At the start of 1964, the Beatles were at the top of the charts in the UK, but had just started to attract audiences overseas with songs from their first two albums Please Please Me and With the Beatles. Buzz about the new and exciting boy band began to make its way to America. People couldn’t have been more enthusiastic about the fun sound the boys were producing.
John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison were breaking the hearts of people all over the world. Their music was spreading like wildfire and people just couldn’t get enough of it. The fan base those boys had were crazy. In fact, Beatles fans were so excited and determined to see the band that police sometimes resorted to using fire hoses to hold them back. Beatlemania had shocked the world.
Even back in 1963, before their big break in America, the fans were absolutely starstruck by even the thought of the boys. Below is a story from Lothian, a guard at the time of the show, about the Beatles’ concert in Glasgow Odeon on 5 October.
‘The night almost unravelled when nervous local police insisted Lothian bring the Beatles on early to satisfy rowdily impatient fans, even though his bouncers were still in the pub. “The girls were beginning to overwhelm us,” remembers Lothian, now 73 and a business consultant. “I saw one of them almost getting to Ringo’s drumkit and then I saw 40 drunk bouncers tearing down the aisles. It was like the Relief of Mafeking! It was absolute pandemonium. Girls fainting, screaming, wet seats. The whole hall went into some kind of state, almost like collective hypnotism. I’d never seen anything like it.”’
“Don’t worry… it’s only Beatlemania,” (Lothian).
A trend of boy bands had begun. The Beatles were the beginning of a new kind of music. To the fans, it wasn’t just about the music or the sound, it was the presence the boys brought to the stage, audiences and the cameras. Not only that, but they had personality, they were open to people and showed them who they were. It gave people something more to love about them. They gave all the screaming girls around the world someone to dream about, to idolize. Niall Horan, previous One Direction member stated “They are nuts. Mostly all I see is a sea of screaming faces.” This could have been said by any boy band member over the past 50 years.
People felt that the Beatles were the birth of Pop music. They were innovative with their music style, ranging from pop ballads, to rock and roll, and even some psychedelics. The sound was melodious and harmonious to the ear and everyone just couldn’t get enough of it. This might be why this group of Liverpool boys conquered the world of popular music for decades. These idols laid down the foundations for most of nowadays rock music, and the culture brought with it.
(A collage of the Beatles, and their fans I made)
Each song the Beatles released could function as a cultural driving force for social change. The youth they captured were so dedicated, whatever the Beatles said they would do, and with pride. These boys created a movement that continued on to shape the music industry and culture we know today.
Bibliography:
https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/showbiz/beatles-ed-sullivan-beatlemania-5-things/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/sep/29/beatlemania-screamers-fandom-teenagers-hysteria