EMI originally issued the Beatles UK albums on cassette tape with re-arranged running orders, the excuse being the need to have two sides of equal length to avoid the problem of listeners stopping the tape at the end of one side and turning over to start mid-way through the opening track on the reverse, but this hardly appeared to justify what was, in some cases, track orders that were totally unrecognizable from the original vinyl editions that the Beatles and their Producer George Martin had carefully sequenced in an order that they felt best presented their work. EMI's cassette revisionism seemed to show little thought, let alone respect for their most celebrated artists - One glaring example was "Goodnight" which was wrenched from it's natural place at the White Album's close and planted in the middle of Side 2, the track was still on the closing side of the cassette so why was it moved? There is an explanation......

The revised track orders were originally compiled with 8-track cartridges in mind which housed four tape loops of 'programmes' and each loop had to be of equal length. Why the cassettes had the same running order as the 8-tracks could be put down to laziness/convenience - By joining the first and second 8-track loop order on one side with the third and fourth on the other, they'd have guaranteed two sides of equal length without the need to work out a less drastic odd-swap or two for the cassette version and use separate masters.

For us second generation Beatle fans who embraced the cassette revolution, the following lists present the way we came to accept the Beatles albums as unintended.

Note that all cassettes of the Beatles albums issued before 1987 were in stereo (The 1987 re-issues of the first four albums were in mono).

Figures in brackets denote the position of tracks on the original vinyl editions.

The cassettes themselves refer to each side as "1" & "2". However, for the purpose of making comparisons between cassette and vinyl running orders, I will refer to them as "A side" & "B Side".

Please Please Me

A Side

1. Misery [A2]

2. Chains [A4]

3. P.S I Love You [B2]

4. Do You Want To Know A Secret [B4]

5. I Saw Her Standing There [A1]

6. Ask Me Why [A6]

7. Baby It's You [B3]

B Side

1. Please Please Me [A7]

2. Love Me Do [B1]

3. A Taste Of Honey [B5]

4. There's A Place [B6]

5. Anna (Go To Him) [A3]

6. Boys [A5]

7. Twist And Shout [B7]

With The Beatles

A Side

1. All My Loving [A3]

2. Little Child [A5]

3. Devil In Her Heart [B5]

4. Not A Second Time [B6]

5. Please Mr. Postman [A7]

6. Hold Me Tight [B2]

7. You Really Got A Hold On Me [B3]

B Side

1. It Won't Be Long [A1]

2. All I've Got To Do [A2]

3. Till There Was You [A6]

4. I Wanna Be Your Man [B4]

5. Don't Bother Me [A4]

6. Roll Over Beethoven [B1]

7. Money [B7]

A Hard Day's Night

A Side

1. I Should Have Known Better [A2]

2. When I Get Home [B4]

3. I'll Be Back [B6]

4. I'm Happy Just To Dance With You [A4]

5. Tell Me Why [A6]

6. Any Time At All [B1]

7. I'll Cry Instead [B2]

B Side

1. A Hard Day's Night [A1]

2. Can't Buy Me Love [A7]

3. Things We Said Today [B3]

4. If I Fell [A3]

5. And I Love Her [A5]

6. You Can't Do That [B5]

Beatles For Sale

A Side

1. No reply [A1]

2. Baby's In Black [A3]

3. Eight Days A Week [B1]

4. I Don't Want To Spoil The Party [B5]

5. I'll Follow The Sun [A5]

6. What You're Doing [B6]

7. Honey Don't [B3]

B Side

1. I'm A Loser [A2]

2. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby [B7]

3. Rock And Roll Music [A4]

4. Mr Moonlight [A6]

5. Words Of Love [B2]

6. Kansas City* [A7]

7. Every Little Thing [B4]

*Incorrect title as on inlay, it should be listed as a medley with "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

Help!

