I read a story about the Beatles in a biography of Dick Clark that was pretty amusing. I may be a little fuzzy on the details, so if you know more, please correct me:

Two guys who ran Cameo/Parkway records out of Philadelphia, and who were former associates of Dick Clark, visited England in '63. Brian Epstein heard about them and made them an offer they couldn't refuse: He'd let them release "She Loves You" on their label, which he assumed would get massive play on "American Bandstand." If "She Loves You" sold more than 50k copies, he'd give them exclusive rights to all Beatles records in the US. What Epstein didn't know was that, following the payola scandals of 1960, Clark was forced to sell his interests in all of his record companies, publishing firms, talent management offices, etc., and to keep arms-length from them going forward. He no longer owned a piece of Cameo/Parkway or any other record company, so the two guys were former associates. They brought him "She Loves You," and Clark promptly opined that it'd go nowhere fast. It got no play on "American Bandstand" and failed to sell more than 50k copies. Sic transit Epstein's offer. Capitol got the Beatles, and the rest is history. :rolleyes: