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Post by pothos on Jul 26, 2019 22:51:23 GMT
I always wondered how The Beatles broke the US. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show I believe comes just after their records are in the charts so how did they break the top 40 singles charts who was instrumental in getting them into the national consciousness prior to Sullivan as it is obvious people knew who they were.
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Post by lovelyrita1 on Jul 27, 2019 9:13:00 GMT
I always wondered how The Beatles broke the US. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show I believe comes just after their records are in the charts so how did they break the top 40 singles charts who was instrumental in getting them into the national consciousness prior to Sullivan as it is obvious people knew who they were. www.yourcelebritymagazines.com/products/record-collector-presents-the-beatles-vol-1-evolutionOrder this back issue which documents their domination of of the British and then the US Charts. Most good Beatle books will document The Beatles invasion of America . This dvd is one the fly on the wall documentary that covers that first US trip including The Ed Sullivan show (check the amazing outtakes) and incredible live footage of their Washington concert . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles:_The_First_U.S._Visit
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henryj
For A Number Of Things
Posts: 792
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Post by henryj on Jul 27, 2019 13:34:12 GMT
First I heard of the Beatles was on the Walter Cronkite news in December 1963. Cronkite reported of their success and popularity in Great Britain, complete with clips. The clip of "She Loves You" was edited down to the "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" part.
Then, a month later in January, I was listening WLS out of Chicago one night (A lot of AM radio stations could broadcast clear across the country) (and still do). A commercial came on that said "The Beatles are on Capitol Records, with 'I Want to Hold Your Hand.'" This was before I had ever heard any of their records, but it was soon afterwards that they were played everywhere and often.
Historians like to tell you that the US was in mourning over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and that the Beatles helped cheer the nation up. I don't know about that. My observation was that the Beatles were heavily hyped and lived up to every ounce of the hype.
Just the observations of someone who was alive at the time.
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henryj
For A Number Of Things
Posts: 792
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Post by henryj on Jul 27, 2019 14:07:52 GMT
After my post of several minutes ago, I googled and found the article linked below. Seems that Cronkite did indeed have a lot to do with the Beatles' early success in the US. www.beatlesnews.com/news/the-beatles/200907201306/how-walter-cronkite-jumpstarted-beatlemania-in-america.htmlI have been unable to find any YouTube or other videos of the CBS Evening News of December 10, 1963. Here in the central time zone, we get the CBS Evening News (and other networks' evening news) at 5:30 PM. Everybody else gets it at 6:30. Pothos, the link in this post might just go a long way toward answering the question you posed in the initial post in this thread.
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Post by pothos on Jul 27, 2019 15:30:22 GMT
Thank you for that. It looks like there was a plan for the band to break the USA and boy did it work.
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Post by ROCKY on Jul 29, 2019 14:28:20 GMT
I do remember those days quite well. Right after Kennedy was shot I was sort of glued to the tv, as most Americans were, to see what the heck was going to happen to our country. I just started to get back into music, mostly folk music. As I was a big fan years before of Elvis and Fats, Chuck, and Little Richard. I was born at the right time. The first time I heard of the Beatles, in late Jan. 1964, was that there was a music group from England taking that country by storm and showed a pic of the four running down the street. They had appeared on the Jack Parr show for an interview, but I had missed that. I also noticed one of there records started to show up in the record stores, "I Want To Hold Your Hand". So the next time I heard about them was that they would be coming to America to be on the Ed Sullivan Show in a couple of weeks. The rest is history.
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henryj
For A Number Of Things
Posts: 792
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Post by henryj on Jul 29, 2019 15:20:51 GMT
Hey Rocky, glad to know that there is someone else on this forum close to my age who remembers the Beatles and witnessed their popularity in real time.
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Post by brewmaster on Jul 30, 2019 8:56:19 GMT
As someone who queued outside the Cavern to [unsuccessfully] see the Beatles, it was amazing to see them become nationally popular, then go on to great acclaim from Scandinavia to Australia. When they soared to the top in America it was truly groundbreaking. Some British artists had managed to do well with the odd record release, but none had sold out concerts all over the states. To see that popularity sustained well into the next century, with their music still being enjoyed by new generations of fans, is fantastic.
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Post by pothos on Jul 30, 2019 10:37:58 GMT
I actually think they are underappreciated still for the contribution they made to the UK music scene. They kicked the door in for everyone that followed.
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Post by lovelyrita1 on Jul 30, 2019 11:06:13 GMT
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Post by ROCKY on Jul 30, 2019 13:18:30 GMT
Hey Rocky, glad to know that there is someone else on this forum close to my age who remembers the Beatles and witnessed their popularity in real time. LOL Henryj I felt the same way when I read your post. Made me write mine! The phrase 'you had to be there' is so true in this case. You can tell people about it, but to actually be there and live through it was so special words just don't explain the feeling of actually being there. Just like brew standing outside the Cavern back then, it must have been extraordinary to do that and will never be duplicated again in anyone's lifetime.
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