After watching the above clip it made me feel very old again.
When the Beatles were on Sullivan I was 7 years old.
It was a Sunday. I remember that. My Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins were over as was the case. You know the big Italian Meal. Then they played cards etc.
We kids were running around.
When Ed came on my cousin Lynette who was 5 years older than me was screaming and being what I thought was crazy in our living room.
The Uncles came running in because they thought someone was hurt.
Nope, it's just Lynette screaming at the Beatles.
But as I grew up so did the Beatles and I was a fan.
They were the soundtrack to my youth.
When Harry Smith in the above clip shows and holds a transistor radio that brings back a slew of happy memories. I remember my first one was a hand-me-down from my Aunt who was 12 yrs older than me. I did not care, it was mine.
Yes only AM radio but I didn't care. FM wasn't that big a deal then.
Growing up in Erie PA my favorite radio station was CKLW in Windsor Ontario.
If memory serves me it was 800 on your AM dial. I could look it up if I wasn't so lazy but you get the idea. It was just all the music of the day, pop music.
But in those days radio wasn't segregated. It was Motown, Rock, Pop, Folk, etc all on one station. And this station had it all.
Yes, locally we had a good pop radio station (WJET/just JET to the kids) but I could hear everything first on the Canadian station before it came to Erie. I also heard music I never heard in Erie so this was my station as it was most of my friends.
I wonder if that Candian station is even around today?
Back to the Beatles.
Oh, how my father made a fuss over their hair. I do recall that big time.
Anything I thought was cool, fun, or hip my father was against and I couldn't do it, have it, or go see it. I made money babysitting. I hated babysitting and only did it so I could buy records. Then at 14, I got a job picking strawberries for a summer.
I have always had jobs and as a kid, a lot of it went to albums and clothes.
Some albums I would have to hide from my father. After John Lennon made a remark about the Beatles and Jesus he forbade those records in our home.
I hid them when he wanted to remove them all from our home. Oh yes, he was a fun Dad back in the day.
That transistor radio in the clip was my friend. I took it everywhere.
If I rode my bike, it was in the basket. I went to bed and it was hidden under my pillow and then when the parents left my room I'd listen to CKLW to sleep.
So as Harry Smith said in the above clip, today it's kids and their phones, back then it was kids and their transistors.
I had never thought of it that way, but I think he's right.
12 comments:
Boy do I remember the Beatles. I was 13 years old and I loved their music and their hair. I wanted to have my hair just like theirs but being Italian the only way that I could have my hair long, it was in an afro. An Italian afro. My hair was in to curls, very, very curly. LOL
It has changed a great deal today but Paul & Ringo in their 80's and still making music. Good for them.One good thing I could do was being able to sing their songs. I did have a descent voice. After my stroke, I lost even that. Oh well, I;m still alive.
Cruisin Paul
I was 17 and wasn't a huge fan. Did buy the albums but I preferred the Stones. When the Beatles came on the Sullivan Show my father sat up in his recliner with a snap and pointed to Ringo and laughed and laughed...
I got a portable radio when I was 10-11 - so 1956/7 - ran on 4 D batteries but also had a cord to plug it in. Had a portable record player and that little carry box for 45s. Didn't get a transistor until a few years later and it had an earphone - just one. Music was our life back then...we didn't go anywhere without it.
OMG - Cousin Brucie - hated him - my circle was all about Murray the K. The radio wars in New York City were a real thing LOL
Paul, An Italian 'fro, that's funny.i can not sing!
Grace, Yes, In the 60s and 70s music was EVERYTHING!
I was never a big Beatles fan. I think I just missed them. By the time I was actively listening to the radio, they'd already broken up. I mean, they still got airplay but they were a thing of the past. Always liked Ringo's solo albums though. (Probably because they made more sense to a junior high-schooler than John, Paul, or George.)
We used to get CKLW when we lived in Toledo. I remember thinking how cool it was to get a Canadian station on the radio. (And we only had an AM radio in our car at that time.)
Oh you young 'en. I was 14 when they broke up. I remember in high school our music teacher had us disect The White album. I did not buy much of their music but it was the soundtrack of my young life.
My mom was a big Beatles fan too. She was 12 when they came and they watched for the plane to fly over haha. She is a Paul fan and my dad actually got tickets for her one time when he was touring and I went with her. It was so much fun!
I remember watching them on Ed Sullivan and telling my mother what she wanted to hear, "Nah, I really don't like them". Lied through my teeth! My transistor radio had a "leatherette" cover. It was white. Oh, so chic!
Thanks for the memories, Margaret!
Julie, thx for making me old again, so your mom is 5 yrs older than me. :-(
Barbara, well weren't you the cool girl with a white leatherette that I know I would have coveted. :-)
"back then it was..." As Roseanne Roseanna Dana said, it's always something.
I grew up in a small town and on rare occasions, would visit my cousins, who lived in a suburb of the cities. I knew people would call into their radio stations and request songs and they would say who requested it. It would have been long distance charges for me, so was so excited when my cousin suggested we call in and request a song. Of course, it was a Beatles song and we screamed when they said our names on the radio. Yes, it was a transistor. I can't remember which song, but I will never forget the experience. Ranee (MN)
Rae,that is a GREAT memory! I remember those call ins and getting so excited when you heard your names. 😁
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