Title: 1964 - Beatlemania

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About: The chart-topping band from Liverpool embarked on a world tour that sent their celebrity status shooting into the stratosphere.

 

Wherever they went, the Beatles were followed by massive crowds of screaming fans in in near-hysteria at being close to their idols. After one gig in Hull in the UK it was reported that over 40 pairs of knickers had to be cleared away.  Beatles fans were so excited and determined to see the band that police sometimes resorted to using fire hoses to hold them back. T

 

By the time the successful British rock n rollers set off on their first visit across the Atlantic in February 1964, I Wanna Hold Your Hand was at Number One, and 3,000 people had gathered to greet their plane at John F. Kennedy airport in New York. Their first televised concert in the USA was on the Ed Sullivan Show, with 73 million viewers tuning in for the performance - 34 per cent of the American population. 

 

In only two weeks, the band had made an indelible mark on American pop culture. Their shaggy hair, witty interviews and loose, exuberant sound had proven irresistible, and a wave of British bands would soon follow in their footsteps. 

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Beatlemania also embodied the 60s and its rebellious counter-culture. The fathers and elder brothers of Beatles fans scorned what they saw as their unmanly appearance and music, but that made their appeal even stronger, particularly after they took a darker and more psychedelic path later in the decade.

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Decade: 1960s

Year: 1964

Region: Europe

Country: UK + USA

Society: Culture

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Type: Historical Event

Impact: 5

Artist: Yulia Kozlova

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Group: Genesis

Number: 64/100

Price: 0.5 ETH

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