The Beaters Anthology

When last we left our heroes, The Beaters had released 'Love Me or Else/PS, Look Out!'. Snape, their manager, had turned them from the bohemian image they had conveyed before to a respectable image. The boys wore suits in concert and in pictures, they had neat, combed hair, and Snape had convinced them not to tap dance on stage (it was considered rude). Snape tried to make Harry wear his glasses in public to give the impression that he was a regular guy, but Harry refused.

While 'Love Me or Else' launched The Beaters' careers, it also set the four boys back a bit: the single was recorded in a Muggle studio and sold by Muggles. The wizarding world in Britain definitely felt the ripples of 'Beatermania', but it was not as strong, seeing as how wizards didn't and couldn't use the Muggle CD's that The Beater's songs were on. The covers for subsequent CDs also had Muggle pictures of the lads (ones that didn't move), which was a big turn-off for wizards and witches. Oliver, in an interview from 2010, describes the times:

"We got a lot of mail from wizards and witches asking us why we didn't use the moving pictures and all that. The reason is simple: we wanted Muggle fans. Actually, we needed Muggle fans if we were going to get anywhere. I mean, look at The Weird Sisters: they only have a wizarding audience. The Weird Sisters have never and will never have a big fan base, simply because they only try to appeal to wizards..."

The single did do very well, however, and made #17 in the Muggle charts in Britain (while not even breaking 500 in the wizard charts).

Before The Beaters recorded 'Love Me or Else', Harry and Parvati were finally married in August. Severus Snape tried desperately to keep this from the public, knowing that girls might be turned off if they knew Harry was married. Harry describes this in an interview from 2015:

"Parvati came to me one day and said, 'Harry, I'm pregnant.' I was like, 'Then let's get married.' She agreed, so I called my Aunt Petunia and said, 'Petunia, Parvati is pregnant and we're getting married this afternoon.' Of course, Aunt Petunia had no idea who or what I was talking about, considering I hadn't talked to her or seen her since I was eighteen... Snape tried to keep the marriage quiet from the public. It was kind of insulting: he was implying that the girls only bought the records for us and not the music..."

Yes, it was a full year for the four lads. Their band had come together, Harry had gotten married, and they had a hit in the top 20 (although this was due to Snape buying 10,000 copies of the single). All in all, 2002 was a very exciting year.

In 2003, The Beaters recorded their second single, 'Please Beat Me', another Potter/Weasley original, on the A-side, and 'Don't Ask Me Why' on the B-side. Although it was released in January, the single didn't reach #1 until February. Ron tells the exhilaration of making #1 on the charts:

"It was our first number one, and although it didn't even crack 100 on the wizarding charts, it was still very satisfying. I suppose it inspired us to do more..."

--from an interview in 2005.

In America, Capital Records was refusing to sign on The Beaters, claiming that American audiences wouldn't go for the beat music that was trademark of The Beaters. Blue Jay Records, however, took a chance with The Beaters and released 'Please Beat Me/Don't Ask Me Why' in February; however, the single didn't even make it on the charts.

In March, The Beaters were interviewed live on television for the first time. Seamus recounts the event in an interview from 2020:

"It was scary at first. You know, you hear about how they try to embarrass you on television, and you get defensive before they can ask you a question. Harry was really bad. The chap asked him, 'What do you like most about performing?' or something, and Harry said, 'What? I'm not married!' He really spilt the beans smoothly, didn't he? Anyway, it was a very influential tool in drawing in more fans..."

Also in March, The Beaters recorded their first album, 'Please Beat Me,'. It would be the title track and 'Love Me or Else' with twelve other songs. The album was recorded in one twenty minute recording session at EMI. George Martin talks about the record breaking session in an interview from 2013:

"It was definitely the fastest album I've ever produced. I mean, the album is over thirty minutes, and we did it in twenty. Strange... The boys arrived at eleven in the morning, and they were set up and tuned at eleven-ten. Then we were done twenty minutes later..."

Seamus, from an interview in 2021, adds a bit of information:

"The next album took even longer!..."

In April, Parvati gave birth to Charles Harry James Potter, lovingly called James. Harry and the band were already traveling around Britain, and James didn't see much of his father. But Harry proved to be a good father, nonetheless. Harry talks about becoming a father in an interview from 2007:

"You don't realize what it's like until you're actually a dad. I never had a father-figure in my life, so I never really saw what a dad should be like. I just played it by ear: gave him a guitar when he was six months, a few CD's when he was one, a stereo for Christmas and stuff like that. I hope I didn't spoil him..."

