12″

12″: Meet the Beatles

Trivia: This 1964 release was not actually The Beatles’ American debut, but it was their first release on Capitol Records 1.

“Oh please, say to me
You’ll let me be your man
And please, say to me
You’ll let me hold your hand”

— I Want to Hold Your Hand, The Beatles

This early period of The Beatles was their pop phase, with dozens of up-tempo tracks that even non-Beatles fans recognize and have heard countless times on “Oldies” radio stations across the country in the back seat of their parent’s car. It wasn’t until the UK release of Help that the sound of The Beatles began to change; most notably 2 with Paul McCartney’s song Yesterday.

The following video contains a moment with a fan holding a sign with “THE BEATLES ARE GEAR” written on it, which was Mod slang for “very cool” or “in style”. (The sign is at the 24-25 second mark)

  1. The first Beatles record distributed in the United States was actually Introducing… The Beatles on Vee-Jay Records of Chicago. It was released ten days before Meet the Beatles. ↩
  2. In my opinion, at least ↩
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12″: Dreamboat Annie

The album cover art that would eventually destroy this band, but bring us BARRACUDA

My love is the evening breeze touching your skin
The gentle sweet singing of leaves in the wind

The whisper that calls, after you in the night
And kisses your ear in the early light

You don’t need to wonder, you’re doing fine
And my love, the pleasure’s mine

Let me go crazy on you
Crazy on You, Heart

See also — One of my favorite scenes in a film that this song always reminds me of; Lux Lisbon’s ((Kirstin Dundst)) secret visit to Trip Fontaine’s ((Josh Hartnett)) car for a frantic make-out session in Sofia Coppola’s film adaptation of The Virgin Suicides:

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12″: Give Up

Give Up
In 2003, the Postal Service released their debut album on SubPop Records. It was SubPop’s second platinum release since their first, Nirvana’s Bleach

This album is one of my favorites, and every single track reverberates for days after I listen to it. I know that there are moments that aren’t particularly strong lyrically, but the rest are transcendent.

Buying this album on 12″ also gets you a delightful second record of B-sides and remixes.