A hard day's day for "A Hard Day's Night"

I never really realized it, but I guess I was lucky I didn't see "A Hard Day's Night" the day it opened at our local theater in Waltham, Mass. We were supposed to get there, but my mom decided to take me shopping and I missed going to the show with my friend. I was devastated, but it turned out to be a good thing. The first day crowd couldn't hear a thing since the crowd was screaming so much, especially during Paul's scenes.

And being a suburban American kid, it took me a few years to realize what the Fabs were saying. Lennon holding a coke bottle to his nose? What a jokester. Little did I know...

Feb. 16, 1964: The Beatles' second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show

By the second show, the ratings for the first one were in and Ed Sullivan knew he had a huge winner. My recollection of the show, though, was Mitzi Gaynor's godawful song, "You're Too Darned Hot" or whatever it was called. That song has stuck in my head after all these years. But they were on with so many good acts, thank goodness.
Please feel free to comment on this or any other Beatlemania topic.

Feb. 9, 1964

If we had to pinpoint a date where our affection for the Beatles really came together, it was Feb. 9, 1964. There, I watched with my family (and the rest of the country) as the Beatles made their "Ed Sullivan Show" debut. It was electric. The four were smiling and clearly having a great time ... as well they should have been. Watching clips doesn't bring back the full experience of what it was like. Those were different times. Four guys with long hair was an unusual sight. But they came, we saw, they conquered. Thanks for the memories, guys.

We never got to see the Beatles back then. The closest any of my family got to them was my dad, who was a repairman and not a fan at the beginning. (He kept commenting about their hair during the Sullivan show.) He was driving his truck in Boston when first a policeman, then a motorcade with you know who passed by. It made all us kids very jealous. By the way, my dad did eventually grow to like them ... once the Rolling Stones came around.

(Please add your comments about the Sullivan show and Beatlemania. If you had a close -- or not so close -- encounter with them back then, we'd love to hear about it, too.)