On this day, February 9, 1964, a young generation was forever changed; and the music world was hit with the arrival of the first troops in the British Invasion of America.
Today is the day The Beatles appeared on American television for the first time. A popular variety show, “The Ed Sullivan Show” featured acts that ranged from tumblers to puppets to musical artists. It was known for exposing young musical talent. With a new song with a new sound spending its 2nd week in a row at #1 on the Billboard Music Chart, host Ed Sullivan introduced The Beatles to America.
My mom told us that our very hyped grandmother said that we had to watch this new group that would be appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show." I remember we all gathered around the television set in our den and watched The Beatles for the first time.
The Beatles were different! A different sound and a different look. Their hair was long and looked like it wasn’t attended to after a shower. The four band members wore suits, but they were sleeker and looked foreign compared to the suits Americans were wearing. The combination of their unique hairstyles and futuristic-looking clothes with a sound that was definitely pop rock with a distinct new edge to it, The Beatles represented a new beginning. When the first chords and the vocals of their first song hit simultaneously - it marked a new beginning for the Boomer generation, aka, the anti-establishment rock generation that was often condemned by the establishment at the time.
“All My Loving” was the first song The Beatles played that night and there was no doubt that a new trend was on the verge of exploding. The screaming of hundreds of girls in the audience and the visuals of them overcome with emotion - some were crying - let us all know that something new and very different was coming.
The Beatles appearance may be seen as the moment a young generation rebelled against their parents’ generation, but the seeds for the youth rebellion were actually planted 3 months earlier on November 22, 1963. That was the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and a young generation was watching.
At a time when parents were not prone to discuss serious news matters with their children, a young generation, alone, processed the figurehead of the establishment murdered. I believe that was the moment that they felt such insecurity about the world around them that they were receptive to anything that would distinguish them from their parents’ generation.
Three months after the Kennedy assassination, The Beatles represented a flashpoint in time when a young generation adopted a new and rebellious identity.
And The Beatles were the lead band of an invasion of British bands that defined a generation. That generation is today’s establishment. Interestingly, today’s establishment launches the same condemnation of new generations using the same attitude to judge the music, the styles and the behavior of current artists that are helping new generations define themselves beyond the shadow of the establishment.
What is most fascinating about The Beatles is the appeal their music has to younger generations that did not grow up with the Fab Four as a rite of passage. The annual Beatles Festival in New Orleans attracts a broad range of demographics from Boomers to Gen Xers to Millennials, and they are all in the audience singing every word of every classic Beatles song that’s played.
The Beatles were as lucky as they were talented. The definition of “luck” is when talent meets opportunity, and the talent of The Beatles hit American at the right time. My Dad was into the big band sounds and he thought the Beatles were just a passing fade and that I would grow out of that stage and adopt the music he thought was real music. The rest is history!
But every establishment generation has the ability to misjudge the trends of their kids’ generation. In the early 90s when the grunge sounds and fashions were reaching mainstream youth, I heard my generation - the Boomes - say the same things about the grunge artists that my parents said about The Beatles.