The Beeb's Lost Beatles Tapes


The Beeb's Lost Beatles Tapes was a music documentary series presented by Richard Skinner, comprising 14 half-hour episodes, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 between 1 October – 31 December 1988. Each episode was broadcast on Saturday evening with a repeat on the following Monday.

Overview

The series presented rarely broadcast and unreleased BBC recordings of the Beatles made between 1963 and 1968. This included sessions from Saturday Club, Easy Beat and Pop Go the Beatles. As well as the songs, the programme included much of the Beatles' chat and interview material from the various programmes, much of it involving Brian Matthew and Kenny Everett. There are also contemporary interviews with people who were involved in the original programmes.
Howlett had previously co-produced a two hour programme for Radio 1 in 1982, The Beatles at the Beeb, which was the first airing of some of the same material, but focused on the early years and used only radio programme sources.
The programme title is something of a misnomer, since the tapes were not lost but simply shelved for many years.
Much of the session material featured on the programme, including some of the Beatles' chat, was finally given an official release on Live at the BBC in 1994 with additional recordings published in 2013 under the name On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2.
The tapes were found in Park Mount Drive, Macclesfield in the late 1970s. John Beeling, a director for the BBC, accidentally met a collector called Mike Adams, who had recorded nearly every broadcast of the Beatles since 1962. Kevin Howlett, one of Britain's top producers, produced a new series using these tapes along with additional material. Howlett later wrote a book called Beatles at the Beeb which credits Adams and others. It was later edited and improved when the Beatles at the Beeb album was released.
In May 2012, Unicorn Records released an eight-CD box set of the entire fourteen-part series, presented in a high-gloss box containing eight CD mini jackets; although only available through the grey market, this marked the first release of its kind since its original broadcast in 1988.

