Where were you when the second British "invasion" occurred 50 years ago, assuming you are old enough to remember?<br />
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I very well remember both the day the Beatles arrived on American soil, February 7, 1964, and their first public appearance two days later. It is etched in my memory almost as vividly as the day JFK was killed, just three months earlier.<br />
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I was going to school in Atlanta, having graduated from high school in May 1963.<br />
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The quartet arrived at JFK airport in New York City, the airport only recently having been re-named in honor of the slain president. They arrived to the squeal of thousands of teenage girls who had gathered behind barricades on the tarmac to welcome them.<br />
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An Associated Press reporter, who covered their arrival, described them in his story, in part, this way: "The Beatles collectively are sort of a sheep dog version of Elvis Presley - the adulation they arouse is reminiscent of the grip the American star once held on the juvenile population."<br />
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Yes, the Beatles captured the fancy of American youth in the 1960s in much the same way Elvis did in the 1950s and Frank Sinatra in the 1940s. But, they changed the world's music scene unlike either Elvis or Frank did. Their success was quickly copied by dozens of other British rock groups who quickly "invaded" America, most notably the Rolling Stones.<br />
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It wasn't just the music landscape they helped change. Long hair came into vogue for boys and men - much to the chagrin of many a parent.<br />
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Two days after their arrival at JFK, they made their first public appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, at that time a CBS-TV Sunday night staple.<br />
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The Associated Press coverage of that included this observation: "At one point before the program, there was some doubt that the four singers would be able to make their way into the studio through the masses of teenage fans trying for a glimpse of their idols. But hundreds of Manhattan Police, including mounted officers, shoved back the eager fans and cleared a path for the four entertainers."<br />
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The first song they sang on the show? "All My Loving," whose opening lyrics are the basis for the title to this column.<br />
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As their career soared, their squeaky clean image was blemished along the way by reports of drug use and the comments Lennon made in comparing the Beatles' popularity with that of Jesus, which led to organized bonfires in some places in which the group's records and memorabilia were burned.<br />
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But whatever you thought of them when they first burst onto the music scene or later in their career, you can't discount the change in the world's culture, music and otherwise, that they sparked - good or bad.<br />
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And, unlike that first British invasion some 200 years earlier, this one was rather peaceful.<br />
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(Ken Stanford is the retired longtime News Director for WDUN-AM, WDUN-FM, 1240 ESPN Radio and AccessNorthGa.com.)<br />
