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Sweden Meets the Beatles, 1963

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On October 13, 1963, Beatlemania—the youthful hysteria over appearances by the impossibly charismatic Fab Four—began in London after their afternoon rehearsal at the London Palladium. Suburban teens rushed the Fab Four as they headed to their limo and newspapers picked up on the mania the next day. Ten days later, on October 23, the Beatles flew to Stockholm for their first real tour outside the U.K. On October 30, they went on Swedish television, following a series of local pop artists including the jazz-pop vocal group Gals and Pals.

As the Beatles left Sweden the next morning, thousands of young Swedish fans gave them a screaming send-off at Arlanda International Airport. When the lads arrived at London's Heathrow Airport later that morning, a vacationing Ed Sullivan was aboard an in-bound flight taxiing to the gate. When Sullivan asked what all the teens outside were screaming about, he was told that the Beatles had just arrived back from a tour of Sweden. Sullivan met his connecting flight to New York and upon his return, he began negotiations to book the band for his show in February 1964. The rest is history.

The Beatles' appearance on the popular Swedish TV show, Drop In, on October 30 was broadcast on November 3. The last time I posted about Gals and Pals was in 2016 here. The Swedish TV performance by the Beatles is significant because it was held just before their fame exploded internationally and changed them and rock 'n' roll forever. And because the Swedes were traditionally polite and reserved, we get to hear what the Beatles sounded like in a relatively quiet room, perhaps the last time that would happen other than in a studio.

Here's Part 1 of Sweden's Drop In on October 30, 1963...



Here's Part 2...



Here's Part 3...



And here's Part 4, with the introduction of the Beatles...

Continue Reading...

This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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