America in late 1963-early 1964 was still mourning the death of President Kennedy, but the beat went on, and clean-cut, "dreamy" teen idols still ruled the charts.
One of its members, Bobby Vinton, just had another no. 1 smash, "There! I've Said It Again" in Jan. 1964. (The next no. 1 would herald a complete changing of the guard, so to speak.)
The Beach Boys were considered the next "big thing". (They were immensely successful, and probably would have been the "thing" if the Beatles hadn't come along.) And the prevailing attitude of most American concert promoters and other entertainment personnel was that foreign groups and singers were basically novelty acts, a flash in the pan, or not to be taken seriously. And a foreign act doing American rock and roll?!! Ridiculous!
But Brian Epstein was paving the way for his group and the entire British Invasion, convincing Capitol Records to spend $50,000 on a "crash publicity program". The company plastered 5 million "The Beatles Are Coming" stickers on buildings, fences, and telephone poles in every state and printed a million copies of a four-page tabloid about the group.
Executives pressed 1 million units of a promotional, 7-inch Beatles interview record (it gave radio listeners the impression that the Beatles had personally contacted every DJ in the country.) Capitol also convinced several major publications to run stories on the group, pre-arrival. TIME featured them in their Nov. 15, 1963 issue; Newsweek covered them Nov. 18. On Jan. 31, 1964, Life published a color spread entitled Here Come The Beatles".
Radio pitched in as well. On Dec. 17, 1963, a DJ at WWDC (in Washington, DC), James Carroll, became the first person to play a Beatles record on American airwaves. It was "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which Carroll had obtained from his stewardess girlfriend who brought the single back from England. Due to listener demand, it played daily, every hour.
Capitol intially considered court action, since the record haven't been released yet in the U.S., but instead released the single earlier than planned. (The release date for "I Want To Hold Your Hand"-Jan. 13, 1964.) Upon official release, every major, medium, and small-size radio station then proceeded to blitz the U.S. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" entered the charts at no. 83; by Feb. 1, the song had replaced Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said It Again" as the new no. 1 smash (for seven weeks!)
One of its members, Bobby Vinton, just had another no. 1 smash, "There! I've Said It Again" in Jan. 1964. (The next no. 1 would herald a complete changing of the guard, so to speak.)
The Beach Boys were considered the next "big thing". (They were immensely successful, and probably would have been the "thing" if the Beatles hadn't come along.) And the prevailing attitude of most American concert promoters and other entertainment personnel was that foreign groups and singers were basically novelty acts, a flash in the pan, or not to be taken seriously. And a foreign act doing American rock and roll?!! Ridiculous!
But Brian Epstein was paving the way for his group and the entire British Invasion, convincing Capitol Records to spend $50,000 on a "crash publicity program". The company plastered 5 million "The Beatles Are Coming" stickers on buildings, fences, and telephone poles in every state and printed a million copies of a four-page tabloid about the group.
Executives pressed 1 million units of a promotional, 7-inch Beatles interview record (it gave radio listeners the impression that the Beatles had personally contacted every DJ in the country.) Capitol also convinced several major publications to run stories on the group, pre-arrival. TIME featured them in their Nov. 15, 1963 issue; Newsweek covered them Nov. 18. On Jan. 31, 1964, Life published a color spread entitled Here Come The Beatles".
Radio pitched in as well. On Dec. 17, 1963, a DJ at WWDC (in Washington, DC), James Carroll, became the first person to play a Beatles record on American airwaves. It was "I Want To Hold Your Hand", which Carroll had obtained from his stewardess girlfriend who brought the single back from England. Due to listener demand, it played daily, every hour.
Capitol intially considered court action, since the record haven't been released yet in the U.S., but instead released the single earlier than planned. (The release date for "I Want To Hold Your Hand"-Jan. 13, 1964.) Upon official release, every major, medium, and small-size radio station then proceeded to blitz the U.S. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" entered the charts at no. 83; by Feb. 1, the song had replaced Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said It Again" as the new no. 1 smash (for seven weeks!)
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