on WLS, the station I grew up listening to. I was 14 years old and Dick was my absolute favorite deejay. In fact, I bought Dick the crazy sweater he is wearing on the video, along with my sister and best friend. He loved it! We are doing a documentary about Dick and want everyone who loves Dick to know about it and to help us spread the word. If you've got a memory to share or anything else to help us with our project, please get in touch with me. You can catch Dick's show M-F 11pm -2 am on 94.7 WLS-FM. At 82 years old, he's still on the air and sounds great. What a guy! facebook.com/TheDickBiondiFilm/photos_stream
This is a nice surprise! Thanks for posting. As a kid, we cruised to WBZ Boston, WABC in New York and, of course, WLS, for the best rock 'n roll -- many of the records weren't even available in local music stores. Cool.
Yup, my friends and I used to listen to Dick Biondi on WLS all the time in Columbus and to Dickie Sommers on WBZ in Boston too. Great memories, - too bad radio isn't that good today.
The Beatles connection to Chicago 1963 was Vee Jay records, the rock n roll label of Chess Blues records. I actually had a Vee Jay "Please Please Me" at one time, though I got rid of all my 5,000 45s when I quit radio for television. WLS had the song up to 30 on the "Silver Dollar Survey" in March. I have one of those surveys in my collection.
Listen to Paul's bass...it sounds so damn good. "Please Please Me" sounds so different from the other songs being played, I really feel like this tape is an excellent example of how music was about to change. And how poetically appropriate to follow with "Mr. Bass Man". Amazing.
I too rremember when Please Please Me was issued on Vee-Jay in '63. I remember Art Roberts saying it was #1 in England. I didn't, at that time realize that England even had rock 'n roll! Thaks for sharing!
Thanks Mitchell for posting this, brings back so many great memories of my childhood in southern Ohio, In the early 1960 I'd listen to the Dick Biondi show in my upstairs bedroom tell way late hours of the night, I often wondered if someone was recording these great programs. Glad you did, I really enjoyed it. Best Wishes, bill.
Great catch! I remember that period very well. I was a teen living in rural Delaware and spent many nights tuning the AM radio dial to clear channel stations all over the country. Ah, those were the days . . .
Darn fine Fisher reel-to-reel console there! Mine's a Zenith with a Ampex-built reel deck from 1965. Routine maintenance keeps it looking and working great. It's 80% transistors...only four small tubes total. BTW, listen how clear the DX used to be on AM before the FCC lost their minds....this WLS signal is almost fade-free from about 750 miles!
Great to hear this and what a great quality sound on Please Please Me , especially Pauls throbbing bass .There's is a suggestion that PPM didn't resonate with a lot of Americans who first heard it on the radio because of it suggestive lyrics which was really just John & Pauls early 60s style use of innocent play on words .
TY for sharing this. I'm from the south side of Chicago and I remember WLS was ALWAYS playing at my house. Dick Biondi was my fav. Would you happen to have him singing "On Top of Ol Smokey"?
I was so completely astonished to find it. I'm also delighted that it contains more than just the Beatle bit. Really recalls for me those days as photographs and written word can't. Thank you so much.
We used to tune in WLS from Kansas City in the 1960's, personally I thought it better than any AM radio station that we had locally. Some nights you could get it clearly, AM carries better at night, you could not get it during the day as I remember.
If genuine, it's strange that Biondi hasn't received credit in Beatles history for the very first US radio premiere of a Beatles record. That credit goes to a Washington, DC radio DJ and young girl in December 1963, I believe.
It's funny that people believe that, seeing as "Please Please Me" charted on WLS's survey and was in light rotation for a few weeks in the spring, and WLS was not the only station that added it; "From Me To You" also got scattered airplay over the summer; and finally, "She Loves You" was played on the air upon its release when George Harrison's sister Louise (who lived in the states) gave a copy to her local radio station.
i remember reading about this ...this is true ..following the beatles is MR BASS MAN by JOHNNY CYMBAL ..i had that record on a 45 and the beatles were not around yet for sure
Yep, radio broadcasts that have been taped *are* referred to as airchecks...plug in the term "Aircheck" on UA-cam, and all kinds of stuff will come up.
