the group had decided to "put it out" rather than watch as "dozens" of other artists scored hits with the songs. In his NME interview in August, Martin said: I was keen that the track be released in some way apart from the album, but you have to realise that the Beatles aren't usually very happy about issuing material twice in this way. They feel that they might be cheating the public... However, we got to thinking about it, and we realised that the fans aren't really being cheated at all. Most albums have only 12 tracks; the Beatles always do 14! Commercial performance The single topped sales charts around the world. The double A-side was number 1 on Record Retailers chart (later adopted as the UK Singles Chart) for four weeks during a chart run of 13 weeks. On Melody Makers singles chart, it was number 1 for three weeks and then spent two weeks at number 2. It was the band's twelfth consecutive chart-topping single in the UK. Despite the double A-side status there, "Yellow Submarine" was the song recognised with the Ivor Novello Award for highest certified sales of any A-side in 1966. In the US, the single's release coincided with the Beatles' final tour and, further to the controversy over the "butcher cover" originally used for the Capitol Records LP Yesterday and Today, public furore over Lennon's "More popular than Jesus" remarks, originally published in the UK in his "How a Beatle Lives" interview with Cleave. The "Jesus" controversy overshadowed the release of the single and the album there; public bonfires were held to burn their records and memorabilia, and many radio stations refused to play the Beatles' music. The group were also vocal in their opposition to the Vietnam War, a stand that further redefined their public image in the US. Capitol were wary of the religious references in "Eleanor Rigby", given the ongoing controversy, and instead promoted "Yellow Submarine" as the lead side. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (behind "You Can't Hurry Love" by the Supremes) and number 1 on the charts compiled by Cash Box and Record World. In Gould's description, it was "the first 'designated' Beatles single since 1963" not to top the Billboard Hot 100, a result he attributes to Capitol's caution in initially overlooking "Eleanor Rigby". During the US tour, Beatles press officer Tony