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t was a mistake that cost them millions. On New Year’s Day 1962, a group of scruffy lads with guitars recorded a demo tape and gave it to Dick Rowe, a producer at Decca Records. Decca rejected it, reputedly telling them: “Guitar bands are on their way out”. This band of hopefuls were an outdated irrelevance in the 1960s, Decca decided. George Martin, a producer at EMI, reacted very differently to the boys, who called themselves The Beatles. As soon as he heard their raw sound he signed them up. Within two years, John, Paul, George and Ringo had multiple chart-busting hits in the UK and America; Beatlemania swept the world. Martin found himself part of the biggest music story of all time. Since then, one billion Beatles records have been sold worldwide – chances are there’s at least one on your CD rack or MP3 player. Maybe guitar groups weren’t on their way out after all! Decca’s decision cost them millions: EMI’s decision made them millions. 1
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