N1. The Beatles
Can you believe that the biggest and best band of all time began their career with their wrong foot?
After laying waste to Liverpool’s Cavern Club and honing their live talents on the gruelling Hamburg club scene, the Fabs returned to Britain determined to land a recording contract.
Their first destination was the small label, Decca records, home to producer George Martin, who would later help the Scousers craft some of the most beautiful music known to man. However, he could see little to get excited about during their audition; he later described their performance on the day as being “crap”.
It was Dick Rowe, however, who held the casting vote on the band that would conquer America within 18 months. He promptly turned them down in favor of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, allegedly on the basis that the latter lived closer to the label’s London recording studio.
While Rowe spent the rest of his life cast as “The Man Who Turned down the Beatles”, Paul McCartney didn’t hold any grudges.
