Two years before their famous appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles were a little known quartet in Liverpool. On October 17, 1962, they got on stage for their television debut on Granada Television’s regional program People and Places in Manchester. The live performance wasn’t recorded, but it was the start of the group’s move toward becoming household names.
The appearance came less than two weeks after the release of the group’s first single, “Love Me Do,” which wasn’t performing especially well. It was also just months after Ringo Starr joined the band, replacing Pete Best. The four performed a lunchtime show at The Cavern Club that day, traveled from Liverpool to Manchester, squeezed in a rehearsal, performed live on the show, which aired from 6:35 to 7:00 pm, then made the drive back to set up for an evening show at The Cavern Club.
On the show, The Beatles performed their single, “Love Me Do,” along with “Some Other Guy,” a favorite among audiences at their live shows.
While the performance itself wasn’t recorded, Granada Television did have a recording of “Some Other Guy.” The video had been taken at one of the group’s performances as The Cavern Club in 1962, with the intention of airing it during the program Know The North. The video was poor quality due to how dark it was inside the club, so the network opted not to use it at the time. When The Beatles were gaining popularity the following year, Granada finally broadcast the performance on November 6, 1963.
Following the live performance on People and Places, the band continued to perform, made more television and radio appearances, and recorded songs that would appear on their debut album Please Please Me. Their popularity grew in the U.K., leading up to Beatlemania. In January 1964, their single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” hit Number 1 on the U.S. Billboard charts. The following month, The Beatles live performance on The Ed Sullivan Show was watched by 73 million Americans.
