The First Beatles Mash-Up Evah

The first ever Beatles mash-up was broadcast on 29 February 1972, at 3.30 PM. The occasion was the 'Beatles Day" on Radio Veronica. Radio Veronica was a - pirate- radio station, broadcasting from a ship in the North Sea, off the Dutch coast.

From April 1960 the station aired its programmes from the ship the 'Borkum Riff', an ex German lightship built in 1911. Though its programming then still was very conventional, the station acquiered a growing audience. From the 1st Januari 1965, three months before the 'Norderney' took over, the station became still more popular by adopting the format of real rock radio; the producers had spent considerable time in the US to learn the commercial radio trade !. From its rocky beginnings (accompanied by some too real 'pirate' behaviours) some of the personnel developed into the Netherland's music - and conventional business - tycoons.

The Beatles Day 1972 was a celebration of the Beatles, who had just split up. The Beatles Day was a 20 hours long programme, in which all Beatles tracks were played in no particular order. In between the songs, 'montages' were played. These were early mash-ups, produced by the station's engineers. (In these days, radio shows were poduced by Dj's and an engineer at the controls).

This one was labelled 'best' and was produced by the engineer Nol Vis. It contains references to the number 192, which was the wavelength (AM....) at which Radio Veronica transmitted.

Some loops, attempts to combine tracks and a suitable ending; may sound a little rough to our ears today, but remember it was all done with turntables and wires....