A Side

1. I Need You [A4]

2. Another Girl [A5]

3. I've Just Seen A Face [B5]

4. Yesterday [B6]

5. The Night Before [A2]

6. Ticket To Ride [A7]

7. Act Naturally [B1]

B Side

1. Help! [A1]

2. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away [A3]

3. You're Going To Lose That Girl [A6]

4. It's Only Love [B2]

5. You Like Me Too Much [B3]

6. Tell Me What You See [B4]

7. Dizzy Miss Lizzy [B7]

Rubber Soul

A Side

1. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) [A2]

2. You Won't See Me [A3]

3. Think For Yourself [A5]

4. I'm Looking Through You [B3]

5. Nowhere Man [A4]

6. Michelle [A7]

7. Wait [B5]

B Side

1. Drive My Car [A1]

2. If I Needed Someone [B6]

3. What Goes On [B1]

4. Girl [B2]

5. In My Life [B4]

6. The Word [A6]

7. Run For Your Life [B7]

Revolver

A Side

1. Good Day Sunshine [B1]

2. And Your Bird Can Sing [B2]

3. Doctor Robert [B4]

4. Want To Tell You* [B5]

5. Taxman [A1]

6. I'm Only Sleeping [A3]

7. Yellow Submarine [A6]

B Side

1. Eleanor Rigby [A2]

2. Here, There And Everywhere [A5]

3. For No One [B3]

4. Got To Get You Into My Life [B6]

5. Love You To [A4]

6. She Said She Said [A7]

7. Tomorrow Never Knows [B7]

*Titled incorrectly on both the original and gold inlays, it should be "I Want To Tell You"

A Collection of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies)

A Side

1. She Loves You [A1]

2. From Me To You [A2]

3. We Can Work It Out [A3]

4. Ticket To Ride [B5]

5. Help! [A4]

6. Yesterday [A6]

7. Day Tripper [B3]

8. I Want To Hold Your Hand [B8]

B Side

1. Michelle [A5]

2. I Feel Fine [A7]

3. Can't Buy Me Love [B1]

4. Bad Boy [B2]

5. Yellow Submarine [A8]

6. A Hard Day's Night [B4]

7. Paperback Writer [B6]

8. Eleanor Rigby [B7]

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles (a.k.a. "The White Album")

A Side

1. Back In The U.S.S.R. [A1]

2. Dear Prudence [A2]

3. Glass Onion [A3]

4. Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da [A4]

5. Wild Honey Pie [A5]

6. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill * [A6]

7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps [A7]

8. Martha My Dear [B1]

9. I'm So Tired [B2]

10. Blackbird [B3]

11. Piggies [B4]

12. Rocky Racoon [B5]

13. Don't Pass Me By [B6]

14. Why Don't We Do It In The Road? [B7]

15. I Will [B8]

16. Julia [B9]

17. Long Long Long [C7]

B Side

1. Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey [C4]

2. Sexy Sadie [C5] **

3. Helter Skelter [C6]

4. Revolution 1 [D1]

5. Honey Pie [D2]

6. Savoy Truffle [D3]

7. Goodnight [D6]

8. Happiness is a warm gun [A8]

9. Birthday [C1]

10. Yer Blues [C2]

11. Mother Nature's Son [C3]

12. Cry Baby Cry [D4]

13. Revolution 9 [D5]

* The title on the gold inlay was shortened to "Bungalow Bill"

** Incorrectly spelt as "Sexie Sadie" on at least one version of the cassette label.

The 1987 cassette re-issue, as with the original album, was spread over 4 sides as it had probably been realized that extended length tapes were more prone to snapping or getting chewed up in the cassette player.

