Today In Rock: February 9th, 1964 – The Beatles Make Their U.S. Debut
On this day… an estimated 73 million people watched The Beatles perform “All My Loving,” “Till There Was You,” “She Loves You,” “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand” on the Ed Sullivan Show.
There were 50,000 ticket requests for the 728-seat Studio 50 where the Ed Sullivan Show originated.
On October 31st, 1963, Ed Sullivan was at London’s Heathrow Airport and saw a crowd of 1,500 fans waiting for The Beatles to return from a tour of Sweden. Struck by the crowds, Sullivan became interested in booking The Beatles for his show. The band’s manager, Brian Epstein worked out a deal that had The Beatles earning $2,400 ($18,025 in current dollars) for each of the three shows – the first being on February 9th.
In case of advantageous timing, Capitol Records (The Beatles U.S. label) rush released “I Want To Hold Your Hand” three weeks ahead of schedule due to rapidly growing listener demand generated by radio airplay.
As a result, the song sat at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 when The Beatles performed on the Sullivan Show.
The Beatles – I’ Want To Hold Your Hand” Performed on the Ed Sullivan Show
There were two more appearances in February with another in ’65. But the February 9th appearance was considered a milestone in American pop culture. It launched Beatlemania and the British music invasion (Rolling Stones, Animals, Yardbirds, Dave Clark 5, etc.).
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