All Our Loving

Thanks to our friends at EMI we have a copy of the much-sought-after, limited-edition Beatles Remastered Mono Box Set. You know, the one that hard-core Beatles fans scooped up 10,000 copies of during the pre-sale. And we’re going to give it to one lucky Pollstar.com reader.

Pretty sweet, right? Wait, it gets better. EMI has also provided us with a killer 16 x 12 limited-edition lithographic print of a photo of John, Paul, George and Ringo in all their black and white glory. It’s one of a run of 10,000 and we’re giving it away along with the box set.

So how do you win? To be honest, all kinds of creative contests were thrown around during a late night brainstorming session here at Pollstar headquarters. But in the end we all decided one of the best things about The Beatles is the simple genius of their music. So we’re making it simple to win.

Just send an email containing your contact information (full name, address and a daytime telephone number) to Beatles@Pollstar.com. That’s it. No haikus, captions or Beatles Play-Doh sculptures required. One winner chosen by random drawing will receive the limited-edition Beatles Remastered Mono Box Set and the limited-edition Beatles lithograph.

Of course, since we’re all curious types around here, we would like you to do one other thing. After you shoot your email entry off to us, log on and tell us what your picks for the top five Beatles songs are in the comment section below.

One more thing. Before you run off to melt down your email program, please read this important legal stuff.

First, while Pollstar never, ever gives away or sells any information about its users, by entering this Beatles contest, you’re agreeing to opt into The Beatles and EMI email lists. If you don’t want to receive information and special offers from The Beatles or EMI, please don’t enter the contest.

Second, standard rules apply here: employees of Pollstar, EMI Group and Apple Corp Ltd. and their family members aren’t eligible to win. (And let me tell you, there are some people in the office who really aren’t happy about that.) Oh and anyone related to, descended from or formerly wed to or dating John, Paul, George or Ringo is also out of the running.

Third, only one entry per email address will be accepted.

Finally, the contest runs from 8 a.m. PST today until 10 a.m. PST September 23.

Speaking of Beatles recordings, the Los Angeles Times raised an interesting point today. Despite their popularity, their sales figures and their enduring legacy, The Beatles come up pretty light in the Grammy category.

The Times notes the Fab Four never won the approval of the “conservative musical establishment” during their time together, with Variety reporting in 1964, “The Beatles may have swamped the music business during 1964, but that fact was not reflected in the Grammy award ceremonies.”

What makes the oversight even worse is who they lost to. Despite a best new artist win in ’64, best record nominee “I Want to Hold Your Hand” lost to “The Girl from Ipanema” and best song went to “Hello, Dolly!” instead of “A Hard Day’s Night.”

Not to cast aspersions on Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz and Jerry Herman (all fine musicians and songwriters), but that’s pretty much a classic case of comparing apples to oranges.

The Beatles did win best album in 1967 for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, but were beaten by Frank Sinatra in 1965 (Help!) and 1966 (Revolver) and Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1969 (Abbey Road).

While the band was nominated for record of the year twice, both “Hey Jude” in 1968 and “Let It Be” in 1970 lost to tracks by Simon and Garfunkel (“Mrs. Robinson” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water”).

Of the seven Grammys won by The Beatles over the course of their career, the top honor went to Lennon and McCartney personally for 1966’s “Michelle,” which took home best song that year.

You can read Tom O’Neil’s complete Los Angeles Times coverage of the Grammys’ Beatles snub here.