As mitchgodwin's brother I well remember 'Pease Please Me' when it first aired on WLS via Dick Biondi. WLS was a powerhouse 50,000 watt AM station that reached the east coast most nights with no trouble Me and a high school buddy who happened to catch this song one night thought it was an Everly Brother's knockoff. It used their harmony progressions and thruming guitar accents but sounded harsher than the Everlys. This is may answer Karen's question as to why the record dissapeared in April.
YES THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN YOU WOULD WALK DOWN THE STREET TO THE LOCAL MUSIC STORE AND CHECK THE WEEKLY TOP MUSIC CHARTS WHEN ALL THE BUSINESS WERE OWNED BY PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Brings back memories of when I lived in Racine, Wisc back in 63' I used to listen to WLS a lot. I probably heard this broadcast when it first aired?? Is it possible to get a complete copy of your tape? How much do you want for a copy? OR Is the original reel to reel tape for sale? UPDATE! I remastered this aircheck. My copy is now in (( Stereo )) and perfectly segue.
I see a lot of skepticism here. After I posted this on FB quite a while ago, Personal friends of Dick msg'ed me and told me that Dick wanted to talk to me. Gave me his personal phone number, so I did. Growing us as a teen during this time, Biondi was a big part of our lives. He confirmed this to me personally.
Agree, everything is preprogrammed with no creative spontaneity. DJs if any are nothing more than technical producers for the satellite program data streams coming into their local terrestrial radio stations.
Wow! To a a dyed-in-the-wool Beatle fan, this is fantastic! Happy 50th anniversary. Where in Delaware? My wife grew up in Wilmington on Milltown Rd. I posted a link to you on beatlesplus50.blogspot.com/2013/02/shapiro-redux.html
This message is for both dirwuf and Bruce Dumes. All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago
Dick was quite something! I learned of him via a dear girl friend who'd moved to Wheaton IL in 1961 and told me all about him,and his novelty records ("Biondi Blue Horizon", etc.)
Sorry Dick, George brought Beatles records to his sisters house in Benton Il. before this and played them on WFRX in West Frankfort. He also did live interview while there. Photos of this are on display (or were) at the Beatle BnB museum.
The Beatles VJ-498 ( Please Please Me ) record with the mispelled extra "T" in their name sells for $5500.00 today. The correctly spelled 45 goes for about a thousand dollars less ,
After analyzing the wave forms, I'm convinced the Beatles clip was dropped in from a later recording. There are clearly edits before and after the Beatles section, and as someone else pointed out, the enthusiastic intro clearly indicates this was not an unknown group being played for the first time. The Please Please Me section is compressed while the other sections are not -- it's immediately apparent when you look at the wave forms. It may have been well intended, but it's not real, IMHO.
It was edited because I only wanted to record the music ...... That's all I did on weekends then as a kid was to record music off the radio.... never knew at the time a lot of the artist that I recorded...... my father purchased the stereo and recorded in feb. 1963 .... All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago
I hate to throw a wet blanket on this, but this clip sounds awfully fishy to me...it sounds like a 1963 aircheck with the "Please Please Me" bit edited in from after they hit it big in America. The fidelity and tone of Biondi's voice in the Beatle part sounds slightly different than the rest of the clip, and the way he intros the song doesn't sound like he's talking about an unknown band. Yeah I could be wrong, but I've worked in medai production for 30 years and that's the way it sounds to me.
This message is for both dirwuf and Bruce Dumes. All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago
This message is for both dirwuf and Bruce Dumes. All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago
Wow! That is too cool. I used to listen to Dick Biondi on WLS when I lived in Columbus, OH back in the early '60s - he was a legend even back then. I heard "Please Please Me" on the radio on WCOL AM in Columbus in November of '63.
