Feb. 7, 1964, is a day I will remember forever. I was just a month away from leaving the single-digit years of my childhood behind to become a budding 10-year-old. And I do mean budding! My grandmother finally made Mom see reason (and reality) and buy me my first brassiere. I began to notice boys as more than a nuisance on the playground. Some of them were actually kind of cute, especially Mike Frost!
But on Feb. 7, my attention turned to four young British boys with long, shaggy haircuts. The Beatles had arrived in New York City and were going to be on The Ed Sullivan Show that Sunday night. I was there and heard what became the soundtrack for the rest of my life since.
On Feb. 9, from the stage at Studio 50 in New York City, Mr. Sullivan introduced “four youngsters from Liverpool, England.” John, Paul, George, and Ringo performed All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You, I Saw Her Standing There, and I Want to Hold Your Hand. I barely remembered the other guests, including an 18-year-old, Pre-Monkees Davy Jones performing a scene with Georgia Brown from the musical Oliver!
All I recall is standing in our living room, hugging myself with excitement every time those four lads shook their hair and howled “Woooo!” I loved them! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! From that day forward, every dime I made from allowances, babysitting, or birthdays and Christmas presents went toward buying their LPs and 45 records. For those of you too young to know what I’m talking about, Your Mother Should Know, so go ask her.
I spoke their language. Something fabulous was fab, of course. “Gear” meant great and “grotty” meant grotesque. I started calling my mother “Mum” (a term which she did not think was fab).
The Beatles were so popular that every other song played on the radio was one of theirs. I had a transistor radio with an earpiece so I could listen to the local DJ as I washed dishes, vacuumed, and ironed clothes. It was A Day in the Life as I did All I’ve Got to Do for chores. Being the oldest, I had plenty to do Eight Days a Week.
As my life progressed, The Beatles’ Songbook continued to be my background music. In high school, I was crazy about Boys. When I turned 16, I couldn’t wait to get my driver’s license and Drive My Car.
Going to college and work changed many things. I was responsible for myself and I learned not to be a Day Tripper, yeah! I Should Have Known Better than to spend A Hard Day’s Night cramming for exams. Help! Many a time I’d awaken from Golden Slumbers and very much regret The Night Before!
Now I’m older and wiser, as are two of those four youngsters from Liverpool, England, the other two having departed The Long and Winding Road. In My Life, when I look back Across the Universe to Yesterday, I find that I still feel that first excitement when I hear those early tunes by that Fab Four. I thrill when I see the black-and-white footage of those four lads from Liverpool whose music so often set the tone and mood of my life’s journey.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of their arrival on our shores. And while I gratefully celebrate and reminisce with all the other baby boomers of my generation, I more joyfully celebrate another 50th anniversary of a British invasion.
My husband, The Brit, sailed into New York Harbor aboard the Queen Mary on Jan. 8, 1964, just one month before The Beatles. He weathered storms and rough seas, arriving seasick but full of hope and optimism.
He and I each lived separate lives Here, There and Everywhere until we met almost 10 years ago here in the land of Strawberry Fields Forever. I fell in love with and married The Fool on the Hill.
He and his grandson, our Britween, have shown me that All You Need Is Love and we are All Together Now. They have All My Loving and, though we’ve had our ups and downs, I’ve found that, with patience and perseverance, We Can Work It Out. And when we can’t, we just Let It Be because, eventually, All Things Must Pass.
I still listen to The Beatles, although my LPs and 45s have been replaced by CDs and an iPod. I listen with The Brit and reminisce. I listen with my young Britween and share the memories of my youth. Do You Want to Know a Secret? From Me to You, It’s Getting Better all the time and I Feel Fine! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Ariel Waterman has cleverly hidden 35 out of 407 Beatle song titles in her column. Why? Because. Wait, make that 37. Tell her editor, Ryan Miller, that she’s fab and gear at [email protected].
