Associated Press
The Beatles, foreground from left, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr on drums perform on the CBS “The Ed Sullivan Show” in New York on Feb. 9, 1964.
Certain moments in arts and entertainment history become lore, and The Beatles’ debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show” Feb. 9, 1964, arguably is one of them.
Maybe you remember gathering around the TV with your family to see the Fab Four from Liverpool play in the U.S. for the first time? Or maybe your mom (or your grandpa) has told you the tale?
As we approach the 60th anniversary of their appearance, we want to hear your story. Send a brief (200 words or fewer) description of seeing the show to mstone@inland360.com or mail your memory to Inland 360, 505 Capital St., Lewiston, ID 83501. We’ll want these by Feb. 2 so we can include them in the Feb. 8 issue of Inland 360.
Some facts about the CBS broadcast, from edsullivan.com:
- 73 million people watched the performance for a record-setting television rating of 45.3, meaning 45.3% of households with TVs — 23,240,000 American homes — were watching.
- The band opened with “All My Loving” and went on to play “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.
- The caption below John Lennon’s name read “SORRY GIRLS, HE’S MARRIED” when the camera cropped to him.
- Throngs of screaming fans attended the show, but not everyone was impressed. A review in the Feb. 24, 1964, Newsweek magazine, in which the band appeared on the cover, was scathing: “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 odds are they will fade away, as most adults confidently predict.”