Posted on 02/09/2014 7:47:02 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Musical moments that capture the attention of a national audience - and beyond - never seem to be in short supply.
Last week, Bruno Mars set a ratings record with 115 million people watching his Super Bowl performance. A few months ago, the talk was about Beyonce’s surprise album. And there’s still discussion of That Miley Moment at the MTV Video Music Awards.
But moments that spark a musical revolution? A dramatic altering of the pop culture landscape? A true moment for historians to analyze? Rare indeed, which is what makes the 50th anniversary of what is considered the start of Beatlemania so remarkable - and so unlikely to happen again.
“The media has gotten so fragmented now ... there’s 50 things in a marketing plan for an artist today,” said Revolt TV President (and former MTV executive) Andy Schuon. “The ability to fan that fire and to give it the kind of intensity that ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ could get doesn’t exist today.”
Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ performance on “Ed Sullivan,” their first appearance in America. Nielsen says 45 percent of all TV sets in use at the time were tuned into the broadcast, with fans and the uninitiated alike gathered shoulder to shoulder in their living rooms. The Beatles landed on a trigger point when they hit America. It was a pop culture sonic boom spurred by talent, timing and luck that’s still rattling the windows.
“This was a seismic shift in American culture and it gave the teenagers not only a voice but a way of being, a way of thinking that had never occurred before,” Beatles biographer Bob Spitz said.
(Excerpt) Read more at kens5.com ...
Thankfully enough...
If you watched the show tonight, you probably saw something that you’ll never ever see again....
It was fantastic...
Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust.
I just don’t get the appeal. I guess because I was not born during that time explains why I could care less about any of the Beatles. Also the fact that Paul married that idiot woman after losing the love of his life really made me think he was insane.
I guess you have to be older to appreciate this show tonight...
It was Beatlemania-mania.
Most overrated band in music history.
RIAA monopoly
RIP.
See, I can explain the phenomenon more accurately with one word and two acronyms.
Last week, Bruno Mars set a ratings record with 115 million people watching his Super Bowl performance.
Really? That is just sad.......
Never even heard of this guy before the Superbowl. I only watch the FOOTBALL GAME. No halftime or extended 32 hour pregame crap........
Thank God for DVR............and delayed, no commercial, no crap, viewing......
I don’t know about that. I love the Beatles, but I have no interest in 3/4 of the acts that are listed to be on the show. The thought of what Katy Perry, Imagine Dragons, the Eurythmics, and John Mayer might do to Beatles songs makes me shudder.
WTH is THAT??????????????????
Beatlemania? Beatlemania is simply the result a neurological phenomena. When a male and his voice voice goes through an electric amplifier it has a direct effect on the midbrain of receptive women of child bearing age. It stimulates a tremendous almost hysterical need to copulate with the singer. Beatlemania and the behavior of women at rock concerts is best understood in that context.
“Plato the Greek or Rin Tin Tin, who’s more famous to the billion millions?”
Bruno Mars set a ratings record with 115 million people watching his Super Bowl performance.
A squirrel running in a wheel would have the same “record”
WTH is that: “??????????????????” ?
Tell me about it. The most overrated band in the history of mankind. They only recorded for about 6 years, the first 3 years just about every song they wrote was ripped off from other writers, McCartney had maybe one good solo album in the early 70s, and ever since then it’s just been non stop accolades and awards awards and veggie demands and promoting Marxism and awards and awards and playing Hey Jude for the 10 billionth time after giving the stupid thumbs up, over and over. Enough already.
The mid sixties exploded on the face of the planet ... Vietnam and Beatles were just a part of a whole LOT goin' on.
I'm thankful I was a young adult during that time ... enlisted in the Army, got out, jumped into hippiedom, learned political activism, did waayyy too many drugs, had more sex in a few years than a man ordinarilly has in a lifetime ... and a ton of et cetera's ... all in a matter of maybe five years.
After that, it was about 50 years of trying to unscrew myself.
Those days were an education only the participants got ... you can't read it and get it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.