"Beatles Forever" is an unreleased song by

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

in 1983, written by

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...

and intended for the album ''

Secret Messages ''Secret Messages'' is the tenth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1983 on Jet Records. It was the last ELO album with bass guitarist Kelly Groucutt, conductor Louis Clark and a full orchestra, and the last ELO album t ...

''. Initially, it was to be the seventh track of the

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

configuration, featured on side two of the LP. When the album was shortened to a single LP by CBS Records, eight of the eighteen total tracks were removed, including "Beatles Forever." The other seven tracks have since had official releases on various albums and remasters in some form prior to the 2018 double album release. Though this reissue of the parent album was meant to follow the original 1983 intended configuration, "Beatles Forever" was again excluded, making it the only track from the original album not to appear later as an official bonus track or part of a compilation.

Recording and composition

Recorded in February, 1982, "Beatles Forever" was one of the first songs recorded for ''Secret Messages''. The band was in the middle of the Dutch portion of the

Time Tour Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

when they visited Wisseloord Studios to record a few new songs— something that Lynne would later refer to as a "flying visit." Along with the songs "Train of Gold", "No Way Out" and "Motor Factory" (early version of " Rock 'n' Roll Is King") that were all started during that same session, "Beatles Forever" is known as one of the four tracks bassist Kelly Groucutt performed on the album. The track is a

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

tribute song, with lyrics that express high admiration for the band and their songs. Throughout the chorus, various Beatles' song titles are sung and quoted, with some including their corresponding motifs played on either Lynne's guitar or

Richard Tandy Richard Tandy (born 26 March 1948) is an English musician. He is best known as the keyboardist in the rock band Electric Light Orchestra ("ELO"). His palette of keyboards (including Minimoog, Clavinet, Mellotron, and piano) was an important in ...

's synthesizers. The song is in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

and has a main tempo of roughly 77 beats-per-minute while the second half of the chorus has a faster 152 bpm. Along with drummer Bev Bevan's playing and common on the parent album, the drum machine

Oberheim DMX The DMX is a programmable digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s. The Oberheim DMX was the second digital drum machine ever to b ...

is featured, providing additional percussion elements, though it is unclear whether Lynne or Tandy specifically contributed this. Lynne, Groucutt and touring musician Dave Morgan provided backing vocals on the pre-chorus and chorus; Morgan later recalled in an interview that he was mimicking the vocals of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

. No orchestral strings are featured on the song. At the end of the track, the sounds of a cheering audience are heard as the chorus fades out. Parts of the chorus and chord progression would later appear in the Jeff Lynne song "

Video! "Video!" is a song by Jeff Lynne from the soundtrack to the film ''Electric Dreams (Soundtrack), Electric Dreams'' in 1984. It is one of two songs that Lynne and keyboard player Richard Tandy provided for the film's soundtrack. The single version ...

" from the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

to the film '' Electric Dreams'' in 1984.

Legacy

, "Beatles Forever" remains unreleased officially.

Acetates An acetate is a salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. alkaline, earthy, metallic, nonmetallic or radical base). "Acetate" also describes the conjugate base or ion (specifically, the negatively charged ion called an a ...

of the original 1983 double LP configuration that include the song do exist and have appeared on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

on several occasions. Bootlegs of the song have circulated online, with one of them being a low-quality recording of the song being played at an ELO fan convention in 2001. Despite its unreleased status, the song has been covered by others on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. In mid-to-late 2020, the song was leaked in significantly higher quality twice, once in July and once in September with a fanmade music video. Both leaks claim to be a recording of the acetates. Jeff Lynne has since labelled the song as one he is not fond of. In a 2001 interview with Rockline, he stated:

"It's 'cause it's so fawning, y'know. It's so over the top, y'know. Um... maybe one day it'll come out. I'd like to sort of redo it or something."

Although not released on any official medium, a small snippet of the song's intro can be heard on the final fade-out of the 2018 double LP version of "No Way Out" via

print-through Print-through is a generally undesirable effect that arises in the use of magnetic tape for storing analog information, in particular music, caused by contact transfer of signal patterns from one layer of tape to another as it sits wound concent ...

, if the volume is turned up.

Personnel

– vocals, guitar, Oberheim DMX * Bev Bevan – drums, percussion *

– synthesizer, harmonica, Oberheim DMX * Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, backing vocals * Dave Morgan – backing vocals

References

{{authority control Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne Electric Light Orchestra songs 1983 songs Songs written by Jeff Lynne Unreleased songs Songs about music Songs about the Beatles