The British Invasion #1

This song, ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, has even got the music critics up in a twist about the songs chord structure.  This would be the song to start Beatlemania in the United States. Many records would be set in the coming months and throughout 1964 that would never have been broken such as the first five spots on the Billboard charts, 14 songs on the Billboard charts at one time, 6 number one albums in 1964 among many others such as duration of number ones and many more. There was supposedly no crime in the US for ten minutes during the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show February 9, 1964, as reported by many in law enforcement.

Rolling Stone Magazine would rank  ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ as #16 on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest songs of all time. The single would prompt 940,000 in advance sales in the UK. In 3 days alone,  3/4 million copies had already been sold (10,000 copies In NYC every hour).

Previously the British group, the Tornados with ‘Telstar’, was #1 on the US charts for 3 weeks over Christmas 1962/63. The first time since Elvis Presley ’56, “Love Me Tender” beating out “Don’t Be Cruel” did this happen.

With  ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’, the “British Invasion” of America had been broken through and launched by The Beatles.

Throughout 1964, British artists flew high at the top of the American charts; including Cliff Richard & the Shadows, The Searchers, The Dave Clark Five, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer & the Dakotas, Peter & Gordon, Dusty Springfield,  The Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann’s, Them (with Van Morrison), The Zombies,  The Kinks, The Hollies and Herman’s Hermits.