We Loved Them Yeah Yeah Yeah

There are certain things that define a generation.  And, when my family gets together in one room, we have three generations of music enjoyment.

My mother in law, in her 80's, still listens to the greats of big band music, and enjoys singers such as Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra.

My son, who is in his 20's,  shares a lot of his father's musical tastes in heavy metal music.  Together, they can listen to, and enjoy, (for example) a Metallica album. For us to have had that link with our parents, who thought rock and roll music was performed by a bunch of long hair hippie freaks for a similar audience, that would have been impossible to imagine.

And my generation, the generation growing up in the late 50's and early 60's? You Tube allows a peek into the world we once knew.

This is what television was like on February 9, 1964.  This is a glimpse into the world that was our childhood.

The Beatles in their first American appearance on network television - a news show.

And then, on February 9, 1964, the Beatles performed live on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Ed Sullivan "Shew" (the way he pronounced it)?  It was THE entertainment show to get on.  Sunday night, 8pm Eastern Time, CBS network.

Getting a smile out of Ed (almost impossible) meant you were on your way to stardom.

The Beatles got Ed to smile (see about 7:55 of the above video).  It was a big, broad smile.

In a way, it's so hard to believe you are listening to the early stages of a cultural revolution that helped to create the world we live in today.  But, in a way, it started with an innocent song called "All My Loving", almost drowned out by the screams of girls just a little older than I was on that day.  The third song, "She Loves You"...well, my generation loved them, yeah yeah yeah.

And many of us still do, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of this show tonight.

What was the music of your childhood?