A Brief History of EMI
1960-1969
If the 1950s saw British pop music grow, in the 1960s it exploded. And EMI was right at the forefront, not least due to a new band that had just signed to the company's Parlophone label.
Although The Beatles first single, Love Me Do, only reached number 17 in the UK charts, it didn't take British record buyers long to realise what they were missing. The follow-up, Please, Please Me, went to number two and the world of popular music has never been the same since. Before the year was out The Beatles released From Me To You, She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand. All three went to number one - the first of their 17 UK number ones. In addition to The Beatles, Epstein also brought other 'Merseybeaters', including Gerry and the Pacemakers and Cilla Black to EMI. In one year, 1963, EMI releases accounted for 15 out of the 19 number one singles. The following year eight EMI artists held the number one position in the British singles chart for a total of 41 weeks.
This success was also mirrored in the US, where in addition to Capitol Records signing The Beach Boys, EMI concluded a license deal with Tamla Motown. The company's roster during the 1960s and 1970s was simply incredible - Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Jackson Five, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, the list goes on. By the 1970s, EMI could rely on two out of every three Motown releases being a hit, an unheard of success ratio in the music business.