The Beatles made history on February 9, 1964, when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show , taking the stage at CBS Studio 50 in New York.
According to the website Loudersound , the audience reached 73 million American homes, about 40% of the American population at the time. It was an event that influenced an entire generation of young people from all social classes, who followed that broadcast with attentive and excited eyes and ears.
When introduced by Ed Sullivan , the audience couldn't contain themselves; there were only screams and tears when the band opened with the song "All My Loving," followed by "Till There Was You" and "She Loves You." After a break, they continued with the magnificent second set, "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
At the time, Newsweek gave the band a very unpromising review. "Visually, they're a nightmare: tight, extravagant suits and voluminous bowl haircuts. Musically, they're almost a disaster: guitars and drums playing a merciless beat that destroys secondary rhythms, harmony, and melody."
The magazine continued to criticize the song lyrics, calling them immature and too romantic to be taken seriously. The result was the opposite of what Newsweek had hoped for: the public was captivated by those extravagant and noisy English lads, but with melodies that stuck in your head. At that moment, a generation of musicians emerged who would be directly impacted by John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison , and Ringo Starr .
According to musician Tom Petty, “It looked like a magic trick, an illusion. But it was real. I think the whole world was watching that night, feeling like everything around them was changing. It was like going from black and white to color. Seriously.”
In the words of Gene Simmons of KISS : “I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for the Beatles. I was watching The Ed Sullivan Show and I saw those skinny, kind of androgynous little boys with long hair. I was amazed that those four English lads from Liverpool could make that music.”
Marky Ramone commented: “I was only twelve years old when I first saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show . I was just playing around, and when I walked into the room they were on TV, very excited, especially Ringo, and he was the guy who inspired me to play drums. He wasn't technically great, but he was extremely solid and helped me become a drummer. And they were also the first band to write their own songs. I was very impressed with the Beatles.”
That moment became the movie I Wanna Hold Your Hands.
I Wanna Hold Your Hands was released known in Brazil as Febre de Juventude (Youth Fever), directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film, a mix of comedy and adventure, narrates the journey of some young people to attend their long-awaited Ed Sullivan concert and meet the Beatles up close. A masterpiece about Beatlemania.
READ ALSO: Book 'Paul McCartney in Brazil' tells the story of the Beatle's love for the country.
