February 9, 2014 marks 50 years
since their American debut
 |
| Meeting Ed Sullivan |
The Ed Sullivan Show was America's guide to pop culture for three decades. If one appeared on his weekly Sunday night program, then there was cause for one to be noticed. If that included a telegram prior to your performance from Elvis and his manager, Col. Tom Parker, then there was definitely going to some conversation on Monday morning at the office and school. After weeks of anticipation, The Beatles would make their first of 3 consecutive appearances as they criss-crossed 22,621 miles across North America on their first tour here. That was all in a little over a month that sold 453,950 tickets. For a front-row seat the cost was $4.
The No. 1 song on Billboard's chart the week of February 1, 1964 was "I Want to Hold Your Hand". For their first live performance in America, they chose to perform "All My Loving" to screaming female teenagers in the Ed Sullivan theater and across the country for those poised in front of their black & white TV sets. For the three performances, they received a whopping $10,000. It all became a life-changing time in our history that if one was lucky enough to experience first-hand, one can never forgot it.
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