Childhood was filled these cultural touchpoints. For example, when you’d rather play outside or watch something else on TV, but the next day at school, everyone’s buzzing about the latest big event. Or those family gatherings where the adults were excited about some new music or show, and you were just not quite getting what the fuss was about.
One such time for me was February 9, 1964. Beatlemania hit the United States that date when an astounding 74 million viewers watched The Beatles perform on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
As a young boy intent on watching “The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh” on Disney, I wasn’t one of the astounded. With a young mom, then 29, who loved all the latest music, I couldn’t win. My mom insisted we watch The Beatles instead.
It wasn’t until the next day, when I heard everyone at school yakking it up that I understood the significance. I went from hating the Beatles the night before to living the lie by maintaining a facade of adoration for the group.
The Beatles started with “All My Loving” and performed five songs, split into two segments. Ed Sullivan, who initially knew little about the band, featured them on his show nine times.
However, it was not their first appearance on American television. They appeared on the Jack Paar Show on January 3, 1964, but clips of the Beatles performing live versions of “From Me to You” and “She Loves You” were shown.
Funny, for all the hype, their hair wasn’t really that long. I never saw my episode of “The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.” I did come to love the Beatles, even though they screwed up my Sunday night 61 years ago.
