-
February 9th, 1964, The Beatles, first American television appearance—LIVE—on Th
On February 9th, 1964, The Beatles, with their Edwardian suits and mop top haircuts, made their first American television appearance—LIVE—on The Ed Sullivan Show.
A week later, the February 24th issue of Newsweek magazine’s cover featured a picture of The Beatles with the title, “Bugs About Beatles.” Inside, the review of The Beatles debut on The Ed Sullivan Show began, “Visually, they are a nightmare: tight, dandified, Edwardian/Beatnik suits and great pudding bowls of hair. Musically, they are a near-disaster: guitars and drums slamming out a merciless beat that does away with secondary rhythms, harmony, and melody. Their lyrics (punctuated by nutty shouts of “yeah, yeah, yeah!”) are a catastrophe, a preposterous farrago of Valentine-card romantic sentiments.” The article ended with the following prediction, “…the odds are they will fade away, as most adults confidently predict.”
A record setting 73 million people tuned in that evening making it one of the seminal moments in television history. Nearly fifty years later, people still remember exactly where they were the night The Beatles stepped onto Ed Sullivan’s stage.
I just wonder what the author of this article was doing when the Beatles returned for their 1966 American tour!
-
2 Replies
-
I was sitting in the family living room in Conway, South Carolina on Sunday, February 9, 1964 when The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan. I was 17 days shy of my 8th birthday and I couldn’t have been less interested. My brother was The Beatles fan and God Bless Him for his influence there. Thanks for the flashback, Howard!
-
Log in to reply.
