More popular than Jesus group, but was persuaded to stay on the condition that the Beatles would from now on focus solely on their work as recording artists. After a break, they reconvened in November 1966 to begin recording "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which was a major critical and commercial success when released in June 1967. Lennon was asked about the controversy during a trip to Canada in 1969. He repeated his opinion that the Beatles were more influential on young people than Christ, adding that some ministers had agreed with him. He called the protestors in the US "fascist Christians", saying
Evening Standard staunchly Conservative paper, harshly attacking Labour in 1945 in a high-profile campaign that backfired. In the 1960s, the paper was upstaged by "The Evening News", which sold over 1 million copies nightly. During the decade, the paper also began to publish the comic strip "Modesty Blaise", which bolstered its sales throughout the 1970s. The "Evening Standard" ceased publishing on Saturdays on 30 Nov 1974, when it still produced six editions daily. In 1980, Express Newspapers merged the "Standard" with Associated Newspapers' "Evening News" in a Joint Operating Agreement. The new paper was known as the "New Standard" until 1985, when