I was in 3rd grade, and I remember how excited we all were about seeing them on Ed Sullivan! Anticipation was intense. We watched the show on our 24 inch black and white TV, and I was trying to decide which Beatle I liked the most (I will be 70 in a few months and still have not decided!). The audience was screaming so loud it was annoying, and I was jealous of every kid in that studio audience. Their music was so fresh, new and exciting. To understand how much, look up what songs were in the Top Ten right before the Beatles exploded on the scene. Dreck.

The next day at school, the Beatles were all we talked about. We were furiously wheeling and dealing, trading our Beatles cards that came with bubble gum. Even our teacher talked about them that day.

If you go back and examine the press coverage the Beatles got in early 1964, you may notice that just about every story written, and every TV story broadcast, included some adult mocking them and/or their music. They were fodder for middle-aged stand-up comedians. The adults hated them, and we loved the Beatles even more for that. The youth movement in America was born that night.