“All You Need is Love  is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first ever live global television link. Broadcast to 26 countries and watched by 350 million people, the programme was broadcast via satellite on June 25, 1967. The BBC had commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the UK’s contribution and this was the result. It is among the most famous songs performed by the group.”(wikipedia)

This was a phenomenal demonstration of the power of music and media. Watching the television that night (a 7-inch Sony Portable), you were straight away immersed in a vision of an emerging world-line where the counter culture interfaced directly with a global television audience. Other countries’ contributions seemed sadly tame and parochial compared with the most popular band in the world revealing their omni-spiritual song – it was a plea for peace (we were at the peak of the Vietnam War), a religious mantra, a pop song, and a direct message from stylish London. The on-stage audience in Abbey Road included Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithful, Donovan, plus a full orchestra, the whole managed as a live Happening, a la Al Hansen. It was epoch-making stuff – the counter culture live on-stage to a global audience. We got close to this vibe again  in 1985 with Bob Geldof’s Live-Aid, but this was the first!