Beatles Nostalgia - Are you old enough to remember...?

Nobody in the US had heard of them in those years. A few years later, though, they came to the US and I don't think anyone breathing over the age of 5 missed that one.

Well, at least three of us on the forum are ancient enough to remember.

First time I ever heard of them was in the school washroom when I was in grade seven.

I had just been to an assembly in the school's auditorium. Four of my fellow classmates performed their own rendition of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand.' They had their hair brushed onto their faces.

I thought their performance was terrible, but most of the other students absolutely loved it. In the washroom after the assembly, I asked one of my close friends where the performers had learned that 'awful song.'

She said: Haven't you heard of the Beatles?

I said: No. What's so special about beetles? (Thinking of course about the garden variety and wondering what to heck they had anything to do with what I had just witnessed.)

We didn't have television when I was growing up, so I had missed the debut on the Ed Sullivan show entirely. It took me another week or so to find out who and what the Beatles were. I thought they were absolutely awful.

However, as I 'aged' I did come to like some of their music. I never came to terms with the drugs, sex and booze part of the 60's, 70's and onward. As a naive country kid I just didn't get it.

I also didn't get the 'hippy' movement during that era. In the mid-60's I tried my best to become a hippy. Closest I came to anything remotely hippy-oriented was wearing a green paisley granny dress and white chantilly lace stockings. My mother refused to buy me a pair of granny glasses, as my eyesite was perfect, and my stupid hair wouldn't co-operate with the long, straight, horse-tail look, as it was naturally wavy.

Sigh. Those were the days....

Edited to add: Last time I heard a Beatle's tune was in the dentist chair during a root canal. I was getting squirmy so the dentist decided he would sing 'Yellow Submarine' for me while he finished trying to find middle earth with his horrid drill. The dentist sang the song with a put-on Chinese accent. He saved the day - and the tooth. I nearly swallowed the drill trying to keep from laughing! So now every time someone mentions the Beatles I think of the song Yellow Submarine and wonder if it's time for another trip to the dentist.

Anita - so you and I are the same age. Happy Birthday.

I saw them on TV with my sister who was already a teen-ager. She cried and my father was disgusted. I just stood in the middle of the room and danced. Always danced when I heard anything with a good drum beat.

They did a few "sun" songs - Here comes the sun, etc and I'll follow the sun. I still like those songs, but my favorite is Back in the USSR.

I loved the hippie movement and was quite the flower child.

I wish we could go back there. I think we enjoyed one of the most awesome decades in US history. You can still get anything you want at Alice's restaurant, but Alice doesn't live there anymore.

I was about 7 when I saw that first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Then soon after, I remember watching a bunch of girls going ga-ga over the Beatles as in actually saying...

...I like Paul, Oh, I like John, I like George and the last one said she liked Ringo.

HeySal: I think Arlo Guthrie stole your hat! Look at this picture of him on Wikipedia. Arlo Guthrie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I envy your flower child experience.

I so wanted to be a flower child. Still do, sometimes. Alas, no matter how hard I try, "I jist don't got whut it takes."

You had to be a special kind of person with to be a genuine flower child. I think that comes through in your posts, even today!

The 60's were amazing. How quickly they passed by!

Anita and HeySal,

belated happy B-Day!

I was born later that year. I did not grow up listening as my parents were in their 20s and did not become fans.

When I was a kid, one of my friends was a Beatles fanatic so that's where I was introduced to them. But I did not become a fan until I was in my 20s.

My wife and I own probably all of their music in one form or another (including vinyl) and many books about the Beatles...

Still one of my favorite bands.

Oh yes, I am old enough to remember their early days. I vividly remember the fisrt time they were on T.V. ( in the UK) and I was allowed to stay up to watch it.

With American Idol Beatles weeks and Cirque du Soleil Beatles-song-themed performances, the nostalgia continues in new and fast-mutating forms.

I was ten back then. I remember laying in the floor in front of the black and white TV and watching them. Kinda grew up with them.

Those were the days!!!