Feb 1964, Beatles 1st tour in US; Jan 30 2009 on London rooftop, Beatles final public concert 40 yrs ago recreated

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Live rooftop concert shuts down part of Dundas Street
Re-enactment of The Beatles famous last concert together

Downtown London got back to 1969 over the noon hour as hundreds of fans cheered a band playing a re-creation of the Beatles' final public performance 40 years ago to the day. Led by London musician and Beatles expert Yuri Pool, the group played the songs in the same order, starting and finishing with versions of Get Back, the Beatles played in their legendary concert on the roof of Apple Records in London, England on Jan. 30, 1979. Hundreds of fans, standing in the cold, lined up 10 or 12 deep along a block of Dundas Street in downtown London.

How The Beatles Conquered America: the story of how the Beatles first became successful in America is a fascinating tale - filled with astonishing coincidences.

Friday January 10th 1964

Just two weeks after its first release - sales figures indicate that the Beatles have sold over ONE MILLION records. It is a staggering number by a previously-unknown artist. Clearly the kids are reacting instinctively to something in the music. The Capitol Records marketing campaign hits full stride now. Millions of stickers bearing the legend "The BEATLES Are Coming!" are distributed. But the campaign does not CREATE Beatlemania. It fans the flames of what is already there. It builds on a genuine grassroots reaction to what kids are hearing on the radio...

Thursday January 16th 1964

On this day executives at leading industry trade journal Cash Box compile the sales statistics for the record charts that will appear in the next issue of the paper. The Beatles have leapt from #43 to #1. After being on sale for exactly three weeks - the Beatles are top of the American charts. The issue of Cash Box goes on sale on Saturday January 18th (with a cover date of January 25th) The rival trade publication Billboard lists the Beatles at #3 for the same week - and at #1 the following week. The word is officially out. The Beatles are obviously an unprecedented phenomenon.

Friday January 17th - Thursday February 6th 1964

For the next three weeks - three crucial weeks - Beatlemania explodes in America. Newspapers and magazines write reams of analysis of the phenomenon. Late-night TV hosts make jokes about them. A nation still aching from the gaping, emotional wound of President Kennedy's assassination finds a diversion. And the media reflects all this. Even though there is no MTV, no cable TV, no Internet - everyone in America knows that The Beatles Are Coming!

Friday February 7th 1964

The day finally arrives. Thousands of screaming kids waving banners descend on the newly-renamed John F. Kennedy Airport in New York to welcome the new conquerors. The day is dubbed B-Day to signify the Beatles Invasion - which will soon become a British Invasion.

Hundreds of cynical journalists crowd into a packed conference room at the airport to fire questions at this new teenage phenomenon. The universal attitude at the beginning of the press conference is that the long-haired Beatles and the hysterical reaction to them at the airport is just another teen fad - like the Hula-Hoop. Questions are fired at the Beatles expecting them to be the stereotypical pop singers who will grunt laconic, monosyllabic answers. No one expects the exuberant, witty, self-deprecating charm of the Beatles. Gales of laughter greet their good-natured attitude. By the end of the televised press conference the Beatles have won over the toughest room in America - New York's press corps. After that - the rest of the nation is a breeze…

Sunday February 9th 1964

The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. The show had received 50,000 ticket applications. Only 728 lucky people get tickets. 73 MILLION people watch on TV. A staggering 40% of the population. (Equivalent today to an audience of 116 MILLION.)

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Photos courtesy of abbeyapples.com, Wikipedia, AP Photo, brandstrategy.wordpress.com, and Dave Chidley / AP

Original Source: The Fab 40 and The London Free Press