BOX-SET AND MATCH

I read the letter by Robin Flegg in RC 554 with great interest. I started my Beatles journey at the age of 10 in 1963 after their appearance on Granada Reports. It was easy to follow them in the 60s as it was usually a couple of albums and three singles a year with the odd EP thrown in. I never saw them live which isn’t surprising considering they only toured the world until 1966. I saw both

A Hard Day’s Night and Help! on release at the Odeon in Rhyl while on holiday. Paul Mccartney was my favourite closely followed by John Lennon, so when the group called it a day it was their careers I followed for a while. I was fortunate to see Wings in concert twice. I moved from vinyl to cassette (big mistake) in the 70s and have continued upgrading on CD with each subsequent CD remaster job.

However, the contents of the 6-disc box sets do not interest me, and I just buy the double-cd versions. My current collection houses the following CDS: The Beatles (55), Mccartney (15), Wings (10), Lennon (9), George Harrison (2) and Ringo Starr (1). Ringo’s is an early Best Of and George’s a Best Of and the remastered double-cd of All Things Must Pass. As for DVDS and Blu Rays: The Beatles (10), which includes all their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, Mccartney (10), Wings (3), Lennon (2), Harrison (1) and Starr (1). If I ever feel the need to watch Peter Jackson’s Get Back, I think it is on the Disney channel.

I became less and less enamoured with Mccartney’s solo output as the years went by, with Ram still my favourite. My most treasured items are the 22 singles on 7” picture disc and 25 CD singles (22 on 3” discs). I also have Love Me Do on 7” and 12” vinyl. If the first five albums are given the new technology treatment, I will buy them and that will bring the curtain down on purchasing The Beatles forever.

Jack Haynes, Swinton, Manchester