The song, “Help!”, was originally recorded by The Beatles in 1965

The usual Beatles team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote, while George Martin produced, the song “Help!”, which was the title track of their 1965 album. The song itself was released as the second single in July 1965 and it topped both the UK and US singles chart, as well as being number one in a further ten countries worldwide. The song was also used in their 1965 film of the same name, which cost $1.5m to make and took $12.1 at the box office.

Australian singer John Farnham (“You’re The Voice”) and even Tina Turner covered the song but the only notable version came in early 1989 as a charity single in the UK for Comic Relief when Bananarama teamed up with comedians French and Saunders and Kathy Burke – calling themseleves ‘Lananeeneenoonoo’. Released in February that year, their version went to No.3 in the UK and was a top ten hit across Europe, selling over 500,000 copies and raising lots of money for good causes.

But which is the best? THE BEATLES’ original or BANANARAMA/LANANEENEENOONOO’s cover?

Take a look at some of the other posts in this series and don’t forget to follow the playlist.