Episodes

Episode 1: A Tendency To Play Music - 1 October 1988
  1. Pop Go The Beatles
  2. From Us To You
  3. Soldier Of Love
  4. She Loves You
  5. I Wanna Be Your Man
  6. I Got A Woman
  7. Long Tall Sally
  8. Tie Me Kangaroo Down
  9. "I Feel Fine"
  10. Peter Pilbeam Interview
  11. Dream Baby
  12. Peter Pilbeam Interview
  13. Please Mr. Postman
  14. Side by Side
  15. Too Much Monkey Business
  16. Thank You Girl
  17. "From Me to You"
  18. Ill be On My Way
  19. Pop Goes The Beatles
Episode 2: Bill Toppers - 8 October 1988
  1. I Saw Her Standing There
  2. Brian Matthew Interview
  3. Long Tall Sally
  4. Bernie Andrews Interview
  5. Some Other Guy
  6. A Taste Of Honey
  7. Boys
  8. Bernie Andrews Interview
  9. Memphis
  10. Happy Birthday
  11. Ill Get You
  12. She Loves You
  13. Lucille
Episode 3: The Something-Something Show - 15 October 1988
  1. Pop Goes The Beatles
  2. I Got To Find My Baby
  3. Terry Henebery Interview
  4. Pop Goes The Beatles
  5. A Shot Of Rhythm and Blues
  6. Terry Henebery Interview
  7. Money
  8. Youngblood
  9. Baby Its You
  10. Happy Birthday
  11. Sure To Fall
  12. Anna
  13. Twist and Shout
  14. Lorne Gibson Interview
  15. Pop Goes The Beatles
Episode 4: With These Haircuts? - 22 October 1988
  1. Pop Goes The Beatles
  2. Sweet Little Sixteen
  3. Kieth Bateson Interview
  4. That's Alright Mama
  5. Carol
  6. Soldier Of Love
  7. Lend Me Your Comb
  8. Clarabella
  9. Terry Henebery Interview
  10. Lonesome Tears
  11. Nothin Shakin
  12. So How Come
  13. Pop Goes The Beatles
Episode 5: We’re Ready to Pop! - 29 October 1988
  1. Pop Goes The Beatles
  2. Im Gonna Sit Right Down
  3. Hippy Hippy Shake
  4. To Know Her Is To Love Her
  5. John Andrews Interview
  6. Matchbox
  7. Please Mr Postman
  8. "Do You Want to Know a Secret"
  9. Crying Waiting Hoping
  10. The Honeymoon Song
  11. Please Please Me
  12. I Got A Woman
  13. Pop Goes The Beatles
Episode 6: Brackets! - 5 November 1988
  1. Pop Goes The Beatles
  2. Chains
  3. Glad All Over
  4. I Just Don't Understand
  5. Don't Ever Change
  6. Pop Chat Interview
  7. Honey Don't
  8. You Really Got A Hold On Me
  9. Lucille
  10. Twist and Shout
  11. Pop Goes The Beatles
Episode 7: The Show Business Jackpot - 12 November 1988
  1. I Saw Her Standing There
  2. Love Me Do
  3. Interview
  4. She Loves You
  5. Public Ear Interview
  6. Saturday Club Interview
  7. Johnny B Goode
  8. I Want to Hold Your Hand
  9. From Us To You
Episode 8: From Fluff to You - 19 November 1988
  1. From Us To You
  2. All My Loving
  3. Alan Freeman Interview
  4. Till There Was You
  5. Roll Over Beethoven
  6. I Wanna Be Your Man
  7. Cant Buy Me Love
  8. From Us To You
  9. Alan Freeman Interview
  10. Happy Birthday
  11. Honey Don't
  12. I Forgot To Remember
  13. Alan Freeman Interview
  14. You Cant Do That
  15. Alan Freeman Interview
  16. From Us To You
Episode 9: Fab Gear, Top Gear - 26 November 1988
  1. Top Gear Promo
  2. I Got A Woman
  3. Sure To Fall
  4. Top Gear Promo
  5. Long Tall Sally
  6. Things We Said Today
  7. Brian Matthew Interview
  8. A Hard Days Night
  9. And I Love Her
  10. I Feel Fine
Episode 10: Automatic Pier - 3 December 1988
  1. Barbara Garnet Interview
  2. Im A Loser
  3. Public Ear Interview
  4. Tony Hall Interview
  5. Public Ear Interview
  6. Public Ear Interview
  7. Honey Don't
  8. The World Of Books Interview
  9. Ill Follow The Sun
  10. Pop Profile Interview
  11. Shes A Woman
Episode 11: Green with Black Shutters - 10 December 1988
  1. Rock And Roll Music
  2. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby
  3. Kansas City
  4. Ticket to Ride
  5. Keith Bateson Interview
  6. MBE Interview
  7. Dizzy Miss Lizzie
  8. Pop Profile Interview
Episode 12: They Could Almost Hear Us - 17 December 1988
  1. The Beatles Abroad Interview
  2. Help
  3. The Beatles Abroad Interview
  4. Pop Profile Interview
  5. A Hard Days Night
  6. All My Loving
  7. And I Love Her
  8. Wait
Episode 13: A Chrimble Mudley - 24 December 1988
  1. This Boy
  2. All I Want For Christmas
  3. Roll Over Beethoven
  4. From Us To You
  5. She Loves You
  6. Tie Me Kangaroo Down
  7. I Want To Hold Your Hand
  8. From Us To You
  9. We Can Work It Out
  10. Drive My Car
  11. Saturday Club Interview
Episode 14: No More She Loves Yous - 31 December 1988
  1. The Kenny Everett Show Interview
  2. Top Of The Pops Interview
  3. Scene And Heard Interview
  4. Flying
  5. Where Its At Interview
  6. Pop Profile Interview
  7. If I Needed Someone
  8. The Kenny Everett Show Interview
  9. George Harrison Interview
  10. Crying Waiting Hoping
  11. George Harrison Interview
  12. Pop Goes The Beatles
All episodes were presented by Richard Skinner and produced by Kevin Howlett