Yellow Submarine

A Side

1. Yellow Submarine [A1]

2. Only A Northern Song [A2]

3. All You Need Is Love [A6]

4. Hey Bulldog [A4]

5. It's All Too Much [A5]

B Side

1. All Together Now [A3]

[George Martin's Orchestrated Film Score]*

* George Martin's tracks were presented in the same order on tape as the original vinyl

Abbey Road

A Side

1. Here Comes The Sun [B1]

2. Something [A2]

3. Maxwell's Silver Hammer [A3]

4. Oh! Darling [A4]

5. Octopus's Garden [A5]

6. I Want You (She's So Heavy) [A6]

B Side

1. Come Together [A1]

2. Because [B2]

3. You Never Give Me Your Money [B3]

4. Sun King [B4]

5. Mean Mr. Mustard [B5]

6. Polythene Pam [B6]

7. She Came In Through The Bathroom Window [B7]

8. Golden Slumbers [B8]

9. Carry That Weight [B9]

10. The End [B10]

11. Her Majesty [B11] *

*Track not listed on the cassette.

"Abbey Road" was the 2nd Beatle album to be issued on cassette and the first to change the track order (albeit the mere swapping of "Come Together" and "Here Comes The Sun", yet this single switch had the impact of placing both Harrison songs together and ending his spotlight contributions after the 2nd track). From memory, I recall that there was a fade to silence between "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Sun King" (On the vinyl and CD, these two tracks are crossfaded with an 'insects' loop and bell chime).

Let It Be

A Side

1. Two Of us [A1]

2. I Me Mine [A4]

3. One After 909 [B2]

4. Across The Universe [A3]

5. Dig It [A5]

6. Let It Be [A6]

B Side

1. Maggie Mae [A7]

2. Dig A Pony [A2]

3. The Long And Winding Road [B3]

4. I Got A Feeling [B1] *

5. For You Blue [B4]

6. Get Back [B5]

* Incorrectly titled on the inlay, it should read "I've Got A Feeling"

The Beatles 1962-1966 (a.k.a "The Red Album") & 1967-1970 (a.k.a "The Blue Album")

Rock 'N' Roll Music

A Side

1. Twist And Shout [A1]

2. I Saw Her Standing There [A2]

3. You Can't Do That [A3]

4. I Wanna Be Your Man [A4]

5. I Call Your Name [A5]

6. Boys [A6]

7. Long Tall Sally [A7]

8. Matchbox [B6]

9. Rock 'N' Roll Music [B1]

10. Slow Down [B2]

11. Kansas City [B3] *

12. Money (That's What I Want) [B4]

13. Bad Boy [B5]

14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy [C1]

15. The Night Before [C5]

B Side

1. Roll Over Beethoven [B7]

2. Anytime At All [C2]

3. Drive My Car [C3]

4. Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby [C4]

5. I'm Down [C6]

6. Revolution [C7]

7. Back In The U.S.S.R. [D1]

8. Helter Skelter [D2]

9. Taxman [D3]

10. Got To Get You Into My Life [D4]

11. Hey Bulldog [D5]

12. Birthday [D6]

13. Get Back [D7] **

*As with the "Beatles For Sale" inlay error, "Kansas City" should be listed as a medley with "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!"

** "Get Back" is the 1970 album mix.



Only The Beatles



inlay reverse

This was a Heineken beer can promotional offer (from June 1986) available on cassette only in exchange for token ring pulls, it was quickly withdrawn after Apple sued on 18th July 1986. The cassette claimed to include two tracks that had not been previously made available in stereo, but only "Yes It Is" lived up to the hype as "This Boy" was in fact mock-stereo (and "Yes it is" had in fact appeared in stereo on a Dutch re-issue of the "Ticket to Ride" single in the 1970's). Copies were sent out with a gift card, of which there were two versions - the green card came with Heineken's logo on the front whilst the red version had a picture of the Beatles on both the front and on the inside.

A Side

1. Love Me Do

2. Twist And Shout

3. She Loves You

4. This Boy

5. Eight Days A Week

6. All My Loving

B Side

1. Ticket To Ride

2. Yes It Is

3. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

4. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

5. And I Love Her

6. Strawberry Fields Forever