Decades after breaking up as a band, the Beatles released their hit Anthology series, a trilogy that included rarities, live tracks and outtake recordings from various stages of the group. The track that opens the second of the three albums is “Real Love”, a song that was written by John Lennon, who between 1979 and 1980 recorded six demos with “Real Life”, a different theme that merged with the first. In 1988, the sixth take of all those recorded was included in the soundtrack of the documentary Imagine: John Lennon and then, in 1995, it was completed by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
The Unusual Reason Why The BBC Did Not Broadcast The Issue
Contrary to what anyone might think, the British station BBC Radio 1 did not think that “Real Love” was a song that could interest young people in the late 90s, so they decided not to broadcast it. He did the opposite with “Free As A Bird”, another of Lennon’s lost demos that the Beatles retouched and which “reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, selling 120,000 copies in the first week alone”. as recalled by Far Out Magazine.
Paul McCartney’s Harsh Response
Regarding the refusal to pass the track, McCartney wrote in a column for the Daily Mirror: “The Beatles don’t need our new single ‘Real Love’ to be a hit. Our careers don’t depend on it. If Radio 1 feels they should ban us now, they’re not going to ruin us overnight. You can’t put an age limit on good music.”
“It’s very encouraging to know that while the kings of the Radio 1 nursery school may think the Beatles are too old to play, many younger British bands don’t seem to share that opinion,” he added. “I always read how bands like Oasis openly acknowledge The Beatles as an inspiration and I’m glad to hear us in a lot of today’s music. As Ringo told me about all this, who needs Radio 1 when you have all the independent stations.
This article is originally published on indiehoy.com