The Beatles, Davy Jones and Martin Landau – Being a Fan

Last night – I went with my friends pumpkinpuss and cjl to see the promotional launch of the DVD release of the Beatles first four appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show at The Museum of Television and Radio. First a bit of history – Friday was the 40th Anniversary of the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Prior to the Ed Sullivan Show, most Americans had not heard of the Beatles. Six months prior no one in the States had really heard of the Beatles, even if their records were selling like hotcakes over seas. Brian Kramer, the Beatles Manager at the time, convinced Capital Records to distribute the records in the states but only if they would spend at least 40,000 dollars promoting the band. This was unheard of at the time – in the 1960s – you did not spend much money on promotions and promotions were not directed to the buyer of the record but towards the record companies and usually just for singles. Capital did something they had never done before – they created a marketing campaign around a band and not a single. This included creating and sending out a newspaper called National Recording News, which was just about the Beatles. Their efforts resulted in radio stations playing their songs all summer, so by the time the Beatles reached the States to appear on Ed Sullivan, 4,000 people greeted them in front of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The event we went to was a combo premiere cocktail party and viewing of the DVD, a private party of no more than 150-200 people. Most industry people.( Read more... )