I WAS THERE! Guaranteed! This was an 'interesting' song, and I bought a copy of it at our little record store in Bensenville soon after. My copy is cracked & worn out now, but it IS the BEATTLES on VJ Records. The rest is history!
This is just an astonishing recording. It sounds cliche, but given the records played around it, "Please Please Me" literally JUMPS out of the speaker. People literally were not ready for them yet.
what a great catch. interesting comments too. timing is/was everything, because it was really Feb 64 when Beatlemania hit the US, with She Loves You/I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Ed Sullivan, Murray the K in NYC, etc. For reference, the Apple docu-movie will make you feel good every time you hear it. That said, this is an amazing piece of history. Fired from WLS, Dick went to L.A. where he introduced the Beatles, in person, at the Hollywood Bowl in '65. I know Dick personally, wonderful man.
i grew up in chicago in the sixties. i can remember 63-68 having my little portable transistor am radio under my pillow, and heard all this fantastic music coming from wls. i can also remember the first time i saw a radio station i got a tour at wls, and mr biondi was on the air.... i remember going to the record store and buying the first beatle records on vj and swan 45's, capitol had turned them down, chicago was ground zero for rock, before brucie in nyc got the attention....
In the early 60's (during the winter months because that's when atmospheric condition were favorable) I listened constantly to the "Dick Biondi Show" each night as a live broadcast over "89 WLS" an AM radio station broadcasting from Chicago. The first time I heard "The Beatles" was on his program. Back then what was popular on WLS would be the rage in my hometown of Clemson, SC - usually a month to 6 weeks later...
Thanks for sharing this fantastic piece of broadcast history. It's great to hear Dick Biondi introducing The Beatles on WLS, the station I grew up listening to. I was 14 years old and Dick was my absolute favorite deejay. In fact, I bought Dick the crazy sweater he is wearing on the video, along with my sister and best friend. He loved it! We are doing a documentary about Dick and want everyone who loves Dick to know about it and to help us spread the word. If you've got a memory to share or anything else to help us with our project, please get in touch with me. You can catch Dick's show M-F 11pm -2 am on 94.7 WLS-FM. At 82 years old, he's still on the air and sounds great. What a guy!
facebook.com/TheDickBiondiFilm/photos_stream
Thanks for some great memories... forgot just what AM radio with rock & roll music sounded like... mono, far-away radio stations and good times.
This is a nice surprise! Thanks for posting. As a kid, we cruised to WBZ Boston, WABC in New York and, of course, WLS, for the best rock 'n roll -- many of the records weren't even available in local music stores. Cool.
I remember this like it was yesterday. I grew up listening to DB every night in the early 60s. Good stuff!
Yup, my friends and I used to listen to Dick Biondi on WLS all the time in Columbus and to Dickie Sommers on WBZ in Boston too. Great memories, - too bad radio isn't that good today.
The Beatles connection to Chicago 1963 was Vee Jay records, the rock n roll label of Chess Blues records. I actually had a Vee Jay "Please Please Me" at one time, though I got rid of all my 5,000 45s when I quit radio for television. WLS had the song up to 30 on the "Silver Dollar Survey" in March. I have one of those surveys in my collection.
Listen to Paul's bass...it sounds so damn good. "Please Please Me" sounds so different from the other songs being played, I really feel like this tape is an excellent example of how music was about to change. And how poetically appropriate to follow with "Mr. Bass Man". Amazing.
I too rremember when Please Please Me was issued on Vee-Jay in '63. I remember Art Roberts saying it was #1 in England. I didn't, at that time realize that England even had rock 'n roll!
Thaks for sharing!
Very nice Beatle Blog ! ....... Thanks for the post. It was recorded 10 miles south of Dover, De. in the town of Felton.
