LIVERPOOL CELEBRATES FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF ‘LOVE ME DO’ BY SMASHING A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD
At 11.50am UK time today the people of Liverpool smashed a Guinness World Record and in doing so celebrated the 50th anniversary of the release of the Beatles debut single ‘Love Me Do’ in unique style.
Instigated by the city’s award-winning Beatles Story attraction with the support of Liverpool City and the Albert Dock, 1631 people sang their hearts out on a cold October morning smashing the previous record set by a group in Chicago, USA in October 2011.
Their backdrop? The city’s iconic Liver Building of course.
The record – the most people singing ‘in a round’ – previous stood at 897. ‘A round’ is where two groups sing exactly the same melody with each group beginning at different times so that different parts of the melody coincide in the different voices.
Those contributing to smash the Guinness World Record included 1400 local choir members, Liverpudlians, international tourists, local schools, lunching office workers, shoppers and a legion of Beatles fans who had travelled from as far away as Brazil, Argentina, Norway and even Australia. There was even a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary attending who’d had ‘Love Me Do’ as their first wedding dance!
Jerry Goldman, MD or organisers The Beatles Story said,
“What a magnificent way for Liverpool to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the debut single of the world’s most influential group. The choirs were amazing, the schools were superb and the people who travelled from all over the world to be part of this event did us all proud.
“We smashed a Guinness World Record on the biggest ever anniversary of the Beatles music and that has now gone down in musical history.”
Jennifer Johns from Liverpool’s Sense of Sound, who organized the singers said,
“It has been a stressful few weeks ensuring that all the schools and choirs in and around Liverpool had the chance to take part in musical history. But every single person did us proud. I was so impressed by the 1631 members of the public who came down and swelled the crowd with their voices. It’s a shame that it only lasted three minutes but at now we have the Guinness World Record to remember it all by.”
