I was five for the Ed Sullivan appearance and remember it vividly. I was a Beatles fanatic as a young teen, but fell of listening to them when older, though I go back to them sometimes.
I brought up my kids on eighties music, not the music I grew up on. They know Beatles but don’t really listen to them.
@Mwfan1921 – I need to get to Moulin Rouge one of these days. Did not realize Boy George was in it, but I’ve know one of the other leads for a long time. (My kids would know Boy George, I think).
In the last year or so I’ve seen some artists/bands from my era including Springsteen, Depeche Mode, Guns and Roses, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, and the Cure, and there were many younger people enjoying these shows, some with their parents. It was great, and so much fun to see. I would love to see McCartney.
I was 1 so don’t remember it, but grew up listening to them. My favorite song is In My Life.
My kids definitely know The Beatles. I disagree with @MaineLonghorn about not knowing music of yesteryear. Clearly, she didn’t watch Lawrence Welk with her mother every Saturday!
I was almost 7 years old when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and I do remember it fairly well. Oldest kid, S, is 40 and he has been a fan since his teens. Plays Beatles music on Alexa for kids sometimes during mealtime. I sent the Little Golden Book on The Beatles to their house for today’s anniversary and thought it was very well done. S’s girls are 6 & 3, so hoping they will like it.
Yes, it’s truly impressive that the Beatles are still relevant today for multiple generations. Very few have such lasting staying power (off the top of my head I can only think of Queen in addition to the Beatles).
Actually, I watched Lawrence Welk with my grandmother and even attended a concert with her in Austin. But ugh, I certainly didn’t enjoy it and really don’t even recall any of the music.
The great thing about The Beatles is that while some can celebrate that memory of 60 years ago and the Ed Sullivan show, others can with equal memory and smiles recall learning about The Beatles in other ways- their parents playing them, Twist and Shout being played at a party, their music being played in a vintage store (where shopping is very popular now),etc. The effect of their popularity still lingers.
And we are blessed with 2 of them still alive. And performing - keeping them somewhat relevant.
The Beatles are familiar to my older kids (27 & 22) but they don’t like them. I don’t think my youngest (19) even knows who they are. We’re all big fans of The Rolling Stones though.
I was overseas when the Beatles made their appearance on Ed Sullivan, but rock music did trickle through. I remember dancing the twist when I was very young. But 1964? I remember an older girl who loved Elvis. I didn’t really start listening to music until 1966 or 67 when we used to have dance parties. My favorite song was “Snoopy vs The Red Baron” and I liked a bunch of The Lovin’ Spoonful Songs. (“Do you believe in Magic” , “You didn’t have to be so nice”.
Weirdly the Beatles never made much of an impression on me. When I started buying albums I went for Simon and Garfunkel. Later I gravitated to The Stones and The Kinks.
I was too young when they appeared on Ed Sullivan, but my mother was a teenager when she had me. I remember my young parents having parties where they would move the furniture, roll up the rugs, and dance, quite often to the Beatles. I grew up loving their music.
I grew up listening to the Beatles, and I like them, but I was more into harder rock. Our kids heard Beatles music growing up, but we tended to play current music. As H likes to say, we don’t think music stopped when we graduated from high school. So for us, Beatles music is liked but not on our playlists.
I remember the show because in those days we had ONE Tv and we all watched whatever was on, and that was Ed Sullivan. I remember many of the acts but especially the spinning plates!
What was funny was that my parents weren’t into the Beatles (or Beach Boys, or Rolling Stones) at all, and they were in their 20s in 1964(although they already had 5 kids with one more to come). They liked Sinatra and Bobby V and the early 50s music. We watched Sing Along with Mitch, and even had the album with song sheet pull outs. My grandparents liked Lawrence Welk and LOVED the Lennon Sisters and the King Family. My father did like the Smothers Brothers later in the 60s, and his British invasion was Petula Clark with her white go-go boots.
My mother did take us to the drive-in to see the Beatles movies (Help, A Hard Day’s Night) later in the 60s, but she didn’t like the Beatles and would never own an album or listen to them. Nope, it was Frank Sinatra for her.
My kids (27 and 28) know all the beach type music from the 60s because my brother plays it in his VW buses that my kids always rode around in. Not just the Beach Boys but all the mid to late 60s California scene songs. The Beatles? Not so much but they know some.
Love the Beatles. Was 8 when they were on the Sullivan show. I know I am a minority but I like the early Beatles stuff better than the later stuff. My kids know them and still like them. I saw McCartney in 2010. We go to Beatles tribute concerts whenever we can whether it be a local group or one of the better known tribute bands.
Love lots of the British Invasion: Dave Clark Five, Animals, Hollies, Freddy and the Dreamers, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Stones and on and on. What a great time to be young.
I used to listen to the Beatles on my little transistor radio with the ear plug to see how many of their songs were on the Top Ten radio station list. I can’t specifically remember them on Ed Sullivan but surely watched because we watched every week.
In the early 1980’s, we had interns at work. I mentioned the Beatles one day and one intern said, “Oh yeah, we studied them in music theory class.” First time I felt old and I was I was in my early 30’s.
I also like the earlier better than a lot of the later songs. Love the British Invasion stuff–one of my favorites not on your list is The Kinks, who broke a LOT of ground themselves.
I have a theory that a lot of the mid-sixties, mostly British, music is the forerunner of the Eighties music I love (especially for instance REM), which is in turn a forerunner of the alternative music of this century. Basically a throughline of “stuff I like”.
I’ve never cared for the Beatles due to a childhood trauma they caused. My mother had just taken me out of the bath and stood me on the toilet seat cover to dry off when she heard Ed announce the Beatles. She dropped the towel and ran into the living room to watch with my dad while I stood there cold and dripping. I’ve never forgiven them (the Beatles, eventually I warmed back up to my mom).
I gave all my love to Herman’s Hermits instead. Still love Peter Noone. But The Bee Gees top them all in my book.
I sort of met Herman’s Hermits when I was 17 and we were vacationing in Miami Beach at the Roney Plaza. They were staying there because they were performing on the Jackie Gleason show. I’ll try to track down my photos. It was very exciting! I liked Lek best; always had a thing for tall blonds.
Saw Peter Noone at a county fair maybe 15 years ago. Very fun performance—he was not pompous at all and could laugh at himself (joked about wearing leather pants at his age!!).
Kids were MS/HS age and they knew all the songs, having grown up with them.