Thanks Mitchell for posting this, brings back so many great memories of my childhood in southern Ohio, In the early 1960 I'd listen to the Dick Biondi show in my upstairs bedroom tell way late hours of the night, I often wondered if someone was recording these great programs. Glad you did, I really enjoyed it. Best Wishes, bill.
Thanks Bill !
Great catch! I remember that period very well. I was a teen living in rural Delaware and spent many nights tuning the AM radio dial to clear channel stations all over the country. Ah, those were the days . . .
Great piece of history! I "stole" my parent's VeeJay label "Introducing the Beatles" It's pretty worn but priceless to me.
Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed the insight note and the transmission.
Darn fine Fisher reel-to-reel console there! Mine's a Zenith with a Ampex-built reel deck from 1965. Routine maintenance keeps it looking and working great. It's 80% transistors...only four small tubes total. BTW, listen how clear the DX used to be on AM before the FCC lost their minds....this WLS signal is almost fade-free from about 750 miles!
Great to hear this and what a great quality sound on Please Please Me , especially Pauls throbbing bass .There's is a suggestion that PPM didn't resonate with a lot of Americans who first heard it on the radio because of it suggestive lyrics which was really just John & Pauls early 60s style use of innocent play on words .
This is awesome!
On Top Of A Pizza! HA! I remember hearing him sing that on the radio back then... what a hoot!
TY for sharing this. I'm from the south side of Chicago and I remember WLS was ALWAYS playing at my house. Dick Biondi was my fav. Would you happen to have him singing "On Top of Ol Smokey"?
I was so completely astonished to find it. I'm also delighted that it contains more than just the Beatle bit. Really recalls for me those days as photographs and written word can't. Thank you so much.
We used to tune in WLS from Kansas City in the 1960's, personally I thought it better than any AM radio station that we had locally. Some nights you could get it clearly, AM carries better at night, you could not get it during the day as I remember.
Dick Biondi made the difference for me🎉
Amazing! He played the record before it was even released in the US!
Even before it was released in Britain! He had a Delorean with a flux capacitor.
If genuine, it's strange that Biondi hasn't received credit in Beatles history for the very first US radio premiere of a Beatles record. That credit goes to a Washington, DC radio DJ and young girl in December 1963, I believe.
It's funny that people believe that, seeing as "Please Please Me" charted on WLS's survey and was in light rotation for a few weeks in the spring, and WLS was not the only station that added it; "From Me To You" also got scattered airplay over the summer; and finally, "She Loves You" was played on the air upon its release when George Harrison's sister Louise (who lived in the states) gave a copy to her local radio station.
i remember reading about this ...this is true ..following the beatles is MR BASS MAN by JOHNNY CYMBAL ..i had that record on a 45 and the beatles were not around yet for sure
check out Dick and all the great USA R&R DJs in this DMCWORLD.TV documentary ua-cam.com/video/tTxf8QPUBcY/v-deo.html#t=623
Love old airchecks! I prefer 'em unscoped, but I can easily make an exception for this one...it's special!
+Denise Laurin This is not an aircheck. It was an AM radio broadcast recorded live on a home recorder in early 1963. Edited in real time at that time.
Yep, radio broadcasts that have been taped *are* referred to as airchecks...plug in the term "Aircheck" on UA-cam, and all kinds of stuff will come up.
As mitchgodwin's brother I well remember 'Pease Please Me' when it first aired on WLS via Dick Biondi. WLS was a powerhouse 50,000 watt AM station that reached the east coast most nights with no trouble Me and a high school buddy who happened to catch this song one night thought it was an Everly Brother's knockoff. It used their harmony progressions and thruming guitar accents but sounded harsher than the Everlys. This is may answer Karen's question as to why the record dissapeared in April.
YES THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN YOU WOULD WALK DOWN THE STREET TO THE LOCAL MUSIC STORE AND CHECK THE WEEKLY TOP MUSIC CHARTS WHEN ALL THE BUSINESS WERE OWNED BY PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Brings back memories of when I lived in Racine, Wisc back in 63' I used to listen to WLS a lot. I probably heard this broadcast when it first aired?? Is it possible to get a complete copy of your tape? How much do you want for a copy? OR Is the original reel to reel tape for sale?
