438291 Hours
It was that many hours ago tonight (give or take I suppose...I little Google do the math for me) that the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of their arrival here in the US. (As group that is, any good Beatles fan knows that George made the trek to the US previously to stay with his sister Louise who lived in the Midwest. A devoted fan will also tell you that Louise was in NYC when the George got ill that fabled weekend....either with Strep or the Flu, depending on your source.) Even if you're not a fan you've probably heard all about it. 50 years later and it's all over the news. A pretty impressive feat, even for the Beatles.
Fan or not (are there ANY "nots" out there? How can that possibly be?), the Beatles have made such an impact on our society, our culture that it is impossible to imagine a world without there. And yet it very easily could have been. So many stars had to align...and yet they did. And it all made for the perfect storm that hit here in the United States in February of 1964.
I'm not old enough to have seen them live on the Ed Sullivan Show, although I have seen the clips more times than I can count. Pure magic. The music, the moves, the looks...how could the audience NOT scream? How could you not be enthralled?
The country was so captivated, so legend goes, that no major crimes were committed during that one hour slot on Ed Sullivan. A lovely story, but not true according to the Snopes website. Although it really doesn't matter. Crime or not, the US had been exposed to the Beatles and the obsession has yet to end (and, in my opinion never will).
Fifty years later, there are only two members of the group left alive (and I am speaking of the group as the general populace knows it...for original member Pete Best is still alive and well as far as I know). Paul and Ringo continue to tour successfully Paul has "New" out (which released towards the end of the last year is still relatively "new") and Ringo (never afraid of having a laugh, even at his own expense) just made an appearance on The Powerpuff Girls singing "Wish I Was A Powerpuff Girl" (check out the video...it's pretty darned brilliant; even more so if you are a Ringo fan). As "old men" (hey, their both in their 70s), they are still relevant and newsworthy. (How many other "acts" can say that???).
On a personal level (and you knew it was going to get down to this eventually), the Beatles have impacted my life on so many levels. I've made so many friends as a result of being a fan of the Beatles. I met my husband in a Beatles chat room. (Sadly, I'm dating myself here...are there still chat rooms out there? Does anyone else remember the days of AOL dial ups?). My son was exposed (NOT over exposed) to their music early on and I can still hear his high pitched toddler voice singing "All You Need Is Love." As a pre-teen, I'm not sure if you could call him a fan, but he knows who they are and recently said, "You know I think the only rock and roll I really like is the Beatles". (And this was unsolicited.).
438291 hours...that's a long time. But in 876581 hours, I'll bet we'll still be remembering that February weekend. And why not? Not only did the Beatles MAKE history, they are a part of it and always will be.
This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of their arrival here in the US. (As group that is, any good Beatles fan knows that George made the trek to the US previously to stay with his sister Louise who lived in the Midwest. A devoted fan will also tell you that Louise was in NYC when the George got ill that fabled weekend....either with Strep or the Flu, depending on your source.) Even if you're not a fan you've probably heard all about it. 50 years later and it's all over the news. A pretty impressive feat, even for the Beatles.
Fan or not (are there ANY "nots" out there? How can that possibly be?), the Beatles have made such an impact on our society, our culture that it is impossible to imagine a world without there. And yet it very easily could have been. So many stars had to align...and yet they did. And it all made for the perfect storm that hit here in the United States in February of 1964.
I'm not old enough to have seen them live on the Ed Sullivan Show, although I have seen the clips more times than I can count. Pure magic. The music, the moves, the looks...how could the audience NOT scream? How could you not be enthralled?
The country was so captivated, so legend goes, that no major crimes were committed during that one hour slot on Ed Sullivan. A lovely story, but not true according to the Snopes website. Although it really doesn't matter. Crime or not, the US had been exposed to the Beatles and the obsession has yet to end (and, in my opinion never will).
Fifty years later, there are only two members of the group left alive (and I am speaking of the group as the general populace knows it...for original member Pete Best is still alive and well as far as I know). Paul and Ringo continue to tour successfully Paul has "New" out (which released towards the end of the last year is still relatively "new") and Ringo (never afraid of having a laugh, even at his own expense) just made an appearance on The Powerpuff Girls singing "Wish I Was A Powerpuff Girl" (check out the video...it's pretty darned brilliant; even more so if you are a Ringo fan). As "old men" (hey, their both in their 70s), they are still relevant and newsworthy. (How many other "acts" can say that???).
On a personal level (and you knew it was going to get down to this eventually), the Beatles have impacted my life on so many levels. I've made so many friends as a result of being a fan of the Beatles. I met my husband in a Beatles chat room. (Sadly, I'm dating myself here...are there still chat rooms out there? Does anyone else remember the days of AOL dial ups?). My son was exposed (NOT over exposed) to their music early on and I can still hear his high pitched toddler voice singing "All You Need Is Love." As a pre-teen, I'm not sure if you could call him a fan, but he knows who they are and recently said, "You know I think the only rock and roll I really like is the Beatles". (And this was unsolicited.).
438291 hours...that's a long time. But in 876581 hours, I'll bet we'll still be remembering that February weekend. And why not? Not only did the Beatles MAKE history, they are a part of it and always will be.
A Beatles post from you on this most auspicious occasion...who'd have thought?! ;) While I am not a die-hard fan, I do enjoy their music, have some on my iTunes playlist, and am planning on watching the special that's on tonight. But only because I already watched Olympics figure skating this morning...
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