Has it really been fifty years? \u00a0Fifty years when I was fourteen and heard about this group from England who was taking our land by storm? \u00a0 \u00a0The new British invasion?<\/p>\n
My family watched the Ed Sullivan show every Sunday night. \u00a0That’s where all the new entertainers and musicians would either make their mark or flounder. \u00a0Ed Sullivan seemed to have the knack to pick winners. \u00a0That night four young men, some teen-agers, would perform in front of a live audience of screaming girls and the rest is history.<\/p>\n
I waited all day that day for night to come so I could see this group. \u00a0My parents thought it was all silliness, but they sat right there with me and watched as I went berserk when the Beatles finally came on the show. \u00a0I literally screamed myself and my family were laughing at me, but I didn’t care. \u00a0I Want to Hold Your Hand. \u00a0How simple were the lyrics, but to a teen’s heart it was total rapture. \u00a0If only lyrics today were so innocent.<\/p>\n
Soon the soda shoppe was carrying teen magazines with the Beatles plastered all over the front of every one. \u00a0Then they started their American tour and I just knew I had to get tickets. \u00a0In those days, you sent away for them and I bought two tickets, one for me and one for my best friend. \u00a0They cost three dollars each. \u00a0The cheap seats. \u00a0The seats next to the last row in the big coliseum at the state fair where they were coming in August. \u00a0I didn’t care. \u00a0I was going to see the Beatles.<\/p>\n
All summer I waited in anticipation of the big day. \u00a0Finally it came and my brother, Andy, drove my mother, my best friend, Carol, and me to the state fair. \u00a0We did all the state fair things but when it was almost time for the show Carol and I got into the mob that was waiting outside the coliseum. \u00a0Girls were screaming. \u00a0Someone would say, “Is that one of them?” looking in the doors. Of course, it wasn’t but it just made the crowd more unruly. \u00a0Girls vomited. \u00a0Ugh. \u00a0Carol and I were squashed int the mob and could not move left nor right.<\/p>\n
Finally, they opened the doors and everyone flooded in and ran to their seat. \u00a0Mother and Andy would wait for us outside. \u00a0Little did I know at the time, but Andy got a ticket from a scalper outside and got a seat way down in front. \u00a0When I learned about that afterward, I was so jealous.<\/p>\n
Anyway, Carol and I climbed Mount Everest to our seats waaaaay up in the high altitude seats. Wooden chairs. \u00a0Every single seat taken. \u00a0The opening act came on. \u00a0I don’t remember who it was. \u00a0There was so much screaming, you couldn’t hear it anyway.<\/p>\n
Then, then, then the BEATLES!!!!!!!!!!!! \u00a0Four tiny figures came on stage and we knew it was the Beatles because the roar was so great the roof of the coliseum almost came off. \u00a0At least that is what mother told us when we came out after the show. \u00a0She knew exactly when the Beatles came on stage because the screams were so loud.<\/p>\n
The girl next to Carol and me jumped up onto her wooden chair and proceeded to jump up and down until the chair broke. \u00a0Carol was not amused. \u00a0In fact, I think she was wondering what she was doing there. \u00a0Flashbulbs flashed continuously. \u00a0The screaming never ceased. \u00a0The Beatles played and every time another song started the cacophony rose higher. \u00a0It was totally the most fun I have ever had. \u00a0Ever. And I have had a lot of fun times. \u00a0If it hadn’t been for the screaming I would have heard the Beatles singing.<\/p>\n
When the show was over, Carol and I, sweaty and exhausted from the constant screaming and jumping up and down, came out with big smiles on our faces. We had seen the Beatles. \u00a0Live.<\/p>\n
It was a moment in my life I will never forget. \u00a0I got many of the Beatles’ albums and listened to them until the words were worn off. \u00a0Years later, my son took the covers to school for a history class. \u00a0History. \u00a0Yep, I lived through some pretty neat history.<\/p>\n
Which Beatle did you like best? \u00a0I loved Paul. \u00a0I think he was the oldest. \u00a0When the Beatles played on Ed Sullivan that night, they scrolled their ages on the screen and I believe it said something to the effect ” Sorry, girls, he’s married” when Paul appeared. (It was John who was the oldest and married.) Next I liked George and then Ringo. \u00a0I never really liked John and I am going to say something almost sacrilegious, \u00a0but I simply hate the song “Imagine.” \u00a0Hate it.<\/p>\n
The year I was a senior, David went off to boot camp and one day my mother, sister, Joanne, and I were shopping and they actually had loud speakers playing outside the stores and the song, \u00a0“Michelle” was playing. \u00a0That was one of my favorites. So romantic and I was into romance. \u00a0Still am.<\/p>\n
The Beatles were a big part of my teen life, but as all things go, you grow up, move on and other things become more important, but last week on Laura Ingraham’s radio show she was asking people what their favorite Beatle song was and playing them all and it brought back such a feeling of nostalgia. \u00a0The Beatle’s songs wove themselves in and out of my younger years and I don’t think any other group has ever been so popular. \u00a0I heard that at one time on the top billboard songs the top five places were taken by Beatle’s songs. \u00a0No other group or person has ever done that before or since.<\/p>\n
I still have my Beatle’s ticket stub. \u00a0I still have all the albums I managed to buy. \u00a0And I still have a place in my heart for the group that sent teen-age hearts aflutter fifty years ago today.<\/p>\n
Later the group split. \u00a0Paul continued to write and sing. \u00a0So did George. One of my favorite’s by George was, “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You,” in the eighties. \u00a0John was killed by a mad man and left his wife Yoko Ono. \u00a0Ringo had a popular song or two and I think he may have been the most grounded of them all. \u00a0You never heard anything bad about him.<\/p>\n
Thanks for the memories, John, Paul, George and Ringo. \u00a0We loved you, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Has it really been fifty years? \u00a0Fifty years when I was fourteen and heard about this group from England who was taking our land by storm? \u00a0 \u00a0The new British invasion? My family watched the Ed Sullivan show every Sunday night. \u00a0That’s where all the new entertainers and musicians would either make their mark or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,11,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-memories","category-fun-times","category-things-on-my-mind"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2261"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2265,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions\/2265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snicklefritz.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}