UPDATE! I remastered this aircheck. My copy is now in (( Stereo )) and perfectly segue.
To an old Beatle fan, this is pure gold! Thanks so much.
By the way Dick Biondi is still working in radio--at WLS no less. WLS-FM, but still holding down the nights there.
I see a lot of skepticism here. After I posted this on FB quite a while ago, Personal friends of Dick msg'ed me and told me that Dick wanted to talk to me. Gave me his personal phone number, so I did. Growing us as a teen during this time, Biondi was a big part of our lives. He confirmed this to me personally.
sadly mainstream radio stations never introduces new artist on independent labels thesedays
Agree, everything is preprogrammed with no creative spontaneity. DJs if any are nothing more than technical producers for the satellite program data streams coming into their local terrestrial radio stations.
That's why I've been listening to online radio stations like BBC 6 Music who give deserving new talent a chance to be heard. Cheers.
Wow! To a a dyed-in-the-wool Beatle fan, this is fantastic! Happy 50th anniversary. Where in Delaware? My wife grew up in Wilmington on Milltown Rd. I posted a link to you on beatlesplus50.blogspot.com/2013/02/shapiro-redux.html
This message is for both dirwuf and Bruce Dumes. All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago
Thanks for the offer ! I actually contacted Dick Biondi by e-mail several years ago and sent him a copy of this program on CD.
Dick was quite something! I learned of him via a dear girl friend who'd moved to Wheaton IL in 1961 and told me all about him,and his novelty records ("Biondi Blue Horizon", etc.)
I see that 45 has the miss spelling The Beattles 2 tt's
Sorry Dick, George brought Beatles records to his sisters house in Benton Il. before this and played them on WFRX in West Frankfort. He also did live interview while there. Photos of this are on display (or were) at the Beatle BnB museum.
The Beatles VJ-498 ( Please Please Me ) record with the mispelled extra "T" in their name sells for $5500.00 today. The correctly spelled 45 goes for about a thousand dollars less ,
After analyzing the wave forms, I'm convinced the Beatles clip was dropped in from a later recording. There are clearly edits before and after the Beatles section, and as someone else pointed out, the enthusiastic intro clearly indicates this was not an unknown group being played for the first time. The Please Please Me section is compressed while the other sections are not -- it's immediately apparent when you look at the wave forms. It may have been well intended, but it's not real, IMHO.
Weird! It wasn't released in Britain until March 22, 1963.
The Birds was released March 28th
Sounds like it's edited, so there's question as to its authenticity.
It was edited because I only wanted to record the music ...... That's all
I did on weekends then as a kid was to record music off the radio.... never knew at the time a lot of the artist that I recorded...... my father purchased the stereo and recorded in feb. 1963 .... All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago
***** Thanks for posting ....... recorded at 3-1/4 ips. great memories indeed......
I hate to throw a wet blanket on this, but this clip sounds awfully fishy to me...it sounds like a 1963 aircheck with the "Please Please Me" bit edited in from after they hit it big in America. The fidelity and tone of Biondi's voice in the Beatle part sounds slightly different than the rest of the clip, and the way he intros the song doesn't sound like he's talking about an unknown band. Yeah I could be wrong, but I've worked in medai production for 30 years and that's the way it sounds to me.
This message is for both dirwuf and Bruce Dumes. All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago
This message is for both dirwuf and Bruce Dumes. All due respect to your skepticism ... I was 14 at the time and was more interested in just recording the song so i stopped and cued for the next song.It was edit real time back then.The music was digitally leveled 45 years later to upload to the internet. I coresponded with Mr. Biondi and sent him a copy a few years ago and got his blessing and thumb's up. You need to talk to Mr. Biondi himself he's still available and doing radio in Chicago