The “1” video collection

A Poster for “1”. Photo: © Apple Corps Ltd.

The Beatles’ “1” was not just the Beatles’ but the world’s best selling album of the last decade, compiling all of the Beatles’ number one singles on to one album. “1” made its digital download debut in 2011 and quickly went to number one on many global iTunes charts, including the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Japan. In addition, the remastered “1” album was also re-released on CD with updated packaging on September 13th 2011.

Now, according to the music merchandising wholesale representative, Break-Thru, the album will be used as a theme when the Beatles’ music video collection is due for release in October 2014.

Here’s what they are saying: “October: 1’s Program: dvd video clip compilation on dvd / vinyl / other 1’s pieces. Leading up to this is probably the ideal time to do an Avedon art. program.”

So let’s take a look at the options they have when compiling this music video DVD. And since we seemed to have an impact on whether George Harrison’s tie should be short or long on the “On Air” cover, I’m hoping they are still monitoring this site and are open to some free advice – before it’s too late.

1. Love Me Do.

EMI did make a video for this song back in 1982, and I think two different versions of it is circulating. Since this has been the official Love Me Do video for three decades now, it’s best to use it again. It may need to be recompiled, using the same footage in upgraded quality.

2. From Me to You

3. She Loves You

There are no music videos or promotional films, as they said in the sixties, for these two. So they will probably make a couple, using performance clips or mimed TV appearances. Big Night Out/Ready Steady Go?

4. I Want to Hold Your Hand

Again, the same sítuation, but the TV clip from “Late Scene Extra” of the Beatles miming to this song in front of a huge model of a camera has been regarded as the music video for this song among fans for a long time, so they should use that.

5. Can’t Buy Me Love 

6. A Hard Day’s Night

They could have used footage from the A Hard Day’s Night film for these, but that footage is now owned by Miramax and has to be licensed from them. Another option is to use performance footage and synch it to the records, for instance from the Shea Stadium film etc. Ready Steady Go for “Can’t Buy Me Love”?

7. I Feel Fine

We are now entering the realm of the Intertel promo films, as produced by Tony Bramwell and directed by Joe McGrath. Tuesday November 25th, 1965, the Beatles filmed ten different promotional clips in black and white for five songs, “Help!,” “We Can Work It Out” (three versions), “Day Tripper” (three versions),” “Ticket To Ride” and “I Feel Fine” (two versions). So for this and some of the following clips, the producer of the new video collection has the luxury of choosing between several films. And I do think that the Intertel videos should be used, because they have been regarded as the music videos of these songs since the sixties. In Anthology, they would put several of these together to create variety, but in my opinion they should select one video of each to represent each song. If they want to include more than one, the alternative version(s) should be presented as bonus material on the DVD.

8. Eight Days a Week

No obvious choice. One thing to consider is to make use of the old US Beatles cartoons. That’s how bootleg DVD video makers have solved this in the past, but given Universal Music’s resources, they could also create a new video.

9. Ticket to Ride

Intertel.

10. Help!

Intertel.

11. Yesterday

There are two performances they could use footage from: Blackpool and Ed Sullivan. No Beatles Greatest Hits video compilation is complete without “Yesterday”.

12. Day Tripper

Intertel.

13. We Can Work It Out

Intertel.

14. Paperback Writer

As we saw in Anthology, there’s a gorgeous video for this, made in the gardens of Chiswick. But they also have several Intertel promos filmed in a studio, so again a choice has to be made. And again, other versions can be bonus material.

15. Yellow Submarine

They could make one from footage from the cartoon film, the same goes for the next one:

16. Eleanor Rigby

17. Penny Lane

There’s only one music video for this one, and a great one it is, too.

18. All You Need Is Love

They have to go for the “Our World” clip, colourised or in black and white, either way is good.

19. Hello, Goodbye

Three videos were made, all at the Savile Theatre. Of these, I prefer the one they made from outtakes, and it’s also the one that’s closest to modern music videos. In Anthology, they intercut footage from all three films, here they should use no. 3 and have no. 1 and 2 as bonus material.

