Editing British Invasion (section)

== Beatlemania ==
{{Main|Beatlemania}}
{{See also|Cultural impact of the Beatles|The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show}}
[[File:Aankomst Beatles op Schiphol, overzicht drukte op Schiphol, Bestanddeelnr 916-5134.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Fans and media swarm the [[Beatles]] at [[Amsterdam Airport Schiphol|Schiphol Airport]] in the [[Netherlands]] in 1964.]]

In October 1963, the first newspaper articles about the frenzy in England surrounding [[the Beatles]] appeared nationally in the US.<ref name=GreenbergBillboard>[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5894018/how-the-beatles-went-viral-in-america-1964?page=0%2C0 "How the Beatles Went Viral: Blunders, Technology & Luck Broke the Fab Four in America,"] by [[Steve Greenberg (record producer)|Steve Greenberg]], ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' February 7, 2014</ref> The Beatles' 4 November Royal Variety Performance in front of the [[Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother|Queen Mother]] sparked music industry and media interest in the group.<ref name=GreenbergBillboard /> During November, a number of major American print outlets and two network television evening programs published and broadcast stories on the phenomenon that became known as "[[Beatlemania]]".<ref name=GreenbergBillboard/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newseum.org/news/2009/02/the-beatles-in-america--we-loved-them--yeah--yeah--yeah.html |title=The Beatles in America: We Loved Them, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah |publisher=Newseum |date=February 5, 2009 |access-date=June 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101126162611/http://newseum.org/news/2009/02/the-beatles-in-america--we-loved-them--yeah--yeah--yeah.html |archive-date=November 26, 2010 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On 10 December, ''[[CBS Evening News]]'' anchor [[Walter Cronkite]], looking for something positive to report, re-ran a Beatlemania story that originally aired on the 22 November edition of the ''[[CBS Morning News]]'' with [[Mike Wallace]] but was shelved that night because of the [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassination of US President John Kennedy]].<ref name=GreenbergBillboard /><ref name=Lewis>[https://www.huffingtonpost.com/martin-lewis/tweet-the-beatles-how-wal_b_239202.html Tweet the Beatles! How Walter Cronkite Sent The Beatles Viral ANDRE IVERSEN FOR THE WIN!] by [[Martin Lewis (humorist)|Martin Lewis]] based on information from "THE BEATLES ARE COMING! The Birth of Beatlemania in America" by Bruce Spitzer" July 18, 2009.</ref> After seeing the report, 15-year-old [[Marsha Albert]] of [[Silver Spring, Maryland]], wrote a letter the following day to [[disc jockey]] Carroll James at radio station [[WWDC (FM)|WWDC]] asking, "Why can't we have music like that here in America?"<ref name=Lewis /> On 17 December, James had Miss Albert introduce "[[I Want to Hold Your Hand]]" live on the air.<ref name=Lewis /> WWDC's phones lit up, and [[Washington, D.C.]], area record stores were flooded with requests for a record they did not have in stock.<ref name=Lewis /> James sent the record to other disc jockeys around the country, sparking similar reaction.<ref name=GreenbergBillboard /> On 26 December, [[Capitol Records]] released the record three weeks ahead of schedule.<ref name=Lewis /> The release of the record during a time when teenagers were on vacation helped spread Beatlemania in the US.<ref name=Lewis /> On 29 December, ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'', reflecting the dismissive view of most adults, editorialised, "America had better take thought as to how it will deal with the invasion. Indeed a restrained 'Beatles go home' might be just the thing."<ref name=GreenbergBillboard /> In the next year alone, the Beatles would have thirty different listings on the Hot 100.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joel |last=Whitburn |year=2003 |title=Top Pop Singles 1955-2002 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/44 44, 45] |publisher=Record Research, Inc |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-155-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/joelwhitburnstop00whitbur/page/44 }}</ref>

[[File:Beatles with Ed Sullivan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|[[Ed Sullivan]] and the Beatles, February 1964]]

On 3 January 1964, ''[[The Jack Paar Program]]'' ran Beatles concert footage licensed from the BBC "as a joke", but it was watched by 30 million viewers. While this piece was largely forgotten, Beatles producer [[George Martin]] has said it "aroused the kids' curiosity".<ref name=GreenbergBillboard /> In the middle of January 1964, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" appeared suddenly, then vaulted to the top of nearly every top forty music survey in the US, launching the Fab Four's sustained, massive output. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" ascended to number one on the 25 January 1964 edition of ''[[Cash Box]]'' magazine (on sale January 18)<ref name=Lewis /> and the 1 February 1964 edition of the [[Hot 100]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/1964-02-01/hot-100|title=1 February 1964 Hot 100|magazine=Billboard|access-date=February 16, 2012}}</ref> On 7 February 1964, the ''CBS Evening News'' ran a story about the Beatles' US arrival that afternoon, of which [[Walter Cronkite]] said, "The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5894018/how-the-beatles-went-viral-in-america-1964|title=How the Beatles Went Viral: Blunders, Technology & Luck Broke the Fab Four in America|author=Steve Greenberg|publisher=Billboard|date=2014-02-07|access-date=2020-05-05}}</ref> Two days later, on Sunday, 9 February, the group appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. [[Nielsen Ratings]] estimated that 45 percent of American television viewers that night saw their appearance.<ref name=BeatlesArrive />

