"THE MORNING AFTER”

“THE MORNING AFTER”
By Shannon MacDonald

 

Only a short time after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, The Beatles infused excitement back into the hearts of a very depressed American Rock N Roll Culture. Since their historic performance, it has been celebrated, worldwide, as… “The Night The Beatles Conquered America”.

#TheBeatles secured their conquering of the USA when they performed “live” twice on #TheEdSullivanShow on the evening of February 9, 1964. They touched down on USA soil only a couple of days prior and were already causing a stir – which coined the phrase, “#Beatlemania“. 73 million, or 38 percent of the U.S. population, tuned in to watch the charmingly witty, long-haired, English ‘Chesterfield’ wearing, cigarette smoking #FabFour. They proved to be amazing, just as Manager #BrianEpstein promised.#JFK #JohnPaulGeorgeRingo #FabGear #HardDaysNightHotel #TheCavernClub #TheCavernLiverpool #PresidentKennedy

Liverpool’s new rock-icons woke to a celebration of new-music-life while in the “eye of their own hurricane”. The morning after they debuted on #TheEdSullivanShow… MUSIC, as we knew it, was changed forever. Hairstyles changed, #BeatleRecords were flying off the shelves, #FabFour bootleg items were being created, transistor radios were playing nothing but #Beatles songs, young men stopped building model-cars and cashed it all in for guitars, young girls were demanding their boyfriends don Beatle-Haircuts, and John, Paul, George, and Ringo were all watching their names move up the Music Charts. The words “Yeah-Yeah-Yeah” were heard being sung on every corner, in the back of every child-lugging car, and on school buses in every state. “#Ringo” became the most popular name in the world! (Richard Starkey, who?)

The word “#Liverpool” was now a household name! Like “gold in them thar hills”, Record Company Execs were sending A&R Men over the ocean to “the new world” in search of more Beatle-like anthem-writers.

Big Industry was putting together (illegal) Beatles items that we still see today in familiar Beatles Festivals: board-games, bubblebath, fake wigs, bubblegum cards, bed-sheets, clothing, and animated cartoons.

Life truly changed and it was all because of four very young men, from a place we never heard of, who played a different kind of beat, with a different kind of look, in a very different time. They have been amazing ever since and have been the only band to ALWAYS be compared to in hopes of the music biz someday securing the likes of another “Beatles-Phenomenon “. So far… no such luck!

All this happened “the morning after.”