George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney were all teenagers when they first started jamming with one another in the late 1950s. By 1963, the trio, along with new drummer Ringo Starr, were ready to rule the world, which they would do in February 1964 thanks to that memorable trip to New York and performances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Beatles had arrived and to this day have never left us, even if the band did break up in 1970.
By 1988, all four Beatles had established themselves as superstars away from one another. McCartney, both as a solo performer, in duets and leading his group Wings, scored nine No. 1 songs. Starr had a pair of No. 1 hits with "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen," and Lennon had scored No. 1s with "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" and his posthumous No. 1 "(Just Like) Starting Over."
Harrison, dubbed the "The Quiet Beatle," was actually the first Beatle to have a No. 1 hit after the group broke up in 1970 with "My Sweet Lord." He would also be the last to have a No. 1 hit as "Got My Mind Set On You" hit No. 1 on January 16, 1988.
But then came the follow-up hit to that one: It was an ode to his past.
"When We Was Fab" debuted in the Top 40 on February 27, 1988, at No. 34, the second-highest of seven debut singles that week, just missing out on the highest debut by newcomer Pebbles' first hit, "Girlfriend," which came in at No. 33.
"Fab" focused on the hysteria that was Beatlemania in the 1960s, the craziness that grew the Beatles to cult status. The track was co-written by Harrison and close friend Jeff Lynne, the leader of the 1970s and '80s band Electric Light Orchestra and whose rock band became famous for its classical instruments on its records, inspired solely by the work John, Paul, George and Ringo did on their records under the tutelage of producer George Martin.
The two poured their efforts into this track both in words and music, especially the cello work of session musician Bobby Kok, the backward tracking done at the very end like in a number of later Beatles songs, and the sitar of Harrison, featured at the end of the track. It was Harrison's sitar that was found on a number of Beatles tracks in the latter years such as "Norwegian Wood (The Bird Has Flown)," "Within You Without You," and "Love You To," after he discovered the beauty of the instrument through the work of Ravi Shankar and Shambhu Das when the Beatles visited India in 1967 to seek the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for guidance.
No Beatle took more inspiration from the trip than Harrison, whose work was featured with the Fab Four and on his own.
For this tongue-in-cheek tribute to his own band's success, the music video featured a number of Beatles references and featured the drummer on the track -- fellow ex-Beatle Starr, who had as much fun in the video as Harrison did. The legendary Elton John, who played piano on tracks for Harrison's "Cloud Nine" album and CD, is putting a coin into a cup in the video and Julian Lennon, Lennon's oldest son and star on his own musically at that time, is shown holding a copy of his dad's 1971 album "Imagine." Ray Cooper, the bald percussionist who wears sunglasses and was in Harrison's band for well over a generation, and Paul Simon are also featured in the video.
But there's also a famous shot in the video of Harrison playing alongside a bass player dressed in a walrus suit and mask. Harrison confirmed the rumor later on in a TV interview that the bass player was really McCartney, but he never showed his face because on the day of the shoot, he was "camera shy."
"When We Was Fab," maybe Lynne and Harrison's tip of the cap tribute to the amazing work of the Beatles' classic "I Am The Walrus," sauntered up the Top 40, but not very far -- it would only peak at No. 23.
When it fell off the chart, that was it. Harrison, who would pass away on November 29, 2001, after fighting cancer at the age of 58, never had another Top 40 solo hit (he was part of two Top 40 "Beatles" songs in the 1990s he, McCartney and Starr put vocals and instruments on that the late Lennon had begun to compose, but never finished). Harrison's first Top 40 hit with his famous mates was the iconic "I Want To Hold Your Hand," the song that set off Beatlemania and being called The Fab Four and his last Top 40 hit paid tribute to it.
"When We Was Fab" was actually Harrison's second Top 40 tribute in the 1980s to the Beatles. In 1981, he hit No. 2 with "All Those Years Ago," a tribute to close friend Lennon, who had murdered the previous December.
As for the top of the chart on February 27, 1988, George Michael's second actual release from his "Faith" album, "Father Figure," leaped up from No. 4 to No. 1 and right over the Pet Shop Boys and Dusty Springfield's "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" which held at No. 2. Expose's lone No. 1 hit, "Seasons Change," dropped from No. 1 to No. 6 after one week at the top.
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