“Tell the boys there’s a big crowd ready to greet them.” Said the pilot as the Beatles prepared to land at JFK airport in New York City on Feb. 7, 1964.
Yesterday marked the 50 anniversary of John, Paul, George and Ringo’s arrival to America! Few can forget the impact the Beatles made on their first performance on the Ed Sullivan show, and few can say that their music did not change our life and culture.
The Beatles are crucial to understanding pop and rock music since the 1960’s. “They led to a renaissance of Rock n’ Roll.” Says Michael Weis, a Beatles expert at the University of Illinois. Yes, a Beatles expert is his occupational title in case you doubted just how popular and influential this band really was.
It seemed that rock and roll had been dying in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Buddy Holly had died and Elvis had turned his attention to film. It was not surprising then, that the Beatles had an easy time taking the U.S by storm with their catchy lyrics and silky smooth hair. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” had been No. 1 on the charts and young girls across the U.S had wanted to do just that. An estimated 73 million people tuned in to the Ed Sullivan show to watch their very first performance in America, hitting T.V viewing records, changing music and an entire generation forever.
Although the Beatles hailed from Liverpool, they played a very important role in the youth movement of the 1960’s following events such as the assassination of President Kennedy and the Vietnam War.
Aside from their revolutionary music, and youth movements, the Beatles also made impacts in film. The Beatles first film Hard Days Night, made huge breakthroughs. The style of this film changed the way movies were made and also gave way to music video production as seen on MTV many years later.
The 50th anniversary celebration of the Beatles will continue throughout the weekend with The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to the Beatles that will air Sunday, Feb. 9, on CBS at 8 p.m. Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will be leading this celebration as a tribute to the Ed Sullivan show performance that took place on the same day, 50 years earlier.
If you happen to be in Washington this week you can catch a reenactment of the 1964 concert that was held on Feb. 11. Beatlemania Now will perform the same set list as the Beatles did. They will even perform at 8:31 p.m. the exact time the first song played. This concert is only $45 for standing and $100 for seats and will be held at the Uline Arena in Northeast Washington on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Of course we don’t have to go to Washington to honor The Beatles. With thirteen studio albums and over two billion albums sold worldwide, it’s easy to pay tribute to this legendary band. So grab an album, download a song, stream, or whatever it is you do, and celebrate their 50 anniversary along with the rest of us.
With music like this, it seems you CAN buy me love.
