The Day That Changed Music: Number 1
Friday, 10. August 2007, 15:49:47
Subtract the following 2,400 hours from history and you’d have no mp3s, no LSD, no hip–hop, no soul–sucking corporate rock — actually, can we erase that last one? Blender presents the most earth–shakingly important days in music, ever.
1. February 9, 1964
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan
By the time the Beatles debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show, America had heard them: Six of their songs were on the radio, two albums were running up the charts and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was midway through its two–month residence at No. 1. But seeing the Beatles was different. Their hair looked funny; their skinny legs ended in pointed boots; they jittered with excitement and they wore the most extraordinary expressions — amused and amazed, grinning and scanning the furthest reaches of the scream–packed balcony, as if trying to fathom the hysteria they were causing. Playing “All My Loving,” “She Loves You” and even the mildly drippy “’Til There Was You,” the Beatles revolutionized music that night, and everyone watching felt either a promise or a threat. The songs were full and melodic like pop, yet put across by this self–contained, electric unit — goodbye, gloopy orchestras. They were tight, brothers in arms, not phony or ingratiating — making a gorgeous, joyous racket that seemed to spill from their suits, their hair, their fingertips. It was a moment of celebrity uncorrupted, where rock & roll began its modern life as a cultural force, and the Beatles were as jazzed as everyone else that they were the vehicle of delivery.
Seventy–three million people watched — still one of the largest TV audiences ever — including the entire next generation of rock stars, from Billy Joel to Gene Simmons of Kiss. Bruce Springsteen, who’d picked up a guitar after seeing Elvis on Ed Sullivan in ’56, went out and bought an amp. “Most of us guys were screaming on the inside,” says Steve Van Zandt, E Street Band guitarist. “It was absolutely life–changing. There was no Plan B. There was no choice. These guys dropped in from another planet, and invited you to this new world.”
1. February 9, 1964
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan
By the time the Beatles debuted on The Ed Sullivan Show, America had heard them: Six of their songs were on the radio, two albums were running up the charts and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was midway through its two–month residence at No. 1. But seeing the Beatles was different. Their hair looked funny; their skinny legs ended in pointed boots; they jittered with excitement and they wore the most extraordinary expressions — amused and amazed, grinning and scanning the furthest reaches of the scream–packed balcony, as if trying to fathom the hysteria they were causing. Playing “All My Loving,” “She Loves You” and even the mildly drippy “’Til There Was You,” the Beatles revolutionized music that night, and everyone watching felt either a promise or a threat. The songs were full and melodic like pop, yet put across by this self–contained, electric unit — goodbye, gloopy orchestras. They were tight, brothers in arms, not phony or ingratiating — making a gorgeous, joyous racket that seemed to spill from their suits, their hair, their fingertips. It was a moment of celebrity uncorrupted, where rock & roll began its modern life as a cultural force, and the Beatles were as jazzed as everyone else that they were the vehicle of delivery.
Seventy–three million people watched — still one of the largest TV audiences ever — including the entire next generation of rock stars, from Billy Joel to Gene Simmons of Kiss. Bruce Springsteen, who’d picked up a guitar after seeing Elvis on Ed Sullivan in ’56, went out and bought an amp. “Most of us guys were screaming on the inside,” says Steve Van Zandt, E Street Band guitarist. “It was absolutely life–changing. There was no Plan B. There was no choice. These guys dropped in from another planet, and invited you to this new world.”
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