How Network TV News Covered the Arrival of The Beatles in America in February 1964
Original Airdates: Feb. 2-5, 2024
TVC 636.1: From January 2014: Phil Gries of Archival Television Audio brings us a special edition of The Sounds of Lost Television that looks back at the build-up to The Beatles’ historic first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964, including rarely heard audio highlights of network TV news coverage from November 1963 on The Fab Four’s impact on music both in England and in America. This segment includes a clip from a report by Edwin Newman of NBC News that was originally broadcast of the Nov. 18, 1963 edition of The Huntley-Brinkley Report, plus a clip from the Nov. 21, 1963 edition of The CBS Evening News that included a candid interview with John, Paul, George, and Ringo before a concert they gave in London. Audio courtesy ATVAudio.com.
How TV News Covered the Arrival of The Beatles in America, Part 2
Original Airdates: Feb. 2-5, 2024
TVC 636.2: From January 2014: Phil Gries of Archival Television Audio plays rarely heard audio highlights of how network TV news covered the arrival of The Beatles in the music scene, both in London and in America, in the months prior to The Fab Four’s historic first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964. This segment includes a clip from Mike Wallace’s report on the Feb. 7, 1964 edition of The CBS Morning News that covered the group’s arrival at JFK International Airport; Eric Severeid’s commentary on the Feb. 9, 1964 edition of The CBS Sunday Night Late News with Harry Reasoner; and a clip from WNPA Radio host Barry Gray that was originally broadcast on Feb. 10, 1964. The last two clips particularly illustrated the Generation Gap in terms of public reception of The Beatles at the time. Audio courtesy ATVAudio.com.
The Evolution of “Beatlemania”
Original Airdates: Feb. 9-12, 2024
TVC 637.1: From February 2014: Phil Gries of Archival Television Audio brings us a special edition of The Sounds of Television that looks back at The Beatles’ historic first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Feb. 9, 1964, and the evolution of “Beatlemania” in the months that followed. This segment includes clips from Beatlemania, an ABC News special hosted by Bill Beutel and legendary New York disc jockey Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow that originally aired on Sept. 18, 1964, and The Beatles in America, a documentary hosted by Carol Burnett that originally aired on Nov. 12, 1964 and which tells the story of the Beatles’ tour of the United States in 1964, as seen and experienced by The Fab Four themselves. Audio courtesy ATVAudio.com.
