The Beatles dominance begins...
Much as the seas were dominated by the British Empire in 1900, England returned with a vengeance 64 years later when the Beatles, representing the city of Liverpool proclaimed their rule over the American charts. While they were already represented on the singles charts with "I Want to Hold your Hand" and "She Loves You", it was this album that gave them their first chart topper on February 15th, 1964. It was their first LP to sell a million and for the first time the Beatles also dominated the LP charts. The album was "Meet The Beatles" which would stay #1 for 11 weeks...
"Meet The Beatles" was the group's 1st LP release on Capitol but not their first album. Vee Jay released "Introducing The Beatles" 2 weeks before the Capitol release. "Meet The Beatles" released on January 20th was certified gold on February 3rd. By March the LP had sold 3.5 million and eventually would total over 5 million in sales to place it in the Beatles top 10 albums list, based on sales...
Dick Clark paid tribute to the Beatles and showed a clip of the group on "The Ed Sullivan Show" the same day "Meet The Beatles" went to #1. In my commentary we'll look at the "American Bandstand" top 10 board from that day...
| More February 15 Memories... 1898) The USS Maine sinks by an unknown explosion in Havana Harbor. More than 260 crew members are killed ("Remember the Maine" becomes a rallying cry)... 1903) Russian immigrants, Morris and Rose Michtom introduce the 1st teddy bear to America (so how come it's not the "Russian teddy bear company" ?)... 1933) President-elect Franklin Roosevelt escapes an assassination attempt in Miami that kills Chicago Mayor Anton J. Cermak... 1936) Sonja Henie of Norway, known as "The World Queen of Figure Skating" wins her 3rd straight gold medal at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany) Winter Olympics... 1954) Big Joe Turner records the original version of "Shake, Rattle & Roll" (Bill Haley had the hit)... 1964) The Beatles top the LP charts for the 1st time with "Meet The Beatles" (feature story)... 1965) John Lennon passes his driving test... 1965) Canada displays their new red and white maple leaf flag, replacing the old red ensign standard... 1965) The music world mourns the death of Nat "King" Cole, a victim of lung cancer at 46... 1967) The 1st laws concerning anti-bootlegging of music are enacted... 1967) Chicago, the band, is formed... 1979) Billy Joel and Donna Summer are the big winners at the Grammy's. Billy wins 2 Grammy's, "Record of the Year" and "Song of the Year" for "Just The Way You Are". Donna Summer's "Last Dance" wins 2 Grammy's ("Best Female R&B Vocal" and "Best R&B Song")... 1984) Stage and screen star singer Ethel Merman dies at 75... 1998) Dale Earnhardt (#3) wins the Daytona 500 in his 20th try... 2002) Canadian pairs figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier are awarded a gold medal to resolve the judging controversy at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (the pair are competing at the Torino Winter Olympics)... To ensure accuracy, miltiple reference sources were used in the timeline... Happy Birthday To... 1914) Kevin McCarthy... 1918) Alan Arbus (played Major Sidney Freedman on "M*A*S*H")... 1927) Harvey Korman... 1931) Claire Bloom... 1941) Motown songwriter/producer Brian Holland (Holland-Dozier-Holland)... 1951) Melissa Manchester... 1951) Jane Seymour... 1954) "The Simpsons" cartoonist Matt Groening... 1972) The Rangers' Jaromir Jagr... Commentary... When "American Bandstand" paid tribute to the Beatles on February 15, 1964, Dick Clark's top 10 board looked like this:
Today is the 46th day of 2006 with 319 days remaining in the year, 33 days until Spring and just one day away from pitchers and catchers... |
