Fifty years ago today, I was 7 1/2 years old, I didn’t give the Beatles invasion much thought. I wasn’t really into music much at all, but I remember liking the Tokens cover of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and Neal Sedaka’s Breaking Up Is Hard to Do. 
This was cutting edge rock and roll at the time. Gramps had fun making fun of the Beatle’s haircuts, and the lyrical stylings of “yeah, yeah, yeah”
I didn’t pay much attention to all of the Beatle-mania surrounding us until years letter when I heard “Paperback Writer” and didn’t know who did it.
It was fifty years ago today
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They’ve been going in and out of style
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile
So may I introduce to you
The act you’ve known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Fifty years ago today, the Beatles landed in New York and launched the British Invasion.
We needed invading. A little background:
Elvis was drafted for service in the armed forces in 1958. In 1959, rock&roll died.
In 1964, rock and roll was nearly dead. The pop scene featured some doo-wop and girl-groups, but mostly a lot of “folk”, since the music industry decided that’s what the kids liked, and they pushed tunes like “Puff, the Magic Dragon” images of the Opium Wars be damned.
The Beatles held five out of the top five spots in Billboard’s Hot 100.
Continue reading RichTAkes! on the Beatles, 50 Years Ago Today