To be absolutely honest here, it really did kind of change my life.
I was in the Fourth Grade, and my parents let me stay up and watch The Ed Sullivan Show the night The Beatles first appeared on American t.v.
We had never seen anything quite like this before, and it electrified my family. "They look like girls!," my father declared, and my mother complained that it wan't music - all they did was scream. Watching the video now, it's really hard to imagine how they came to those conclusions.
The next Monday morning, the kids on the school bus were so wired the driver threatened us with disciplinary action. Someone on the bus produced a Beatles wig (from where?) and we took turns trying it on and miming the band (my first air guitar performance). The whole day at school was about like that. We were incorrigible. The rumor was that when the subtitle at the 3:50 mark was aired, hundreds of teenage girls across the country committed suicide, but I've never been able to verify that.
Fifty years later, I'm still going to concerts, still listening to bands, and generally living my life to a rock 'n' roll soundtrack. And it all started on this one night. . . .
I desperately wanted to go and see "A Hard Day's Night", but my mother wouldn't let me. Somehow, I purchased an ep (remember those?) with four songs from the soundtrack. I still have it.
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