J.F.K.
The Beatles: I became quite
interested in Dick Clark's American Bandstand while I was in high school.
As I look back on those years, I
honestly
feel that my era had the greatest music ever. Today they play it on the radio
and call it the "Golden Classics." I really enjoyed some of those songs of the
60's. I also enjoyed reading some of the teen magazines that gave stories about
the various rock stars.
I can remember all of the controversy over the British band, the Beatles. They experienced huge popularity on the British record charts in early 1963, but things were much slower on the American scene. Capitol Records declined to issue the singles "Please Please Me" and "From Me to You," their first official number one hit in England. Vee-Jay Records in Chicago issued the singles as part of a deal for the rights to another performer's masters. Art Roberts, music director of popular Chicago radio station WLS, placed "Please Please Me" into radio rotation in late February 1963, arguably the first time a Beatles record was heard on American radio.
In August 1963, Philadelphia-based Swan Records released "She Loves You," which also failed to receive air time. It was decided to test the song on American Bandstand. It produced nothing but laughter from American teenagers when they saw the group's bowl-shaped hairstyles. In November 1963, Brian Epstein persuaded Ed Sullivan to present The Beatles on three editions of his show in February. On December 10, 1963, CBS Evening News aired a 5-minute story about the phenomenon of Beatlemania in England. The segment had first aired on the CBS Morning News on November 22 and was scheduled to be repeated on that day's Evening News, but regular programming was cancelled following the assassination of President John Kennedy that day.
Several New York radio stations began playing "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on its release day. The positive response to the record that had started in Washington was duplicated in New York and quickly spread to other markets. The record sold one million copies in just ten days, and by 16 January 1964, Cashbox magazine had certified the record number one. Aware that The Ed Sullivan Show was scheduled to present The Beatles live in early February, the Jack Paar Show licensed a film clip of The Beatles performing "She Loves You" from Britain's BBC and aired the footage on January 3, 1964, enabling Paar to claim that he had beaten rival Sullivan to showing The Beatles on a network TV show.
On February 7,1964, a crowd of four thousand fans at Heathrow Airport in London waved to The Beatles as they took off for their first trip to the United States as a group. When the group arrived at New York's newly renamed John F. Kennedy Airport, they were greeted by a large crowd. The airport had never experienced such a crowd, estimated at about 3,000 fans. After a press conference, The Beatles were put into limousines and driven to New York City. On the way, McCartney turned on a radio and listened to a running commentary: "They [The Beatles] have just left the airport and are coming to New York City..." After reaching the Plaza Hotel, they were besieged by fans and reporters. Harrison had a fever of 102° the next day and was ordered to stay in bed, so Neil Aspinall replaced him for the band's first rehearsal for their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Beatles made their first live American television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. Approximately 74 million viewers—about half of the American population—watched the group perform on the show. The next morning, many newspapers wrote that The Beatles were nothing more than a "fad" and "could not carry a tune across the Atlantic." I guess time proved that statement to be wrong. It seems that everyone at school the next day was talking about The Beatles.
Senior Year: football, newspaper
"Bachelor Bait"
Chorus
F.B.L.A.
New shirt for graduation
Joe Bill's ink pen
Graduation ring, announcements
