It Was Fifty Years Ago Today

[The Poet]

You almost certainly know that tonight marks the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, marking the beginning of what was dubbed The British Invasion, and the start of Beatlemania here in the States. Though you younger guys also certainly know their music, and may even consider yourself a fan of it, you likely cannot fully understand what Beatlemania actually was, and what a huge and lasting impact it made here. We had seen fans put the fanatic into devotion of their idols before, starting at least as early as the visit of Charles Dickens here (first in 1842 then again in 1867-68), and, in more recent memory, with Frank Sinatra a century later in 1942 with his Paramount Theater appearance then again in 1956 when Elvis stunned America from that same stage from which The Beatles would launch their conquest 7 1/2 years later. We have seen it since those days too, from Michael Jackson to Justin Bieber. But we have never, NEVER, NEVER!, seen the likes of Beatlemania, and may never ever see the same again.

This may be hard for you to believe, or even grasp the possibility, but as one who lived through that time I can assure you this is correct. For years after that night you could scarcely go anywhere without hearing their music, without seeing their images, without encountering their fans or their imitators . . . or, to be fair, their detractors. Still, rabid fan, casual one, indifferent spectator, or equally rabid hater, everybody knew those boys from Liverpool, and everyone was talking about them.

And why do I say all this? Well, in case you are sitting there wondering what all the hoopla's all about tonight with this highly-touted anniversary, thinking to yourself "OK, so what? What's the big deal?", I simply wish to tell you that we who DO get it understand why you DON'T get it. You could not possibly get it, since you did not witness it. Still, take it from one who did see it . . . it was a big deal, was a bigger deal than you can comprehend, and it continues to be a big deal.