October 5th, 1962, was a sunny and dry Friday. News that day was sparse, but on a cultural front, it was one of the most auspicious days in British history. That Friday, two big debuts were made: Dr No hit the box office and The Beatles’ first single ‘Love Me Do’ rattled the radio. With suits cut from separate cloth and tailored at disparate ends of town, James Bond and the ‘Fab Four’ wandered into public view and changed the world they emerged into. They continue to offer the tale of two countries in a cultural sense.
Aside from the date, there are plenty of other direct ties. For instance, Ringo Starr married ‘Bond girl’ Barbara Bach, Paul McCartney went on the write a theme tune, and Bond himself bedded a woman called Strawberry Fields, but not before Sean Connery’s incarnation quipped the following line in 1964’s Goldfinger: “My dear girl, there are some things that just aren’t done; such as drinking Dom Perignon ’53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs”. (FaroutMag)
Published in 1958, Dr. No was the sixth James Bond novel by Ian Fleming. Around that time, there was already a plan to bring 007 to the screen via a script the author wrote with Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham. But a few years later, Fleming took their work, called Thunderball, made some changes and fashioned it into the eighth book in the series without giving them proper credit. (UCR)
Several English actors, including Cary Grant and Fleming's friend David Niven, were reportedly considered for the lead role, but the producers went instead with a Scot, Sean Connery, a journeyman actor whose star had been rising in Britain in the years leading up to his casting as 007. With a budget of only $1 million, Dr. No quickly made back its investment, and a franchise was born.
Love me do', the Beatles' first single, is released in U.K. 60 years ago on 5 October 1962.
When The Fab Four walked into EMI Studios for the first time on June 6th, 1962, they took the first pass at what was eventually set to be their first single.
But they didn’t get it right, so they returned three months later and tried again with a new drummer. However, their producer wasn’t happy, so a third recording was needed, this time with a session drummer. In a strange way, The Beatles got three chances at a first impression with ‘Love Me Do
