I told myself that when this date would come, I would speak minimally about it, because the music really spoke louder than any mere words I could put together.
Let me see if I can live up to that goal.
Sunday, Feb. 9, 1964 was an evening that will live in the annals of recorded history as one of the most important, cultural, social and whatever else you might call it nights that changed the world.
Four musicians took the stage of "The Ed Sullivan Show" in New York, played a few songs, put the younger members of the audience in a complete frenzy, and the world was never the same again.
Convention was completely thrown out the window for good.
The Beatles had arrived, and things would never be the same again.
I think it is hard for younger people today--anybody under 50, in this case--to really understand what happened that night.
In the pre-high-tech age, our high tech was television. It was the way the word got out, the way the word was delivered electronically to us.
And that night, it was delivered loud and clear.
Out with the old, in with the new.
A lot of people thought that this was just a trend, and we would go back to the old way of doing things within time.
It never happened.
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr saw to that by writing and playing music that put the bar higher that it had ever been, at least in the 20th century.
They also saw to it that every social norm of the previous generations--or at least most of them--didn't matter anymore.
They created a revolution without raising a weapon.
Having been there, having watched this thing unfold as a six year old, I cannot tell you how much this thing influenced everything from that time on.
Our country had been in a collective depression with the death of JFK still so fresh in our minds.
The Beatles brought hope to us, hope for a better future that JFK had promised.
The interesting thing is that 50 years after the fact, the Beatles remain among the hottest commodities on the planet. Their music is still heard every minute of every day, their images still encrusted on our brains.
What more can I say?
It is hard to believe that 50 years have passed. I went from a mere babe to a teenager to a young man to a married man with kids during this period. It is amazing, isn't it?
And it all started with this funny looking guy introducing four long-haired moptops on his stage.
Simply amazing.
P.S.: To see my Beatles Picture Sleeve 45 collection--including possibly the most important record ever released, as shown above, please visit Facebook at this address:
https://www.facebook.com/LarryLapka/media_set?set=a.10203036060400736.1073741834.1181924642&type=1
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