The Beatles: Pioneers of The British Invasion, 1964

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The year is 1964 and Britain conquered America one again. Only this time, it was in the form of four young men from Liverpool- John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, otherwise known as “The Beatles.” As the band stepped out from a Boeing 707 at the JFK Airport, more than 3000 Americans screamed and waved their placards in the air. This was a band that had not yet set foot in the United States and yet the adulation of the fans was overwhelming. Indeed, this was the start of “the British Invasion.”
In England, where they came from, “Beatlemania” was all the rage when the group became a phenomenon in 1963. On that same year, the band released their first single in the U.S. titled “Please Please Me.” But it was in 1964 when …show more content…

Different theories can be traced on how this group of mop-top haired men from a city in northwest England swept two major countries. One of the theories explaining this phenomenon can be attributed to the band’s relevance at the moment. At that time, there was tension between the ideals of conformity within the emerging U.S. middle-class and the non-conformity that the affluent younger generations craved for. Rock n’ roll clearly satisfied the latter’s demands and one which the teenagers responded to. The genre unraveled towards the end of the 1950s. American rock n’ roll, modern jazz, and Skiffle, based on American blues, became the major influences of the Beatles in their music.
To investigate the Beatle’s phenomenon internationally, one has to go back to how the band became known in their turf first. Rock n’ roll reached the British isles at a later time. The appearance of the Beatles was a breath of fresh air as they brought American flavor to British radio. It also helped that their noticeable regional accents compared to the upper-class British English endeared …show more content…

Ed Sullivan, an American TV show host, took notice of the Beatlemania when he visited Great Britain. Sullivan spoke with the band’s manager Brian Epstein who agreed with the plan of bringing the Fab Four to Sullivan’s show in the U.S. The preparation to publicize the band was intense with the help of Capitol Records. For one, five million stickers of the Beatles were posted everywhere. The publicity team also released interview records given to radio DJs. Capitol Records also facilitated for the Beatles appearance in the pages of Newsweek, Time and Life magazines. The Beatles’ lifestyle was promoted through and through, creating a build-up that eventually unveiled in February 1964. Of course, this marketing move would not have been successful if it was given to a band of lesser musical talent.
The Beatles’ debut in America was when they appeared on Ed Sullivan’s show on February 9, 1964. It was a pivotal moment in American music history as 73 million viewers intently watched the show. The Beatles has arrived and they brought with them a new face of rock n’ roll. For fourteen days, the group appeared in Washington, New York, and Miami. Later in the same year, the band starred in their film titled “A Hard Day’s Night”. It chronicled their journey and the Beatlemania, coupled with the group’s witty banters and adorable personalities. In 1965, they made the movie

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