Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Then, almost 2 months later ...

... on Sunday, February 9, 1964, the Beatles sang "I Want to Hold Your Hand" on their first appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show":



It was their first live TV appearance in America. I watched and was mesmerized. (My parents watched with me, as I recall, and were not mesmerized.)

Yet the record had already entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 13, positioned at #45.

By February 1, it held the #1 spot, and stayed there for seven weeks before being replaced by "She Loves You."

How could the record been at #1 before the first Sullivan appearance? Capitol Records had rush-released it 2 weeks ahead of schedule, on December 26. This happened because "I Want to Hold Your Hand" went viral on radio stations around the country following the Carroll James-WWDC premiere on December 17.

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