Forty years ago today (or yesterday, in Britain), The Beatles released Sergeant Pepper.

"With Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band finished, the group left Abbey Road at dawn bearing an acetate and drove to Mama Cass Elliott's flat off the King's Road where, at six in the morning, they threw open the windows, put speakers on the ledge, and played the album full blast over the rooftops of Chelsea. According to Derek Taylor (The Beatle's publicity man) 'all the windows around us opened and people leaned out, wondering. It was obvious who it was on the record. Nobody complained. A lovely spring morning. People were smiling and giving the thumbs up.'"

Ian MacDonald, Revolution in the Head.