Love Me Do, followed by Please Please Me, set the stage in England for the Beatles' success,

but the real dream was to conquer America.

Finding a label was a problem.

Although the Beatles worked for EMI records in England, capital records which EMI owned,

refused to release the band's strange new sound.

The Beatles management knew that to really make it big, the boys had to sign with a record label

in the United States, but nobody was interested.

I did negotiations with Swan and with VJ, each of whom, very tiny labels in the States, took one or the other titles.

And they put those records out in America.

And, of course, being small labels, they didn't make a great deal of success.

And that was the way it worked out.

We released, Please Please Me, Flop.

From Media, Flock. V.J., along with the Swan label worked out. We released, please please me, flop. From me to you, flop.

VJ, along with the Swan label, didn't have the marketing muscle needed to promote the

unknown Beatles.

But word of British beetle mania finally woke up some American listeners.

Well, hey there, you record maniacs.

Welcome to another episode of The Vinyl Guide, the podcast for fans and collectors of vinyl records.

And today, we have a show that you record collectors are really going to enjoy.

We have with us today, Bruce Spicer, Beatles expert, music historian, and author of multiple books on the Beatles' recording career with the

focus on their record releases. Bruce has done an incredible amount of detective work, and today

he's going to take us through the brief but fascinating time when the Beatles were on the

...