BEATLEMANIA
Beatlemania was the intense fan frenzy directed towards the English rock band the Beatles in the 1960s. The phenomenon began in 1963 and continued past the group’s break-up in 1970, despite the band ceasing public performances in 1966. The use of the word mania to describe fandom predates the Beatles by more than 100 years. It has continued to be used to describe the popularity of musical acts, as well as popularity of public figures and trends outside the music industry. (More from Wikipedia)
The Rip Chords had one of the biggest hits of the surf era in the early 1960’s with “Hey Little Cobra” – maybe THE biggest outside of those by Jan & Dean and the Beach Boys – when it reached #4 on the charts in early 1964 (back in the early days of Beatlemania). They don’t get a lot of respect though; since many people think that L.A. wunderkinds Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher – who later recorded as Bruce & Terry – bullied their way into the band, this led a lot of people to conclude that they were only a studio fiction.
(July 2011)
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One widely held theory about the success of Beatlemania is that the timing was just right; America was still in mourning from the assassination of President John Kennedy 50 years ago this November, and four extraordinarily talented long-haired Englishmen were just starting to get their records released over here. The Fab Four’s American success is most often tied these days to their appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, but the story is much more complicated than that actually. One fascinating view of the whole story is the history of the British Invasion as told from a musician/fan’s perspective – Cyril Jordan, a founding member of the Flamin’ Groovies (whose roots go all the way back to 1965) – which is the cover story of the current issue of Ugly Things magazine that also includes my own article on Milan the Leather Boy. Here are some fun facts that Jordan didn’t talk about.
(January 2013)
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After releasing their second album Queens of Noise, the Runaways toured Japan in 1977 and attracted Beatlemania-level attention according to Joan Jett – their popularity in Japan among foreign bands trailed only ABBA, KISS and Led Zeppelin. Their third album, Live in Japan documented their experiences there.
(November 2013)
