Unlike most social revolutions in which the significance of events is only realised in hindsight, there was a clear moment that kick-started the British invasion and inaugurated an American obsession with our grubby little island that lasted, in David Hepworth’s estimation at least, until the rise of Madonna and Michael Jackson in the early 1980s. On 9 February, 1964 73 million Americans watched the Beatles perform She Loves You on The Ed Sullivan Show. Whether because of a need for youthful, charismatic figures after the death of John F Kennedy, the surprise seductive power of mop-top hairstyles, the charm of Liverpudlian lads laughing at everything, or simply the quality of their songs, the Beatles made America fall in love with British pop and all

Source: The Times September 08, 2020 16:07 UTC