The Beatles -- All You Need Is Love

 

I've been referring to The Beatles on various articles within KKP basically since I started this whole thing in 2012, but it wasn't actually until late in 2020 that I finally featured a song by The Fab Four here via Reminiscings of Youth. That was for "Strawberry Fields Forever", an alternately sweet and dark concoction by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

However, my second Beatles ROY article is on "All You Need Is Love", a single by the band that was released in July 1967 and I can safely say that it is probably the very first Beatles song that I remember hearing as a toddler. There is something about that refrain "...all you need is love..." that caught onto the synapses in my tiny brain (trivia tip: it hasn't changed much in size since then) and has held on for the past 50+ years.

I probably did hear it all over the radio but I can say with certainty that I saw it performed on that psychedelic animated film starring John, Paul, George and Ringo, "Yellow Submarine". It's too bad that I can't find that scene on YouTube. As I said that refrain has stuck with me for decades, but over the years, I've also learned to appreciate how it wasn't just The Beatles but also the backing of an orchestra behind this British pop/rock band that helped make "All You Need Is Love" work and all of the shoutouts to various other songs including the French national anthem, "In The Mood" and even the earlier Beatles' hit "She Loves You". And then, I read which people were providing the backup vocals. And wouldn't one say that this is the ultimate singalong song?

Considering all of the No. 1's around the world's music charts that "All You Need Is Love" would garner, I guess that it was good luck that a kid who wasn't even two years old got to know this song so early.

In any case, what was getting released in July 1967? Although I picked them out of Showa Pops for that month, a couple of them have differing release months according to J-Wiki although you can check those out in their individual articles.

The Carnabeats -- Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa （好きさ好きさ好きさ）

The Tigers -- Seaside Bound （シーサイド・バウンド）

Yujiro Ishihara -- Shiawase wa Koko ni（倖せはここに）