"No contest. Nothing else comes close."
Such was Brian May's verdict on the
"technicolor explosion" that was "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which he unhesitatingly selected as his all-time number one single.
In the same poll Phil Collins picked out
"She Loves You", which "turned my life around". Brian Wilson virtually gave up the creative ghost after hearing Sgt. Pepper, while Eric Clapton felt he was intruding on hallowed ground when invited to Abbey Road to play on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Just some of the legends lining up with the rest of us to pay homage to the greatest band that ever plugged in a guitar or hit a rim shot. The Beatles reinvented the pop idiom, and in the process inspired not just adoration and respect but awe and reverence.
The Beatles knew they were special.
Liverpool and Hamburg were first to recognize the fact, Brian Epstein and George Martin followed, then the entire country and, finally, the world.