Beatlemania

“To be frank, Mr Epstein, we don’t like your boys’ sound – groups of guitarists are on the way out.” Head of A&R at Decca Records, Dick Rowe, rejecting The Beatles in 1962

Following a series of changes to their name and line up, The Beatles finally burst onto the music map in 1962 with hit single, ‘Love Me Do’. Styled by Hamburg photographer Astrid Kirchherr and their manager Brian Epstein with matching ‘mop top’ haircuts and tailored suits, they appealed to a wide audience. Teenage boys wanted to be them, girls wanted to marry them and their parents thought they were a decent and respectable group of young men.

During 1963, The Beatles’ songs dominated the charts and their live performances electrified their screaming fans, galvanising a new pop generation. The term ‘Beatlemania’ was coined to describe the mass hysteria spreading across Britain. Suddenly the country was awash with beat groups, new fashions, music TV programmes and shops full of pop memorabilia.

In 1964, crowds of girls gathered at Heathrow Airport to wave off The Beatles on their ‘British Invasion’ of the US. Fuelled by a high-profile performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles took all Top 5 chart positions in the US Billboard Hot 100. In August 1965, they staged the first stadium gig at the Shea Stadium in New York to a record-breaking audience, changing the face of popular music forever.

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