Just watched a programme about the 50th anniversary of the recording of Please Please Me by The Beatles at Abbey Road. Pure absolute pleasure, this was apparently broadcast live throughout the day last Monday. All the tracks on the album were performed at the time at which they were recorded on 11th February 1963, when they recorded the whole album in one day. A real mixture of artists took part, with the standout performance for me being Mick Hucknall singing "Anna". Interestingly, for me the two young women Gabrielle Aplin (never heard of her) and Joss Stone were the weakest, and perhaps they were just too young. I really don't think any of today's young people can really ever understand just what The Beatles were and did for those of us growing up in the late '50s and early '60s, they changed everything.
The music from Please Please Me is still as fresh and bright 50 years on as it was the day it was recorded 50 years ago. There are not too many of today's artists whose music will last in the same way.