Success rating Stateside: After a rocky start America loved the Beatles

The yanks did have their doubts when Lennon said: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. ... We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first-rock 'n' roll or Christianity."

The reaction in the States was instantaneous. Radio stations across the country (especially in the South and Midwest) stopped playing their records, death threats poured in, and bonfires of Beatles pictures and albums took place. Lennon apologised for the remark later, and the Archbishop of Boston admitted that he was probably right, but many still refused to forgive him.

Despite this the Fab Four did go on to have a lot of US success. Their first No 1 single across the pond was 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'. This was followed by 45 more top forty hits over the next half-dozen years.