Just before noon on Oct. 5, 1,631 people still gripped by Beatlemania gathered in front of Liverpool’s iconic Liver Building to sing “Love Me Do” on the 50^th anniversary of its release, shattering the record set by Chicagoans last October. It was all duly noted by the official keepers of such momentous occurrences, the Guinness Book of World Records. Instigated by the city’s Beatles Story attraction with the support of Liverpool City and the Albert Dock, the official record, to wit, the most people singing “in a round,” previous stood at 897. “A round” is where two groups sing exactly the same melody with each group beginning at different times so that different parts of the melody coincide in the different voices.

Among the contributing Beatlemaniacs were 1,400 local choir members, Liverpudlians, international tourists, local schools, lunching office workers, shoppers and a legion of Beatles fans that had travelled from as far away as Brazil, Argentina, Norway and even Australia. There was even a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary attending who’d had “Love Me Do” as their first wedding dance. “Love Me Do” was the first single released by the Beatles and though it only reached No. 17 in the U.K., Americans made it No. 1 on their charts when it was released in the U.S. two years later in 1964.