How Do You Do It?

How Do You Do It? is a curious entry in the Beatles' catalog. It was not written by a member of the group, and it was not publicly released on a record by the group. In fact, it was the breakthrough single of another Liverpudlian group called Gerry & the Pacemakers. It made number 1 on the UK charts in April of 1963 and stayed there for three weeks until unseated by the Beatles' third single, From Me to You. Mitch Murray wrote it. The connection to the Beatles is that the song was offered to the Beatles before it was turned into a hit by a different group. The Beatles actually recorded the song on September 4, 1962. George Martin wanted it to be their first hit single, but the Beatles persuaded him to release Love Me Do instead. The decision about the Beatles' first hit single was very important. The group wanted to do their own material, but Martin had doubts about their abilities as composers. He liked How Do You Do It? and thought it was a safe, high-probability hit. He was right, of course. But the Beatles thought the song was too light-weight for their (budding) reputation as a solid group, and they prevailed on Martin to release Love Me Do instead. He was never sorry he did. George Martin then went on to produce From Me to You with Gerry & the Pacemakers. The Beatles' recording was finally made available to the public in 1995 on the Anthology 1 album.