According to Michael Ross, "It is somewhat ironic that the biggest moment in the history of popular music was first experienced in the US as a television event." ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' had for some time been a "comfortable hearth-and-slippers experience." Not many of the 73 million viewers watching in February 1964 would fully understand what impact the band they were watching would have.<ref name=Ross />
{{quote box|quote=In [1776] England lost her American colonies. Last week the Beatles took them back.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-british-invasion-from-the-beatles-to-the-stones-the-sixties-belonged-to-britain-19880714|title=The British Invasion: From the Beatles to the Stones, The Sixties Belonged to Britain|first=Parke|last=Puterbaugh|date=July 14, 1988|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=October 2, 2018|archive-date=May 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170530194323/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-british-invasion-from-the-beatles-to-the-stones-the-sixties-belonged-to-britain-19880714|url-status=dead}}</ref> |source= – ''Life'' magazine, early 1964|width=30em}}

The Beatles soon incited contrasting reactions and, in the process, generated more novelty records than anyone — at least 200 during 1964–1965 and more inspired by the "[[Paul is dead]]" rumour in 1969.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/Beatlesongs_.html|title=Beatlesongs!|website=AlbumLinerNotes.com|access-date=2014-05-01|archive-date=May 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502003931/http://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/Beatlesongs_.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Among the many reactions favouring the hysteria were British [[girl group]] [[the Carefrees]]' "[[We Love You Beatles]]" (No. 39 on 11 April 1964)<ref>{{cite book |first=Joel |last=Whitburn |year=1990 |title=The Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties (11 April 1964) |publisher=Record Research, Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
 |isbn=0-89820-074-1}}</ref> and the Patty Cakes' "I Understand Them", subtitled "A Love Song to the Beatles".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classic45s.com/product_info.php?products_id=14815&cPath=21_24_34&PHPSESSID=8b6456d7561fa8952ee833bc98272e60|title=I Understand Them (A Love Song To The Beatles)|publisher=Classic 45's|access-date=2014-05-25}}</ref> Disapproving of the pandemonium were US group [[the Four Preps]]' "[[A Letter to the Beatles]]" (No. 85 on 4 April 1964)<ref>{{cite book |first=Joel |last=Whitburn |year=1990 |title=The Billboard Hot 100 Charts: The Sixties (4 April 1964) |publisher=Record Research, Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-074-1}}</ref> and US comedian [[Allan Sherman]]'s "Pop Hates the Beatles".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archer2000.tripod.com/beatles/000tracklists.html |title=The Beatles Invade America - A chronicle of the Beatles' first visit to the U.S. in February 1964 |date=2007-02-11 |access-date=2014-05-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527212304/http://archer2000.tripod.com/beatles/000tracklists.html |archive-date=May 27, 2014 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The Beatles held number 1 for a then-record fourteen straight weeks, from 1 February through 2 May, but performed even better on ''[[Cashbox (magazine)|Cash Box]]'', holding number 1 for sixteen straight weeks, from 25 January, the week before, through 9 May, the week after.  On 4 April, the Beatles held the top five positions on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] singles chart; no other act had simultaneously held even the top four.<ref name=BeatlesArrive/><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8498841/ariana-grande-top-3-spots-hot-100|title=Ariana Grande Claims Nos. 1, 2 & 3 on Billboard Hot 100, Is First Act to Achieve the Feat Since The Beatles in 1964|last=Trust|first=Gary|magazine=Billboard|date=2019-02-19|access-date=2019-03-09}}</ref><ref name=BBCharts>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1946331.stm |title=UK acts disappear from US charts BBC April 23, 2002 |work=BBC News |date=April 23, 2002 |access-date=January 18, 2011}}</ref> The Beatles also held the top five positions on ''Cash Box''{{'}}s singles chart that same week, with the first two positions reversed from the Hot 100.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hitsofalldecades.com/chart_hits/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1451&Itemid=52|title=Cash Box Magazine's (USA) Weekly Single Charts for 1964|date=1964-04-04|access-date=2017-11-30}}</ref>  The group's massive chart success, which included at least two of their singles holding the top spot on the Hot 100 during each of the seven consecutive years starting with 1964, continued until they broke up in 1970.<ref name=BeatlesArrive />