"Tip of My Tongue" is a single by

Tommy Quickly Tommy Quickly (born Thomas Quigley, 7 July 1945, in Norris Green, Liverpool, Lancashire, England) is an English rock and roll singer who recorded mostly in the early 1960s. He was a later signing of artist manager Brian Epstein, whose biggest ac ...

. Written by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and attributed to the songwriting partnership of

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

, it was one of their relatively few songs that were never officially released by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. Several takes of this song were recorded on 26 November 1962 at

EMI Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music co ...

, although

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

was dissatisfied with the results. This session has yet to emerge on any of

the Beatles bootlegs The Beatles' bootleg recordings (also known as Beatlegs) are recordings of performances by the Beatles that have attained some level of public circulation without being available as a legal release. The term most often refers to audio recor ...

. Surprisingly, although Quickly's version was released in the UK as

Beatlemania Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The group's popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles "Please Please Me", "From Me to You" and "She Loves You". By ...

was taking off, the single was a flop and proved merely the first of a series of career disappointments for the singer. "Tip of My Tongue" remains one of only three original A-sides written by

not to have at least made the UK charts upon its initial release; the others being "

One & One Is Two 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

" by

The Strangers with Mike Shannon "One and One Is Two" is a song by the musical group ''The Strangers with Mike Shannon'', released as their debut single in 1964. It was composed by Paul McCartney and published under the author's credit Lennon/McCartney. Background The demo of " ...

and

Peter and Gordon Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), who achieved international fame in 1964 with their first single, the million-selling single "A World Without Love". The duo had several ...

's "

I Don't Want to See You Again "I Don't Want to See You Again" is a song by Paul McCartney credited to Lennon–McCartney, that was released by Peter and Gordon Peter and Gordon were a British pop duo, composed of Peter Asher (b. 1944) and Gordon Waller (1945–2009), w ...

", which did at least chart in the US, peaking at #16.

Covers

Swedish band

Mascots A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...

released a cover version of "Tip of My Tongue" on their 1965 debut album. "Tip of My Tongue" was also recorded by the Badbeats on Beat Bad Records (USA) in 1979. The single was backed with another

song, "One and One Is Two". This single was the first release for either of these songs in the United States. Recordings of "Tip of My Tongue" as the Beatles may have performed it are available on the 1989 album by Bas Muys entitled ''Secret Songs: Lennon & McCartney'' and on the 1998 release ''It's Four You'' by the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

tribute band A tribute act, tribute band or tribute group is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as Elvi ...

The Beatnix The Beatnix is an Australian Beatles tribute band. It is amongst the longest running Beatles tribute shows in the world. History The concept for the band was conceived and assembled in March 1980 by founding member Tony Dean as a live perfo ...

Notes

1963 singles Songs written by Lennon–McCartney Pye Records singles 1963 songs {{beatles-song-stub