Spoil The Party (November, 1965, Critias)
< file under Beatles In Atlantis >
~ an approximation of this album, using latest remasters, can be heard here on Apple Music ~
In 1965 commenced what the Atlanteans called the Tumults. In late spring, horrible seismic shifts taken at first to be undersea earthquakes rocked Atlantis with frequency, causing mass disruptions, internal displacements, much injury, and most tragically some loss of life. By early summer it was learned these were not natural events — an international gang of surface world pirates, rumored to have been in the employ of certain land-based nations, had moved from the plundering that had been the lot of their ilk for generations — and which Atlantis had long ago grown adept at thwarting — to outright terrorism. These air-breathing terrorists, utilizing a level of technology that immediately led to suspicion they were working on behalf of one or more nation-states, were causing these quakes. Their motive was soon understand as likely driven by a surface world superpower, or one or more of its satellite states going rogue. Such undersea quakes cause tsunamis; the goal of the terrorists wasn't just creating these quakes, it was to generate tsunamis that would visit regular and significant destruction and death upon nearby land-nations and thereby provide some surface nation(s) or other(s) a pretext to attack Atlantis and take over the undersea realm, seizing all its riches and advance technology, claiming to be doing so in a combination of self-defense and the humanitarian interest of suffering Atlanteans.
This couldn't have been more appalling, nor could it have been a flimsier pretext for invasion. No outside nation would have matched, let alone bettered, Atlantis' knowledge of how to address actual undersea earthquakes. Regardless, soon Atlantis learned that sabotage was causing these disasters and, in a momentous demonstration of the young leadership's competency and resolve, halted it decisively. What shook Atlantis even more than the attacks, however, was the revelation that the terrorists had an unknown number of internal collaborators. While Atlantis went to the United Nations demanding investigation into these attacks as possible state-sponsored acts of war, at home they faced potential further threats from an enemy within.
The world of the Arts was largely on hold throughout these terrible events. All but essential manufacturing and distribution was paused until the final quarter of the year when the threat had been neutralized and the routine of daily life was cautiously and collectively restored.
By the time Tivowr Dorna was able to return to his duties at EMI, The Beatles had already released, in the rest of the world, new non-album material as well as their second feature film Help! and its associated songs, and were nearly finished recording their landmark Rubber Soul LP which would, astoundingly, see UK release same day as its accompanying double A-side single. Along with the earlier non-album I Feel Fine / She's A Woman single and some outtakes he had on hand, this meant that by year's end Dorna would have three LPs worth of Beatles material to issue. As a result, Tivowr abandoned his decision, dating back to A Hard Day's Nigh[t] and only slightly contravened on IV, to adhere to the UK album track selections and decided that some creative tinkering was in order.
Owing to the quota of foreign films released per season, Help! had always been scheduled to be delayed, not appearing on Atlantean screens until late September. Now, it was delayed until November. Knowing he wanted the album release to coincide with the film's local première, refusing to delay the upcoming Rubber Soul album, and understanding full well he could not ask traumatized Atlanteans to pay for three LPs in the last couple months of the year, Dorna came up with a novel solution: the first release would appear on EMI Atlantis' budget Critias label; the second release, though regularly priced on Timaeus, would, with cooperation of the film distributor, come with a coupon for a discounted pass to the film; and the final release, scheduled for the holiday season, would be a standard issue on Timaeus but would feature a recorded message, on a flexi disc included with the LP, from the band to their Atlantis fans.
EMI execs went for the plan, thinking it a wise move to reward a loyal fanbase and, according to Donna's journal notes, partly spurred by a sense of civic duty and wish to restore some normalcy and joy among the young populace. The film distributor's motivation to offer discounted tickets was, per a later report in the Atlantis Aquatic Herald, less than altruistic; they were concerned that fears of possible resumption of terrorist attacks would keep moviegoers away from theaters, and hypothesized that cheap entry might prove irresistible, and so also agreed to participate in Dorna's plan. Tivowr sensed this calculation on their part and so held out until the film distribution company agreed to a fairly steep reduction in ticket price.
Dorna wrote to George Martin, informing the producer of his plans. Formerly of the UK's Royal Navy and having lived through World War II, Martin, sympathetic to the recent plight of the Atlanteans and already keen on how Dorna had been handling his act's catalog underseas, wholeheartedly endorsed the plan, immediately sending over, unprompted by Dorna, some completed recordings for the forthcoming Rubber Soul, including the Help! holdover Wait and an underwhelming instrumental destined to be another outtake. (Martin easily convinced John, Paul, George, Ringo — and Brian Epstein, despite his usual reluctance for the boys to engage in any activity which could possibly be viewed as political — to record a message such as Tivowr requested; more on that later.) Extant entries from Dorna's journal indicate Martin may have even suggested which Soul recordings might be suited for the discount LP; "M: 'no [lacuna] wait on Wait, 12-Ba[r,] [illegible],'" one line reads.
As preparations for this record neared finalization, an auditor questioned the financial wisdom of selling an album, at a bargain price, as lengthy as — or actually longer than — any previous Beatles release, suggesting it should have fewer songs instead, and opining negatively on its many sombre selections, saying those would harm sales. In an assertive last minute move, Tivor added two additional numbers — one acoustic demo of a song which'd been a UK chart-topper for Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas, and one BBC performance, neither with the sunniest refrain — making this the longest release by the group until a certain lonely hearts club band was introduced.
The auditor was proven wrong, as the LP was another resounding hit. None at Timaeus ever doubted Dorna's decisions again.
Named after the track mistakenly left off The Beatles For Sale Atlantis counterpart IV (see that entry for details) with a joking nod to the less than phenomenal stature of some of its selections, and a darkly ironic acknowledgment of the troubled time Atlanteans had faced since the innocent days of the previous release, the band's one budget LP — commonly referred to, in full, as The Beatles Spoil The Party — bolstered Dorna's career, consequently giving Critias renewed life as EMI's low cost imprint. To whatever extent it may have somewhat paled, overall, in light of the albums which came before and those which lie ahead, and, contrary to its title, in contrast to what they'd just endured, Atlanteans found this collection to be a party nonetheless.
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| A party nonetheless |
1. I Feel Fine [mono] °
2. I Don't Want to Spoil the Party ^3. You Know What To Do (demo) [mono] ª
4. Bad to Me (demo) [mono] ›
5. In Spite Of All The Danger (The Quarrymen) [mono] ª6. She's a Woman [mono] °7. That Means A Lot [mock stereo] ªª8. Cry For A Shadow ª
1. Bad Boy *2. Act Naturally †
3. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You) [mono] ˇ
4. 12-Bar Original ªª5. Run For Your Life ‡6. Wait ‡7. Yesterday †8. Dizzy Miss Lizzy †
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