{"id":749950,"date":"2026-06-20T18:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/749950\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T18:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T18:00:09","slug":"the-beatles-long-lost-first-ever-top-of-the-pops-performance-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/749950\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beatles’ Long-Lost First-Ever ‘Top of the Pops’ Performance Found"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tComplete footage of the Beatles<\/a>\u2019 long-lost first-ever appearance on Top of the Pops in 1964 has been found.<\/p>\n

\n\tRecorded March 19, 1964 at the BBC\u2019s Television Theatre in London, the Beatles pantomimed through \u201cCan\u2019t Buy Me Love\u201d and \u201cYou Can\u2019t Do That\u201d the day before those songs were released as a single. After airing, the recording of the historic performance was placed in the BBC archives and subsequently erased, as the BBC commonly (and now notoriously) wiped and reused tapes at the time.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile grainy, distorted clips of the Beatles\u2019 Top of the Pops visit existed<\/a>, a complete and clean copy of the footage was believed lost for good\u2026 until Thursday, when British conservation non-profit Film Is Fabulous! announced that they had obtained a 35mm film of the Beatles\u2019 entire performance, banter and all, NME reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOriginal 35mm film of \u2018Can\u2019t Buy Me Love\u2019 and \u2018You Can\u2019t Do That\u2019 will now be restored and returned to the BBC archives,\u201d Film Is Fabulous wrote on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe footage, given to them by the family of a deceased former industry professional, features the Beatles \u201cperforming\u201d four takes of \u201cCan\u2019t Buy Me Love\u201d as well as two attempts at \u201cYou Can\u2019t Do That.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPassages of the recording show the studio, the technicians, and the make-up ladies. There were four takes of the first song, \u2018Can\u2019t Buy Me Love\u2019,\u00a0with two being aborted because of technical errors. During breaks, the Beatles openly\u00a0joked, and\u00a0could be seen dancing to amuse themselves,\u201d Film Is Fabulous wrote.<\/p>\n

The Beatles on ToTPs<\/p>\n

Film is Fabulous! is delighted to confirm the 35mm negative presented to John Franklin at the recent film convention in Oxted, contains the The Beatles first appearance on Top of the Tops. pic.twitter.com\/hPvOjqPR8u<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 filmisfabulous (@filmisfabulous) June 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe other song, \u2018You Can\u2019t Do That\u2019,\u00a0had two takes. During the second of these recordings John Lennon pulled a funny face when the camera came in for a \u2018close-up\u2019.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0an amusing piece of Beatle history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s unclear when the public will be able to see the Top of the Pops\u2019 footage, but \u201cdiscussions will also be held with other parts of [the BBC] to ensure the content is made available to a wide audience,\u201d the group added.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe discovery of the Top of the Pops footage comes less than a week before the world celebrates \u201cGlobal Beatles Day\u201d on June 25<\/a>; Apple Corps will share a colorized version of the Beatles\u2019 \u201cAll You Need Is Love\u201d broadcast from the BBC\u2019s One World online for the first time to mark the occasion.<\/p>\n