20. Lady Madonna

There’s two variations of this promo clip, both edited from footage of the Beatles recording “Hey Bulldog”. Go figure!

21. Hey Jude

Michael Lindsay-Hogg recorded several takes of this at Twickenham. Use one of those.

22. Get Back

I would have gone for the studio version clip they made for “Let It Be…Naked”.

23. The Ballad of John and Yoko

Another one which has several edits, use the one with colour footage throughout. Again, the Anthology used a combination of several versions. Stick with one.

24. Something

No problem here, the one and only “Something” promo clip.

25. Come Together

They made a flash animated music video for this when “1” was new, use that. Fortunately, flash allows for limitless upscaling without the loss of resolution, so go find the flash source file.

26. Let It Be

The usual promo film for this, an outtake of the Let It Be movie. And the same goes for the next one:

27. The Long and Winding Road

So there you have it, the “1” Beatles music video compilation. But with this opportunity, they shouldn’t stop here.

Extra videos

Now is the chance to unearth some of the Lennon B-sides of the singles, and Yoko Ono will be aware that in the later days, Paul usually had the A-sides and Lennon the B-sides. Arguably, the B-sides sold the exact same number of singles as the A-sides, so they should also be treated as number ones. And they should be placed chronologically alongside their A-sides.

So these should include: “This Boy”, “Rain”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “I Am The Walrus”, “Revolution” and “Don’t Let Me Down”. Possibly also “For You Blue”, using footage from the Get Back film. Olivia and Dhani Harrison will want that.

One video that’s already linked to “1” is the “I Feel Fine” flash animated video. It was made to promote the original “1” album release, and was used on The Beatles’ web site. So it could either go in to the play list instead of the Intertel promo, or as a bonus feature.

Back in 2003, Apple made a music video for “Two Of Us”, and I’d hate to have it missing from the collection. However, it wasn’t a single so it could be a hidden track, accessible from the menu but not part of the play list.

In the same way, we have a few more one-offs which should make the DVD. The 1976 music video for “Back In The USSR” was made to promote the “Rock’n’Roll Music” compilation album, but it’s not necessary to include it here. The same goes for the 1983 music video for “Please Please Me”, both of these are largely forgettable. And the BBC 1994 “Baby It’s You” alongside the 2013 “Words Of Love” videos are also difficult to include on a “1” compilation. Same thing with the “Within You Without You”/”Tomorrow Never Knows” video, best used on a “Love” DVD.

However, 1999’s “Hey Bulldog” is a great video with the Beatles recording the song in the studio. Much of the same footage was used for the “Lady Madonna” promo, so “Hey Bulldog” is another track best kept outside the play list but should be a (hidden) bonus. Another bonus track could be the “Help” promo that was used in the movie, but without the dart throwing.

Aspect Ratio

One important decision to make is whether or not to make it a 16:9 (widescreen) or a 4:3 (old TV) collection. Back when McCartney released his own music video collection, “McCartney Years”, the director had chosen to make it 16:9 despite all the original music videos having been made in the 4:3 aspect ratio. So he chopped off tops and bottoms to make this happen, and there was an outcry among the fans about this. We don’t want that to happen again. But if they decide to go for this, the general public will want widescreen, please do all the necessary restoration work in the original 4:3 aspect ratio format and save it for history. When everything is done and ready,  you can do the conversion to 16:9 and release that – perhaps with an option for the concerned core fans to purchase a limited edition 4:3 version of the DVD/Blu-ray or as a download.

Audio

As for sound, the ones that don’t have a unique audio mix should be synched to the remastered stereo sound from the albums, “Hey Jude” and “Revolution” should use the original soundtrack that was partly performed live as it happened. And hire Giles Martin to produce a 5.1 surround sound optional audio track. And use me as a consultant for the project. Other inputs? Please use the commentaries section!