It is now 6:30 A.M. Beatle time. The left London 30 minutes ago. They're out over the Atlantic Ocean heading for New York. The temperature is 32 Beatle Degrees"(Szatmary 113). The transistor radio reported every few minutes on the morning of Friday, February 7, 1964. It was a day that would mark a musical milestone sending shockwaves through the United States. The plane landed, the Beatles stepped out, and for the first time Americans caught a glimpse of these young men with their long hair and their mod cut suits. The Beatles had landed, Elvis had left the building, and for the first time, Americans were embracing a British band as the standard. Rather than crediting the Beatles and their promoters for their success, credit should be given to Americans alone. America created its own need for The Beatles, priming the country for a fun and fresh act in a time of mourning and melancholy. They were the right act, at the right time, with a built in audience.

According to author Nicholas Schaffner, the most widely accepted explanation for the success of The Beatles draws a parallel between the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November of 1963 and the

group's arrival in February of 1964. After the assassination of the President, the country found itself in a deep state of mourning and melancholy was rampant. In a country that seemed so invulnerable to harm, everything was lost in a single moment. By January, the American people wanted so desperately to hear something happy, to find some sort of diversion from the morbid tragedy that had shook their lives. America needed a tonic, enter The Beatles (Schaffner 32).

The Beatles had a built in audience in the form of the Baby Boomer generation. This generation was just coming of age as the Beatles gained popularity. Out of this generation, the potential Beatle audience was described as the most powerful group of teens that America had ever seen. This generation had the money to purchase the merchandise, the desire for an artistic outlet and the need for idols. Author Ned Rorem says, "while the existence of a specific Beatle Movement remains unproven, the existence of huge and enthusiastic Beatle audiences was demonstrably true"(Rorem). These audiences were largely (but not solely) drawn from a population of newly affluent teenagers. It can be suggested that the group's American impact rested in part on the demographic trends of the Baby Boomers. Authors Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld describe the affluence of the Baby Boomers:

By virtue of sheer numbers and spending power, American teenagers now were more easily able to diffuse their causes, ideas and enthusiasms among other age groups. The timing of the Beatles' arrival in New York could not have been better (62).

By the time the Beatles left New York, a mere nine days later, the entire nation had become aware of Beatlemania. The intensity and magnitude of Beatlemania can be summed up in one quote; a young girl who was waiting all night outside the hotel where the Beatles were staying said, "I'm here because everybody else is

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Approximate Word count = 1288
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)