In May, The Beaters released 'From You to Me,' instantly reaching #1 in Britain (and staying there for seven weeks), and even making #50 for an hour in the wizarding charts. However, it only made 116 in America.

After a headlining tour, The Beaters played for the last time at 'The Grotto', the club they had played at for years in Liverpool (even though they were not from Liverpool). After all, The Beaters were getting big by then, and they couldn't continue playing at small nightclubs.

The Fabulous Four (as they were called) recorded and released another single, 'She Loves Me/I'll Get My Own, Thanks', which made #1 in Britain even before it was released. Even in the wizard charts, The Beaters were steadily climbing (they made #30). In America, however, they still couldn't get into the top ten (or the top fifty, for that matter). They still couldn't convince Capital Records to release the singles in America, so they were forced to use less-than-worthy labels such as 'Ugly Duckling Records'.

In September, the group visited fellow band The Rolling Scones at their studio. Harry and Ron offered the Scones a song of theirs, 'I Wanna Be a Man', even though it was not yet completed. The Scones decided that they wanted to record the song that day; so, as legend has it, Harry and Ron went into a corner and completed the song, which became a big hit both for the Scones and The Beaters.

In October, The Beaters appeared on live TV on 'Ready, Steady, Hold It!', where they lip-synched 'Twist 'n' Scream', 'I'll Get My Own, Thanks', and 'She Loves Me'. In an interview from 2019, Ron recalls the show:

"I've found lip-synching rather stupid, so when they wanted to do this show, I said, 'Only if you let us sing.' Of course, Snape forced us to do the show, so we mouthed the words. To get back at them, I didn't exactly mouth the words of the songs. You can see me on there saying such things as 'Hi, Mom!', 'Beware Fred and George!', and 'Harry stole that Rickenbacker'. I don't know where that last one came from; kind of an impulse thing, I guess..."

'She Loves Me' sold a million copies in October, earning it a Gold Disk award. Harry recalls what happened after they received the award in an interview from 2005:

"I sat on it in the limo and shattered it. Turned out it wasn't real gold; they gypped us..."

In November, The Beaters played at the Royal Variety Show at the Prince of Whales Theater in London. This is referred to as their "command performance" because they played for the Royal Family. It is at this performance that Harry made the following famous remark: "You all in the cheap seats clap your hands; the rest of you throw us your jewelry so you can clap your hands, too. Oliver likes rings, by the way."

After their "command performance", Snape made plans for them to appear on the Ed O'Sullivan show in America in February of 2004. This appearance would prove to be the four lads' real command performance, setting the stage for Beatermania in the United States. America seemed to be gaining interest in The Beaters, and it was apparent when in November all three major American television networks (NBC, ABC, and CBS) carried interviews with The Beaters and film footage from their concerts.

Near the end of November, The Beaters released their second album, 'With the Beaters'. Seamus' first original song, 'Don't Molest Me', is featured on the album. Also in the tail end of November, another Beater's single was released. 'I Want to Kiss Your Hand/This Kid' reached #1 immediately in Britain, and reached #15 in the wizard charts.

In December, it was announced that there would be a Beaters' movie in 2004. The formation of The Beaters Film Production Ltd. shortly followed.

With all of this pressure set on by the number one hits in Britain and the growing interest in America, Capital Records finally agreed to sell Beaters' records and got a first-refusal agreement on all future Beater records. They released 'I Want to Kiss Your Hand' with 'I Saw Her Eating There' on the B-side (there was some controversy about the cover of the single, in which Capital air-brushed a sponge out of Ron's hand). The single instantly hit #1 and stayed there for seven weeks. Capital also released a modified version of 'With the Beaters' entitled 'Meet the Beaters.' Oliver tells us what it was like reaching number one in America from an interview from 2036:

"We had already conquered Britain, Sweden, France, Germany--all of Europe. America just seemed like the logical place to go next..."

In the tail-end of December, Harry and Ron were named "Outstanding Composers of 2003" by the music critics of the London Times. Richard Arbuckle, the music critic for the London Sunday Times, described the Potter/Weasley duo as "The greatest composers since Lennon/McCartney." In an interview from 2004, Harry describes what he thought when he heard that:

"I thought it was a very nice thing to say. He must not listen to much music, though... I don't feel comfortable saying my music is great and all; I mean, it's kind of a self-centered thing to say. But I wouldn't say our music was bad..."

By the end of 2003, over seven million Beater records had been sold. With a new movie on the way, a trip to America in store, and Beatermania almost at its peak, the next part of The Beaters' journey was sure to be exciting...