NMR022
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
"I Wanna Hold Your Hand"
Musical floodgates were opened after the Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. Suddenly, U.S. record charts, radio, and television were overrun with British rock and pop musicians. Although this British Invasion was the first exposure many Americans had to popular music from the United Kingdom, British pop — and more specifically British rock and roll — had been developing since the middle of the 1950s.
On 7 February 1964, the day of the first Beatles trip to the United States, an estimated four thousand fans congregated at Heathrow Airport, waving and screaming as the aircraft left the ground. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" had sold 2.6 million copies in the U.S. over the previous two weeks, but the group were still nervous about how they would be received. Their arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport was greeted by another large, vociferous crowd, estimated at about three thousand in number.
Two days after landing in the U.S., they gave their first live American television performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by approximately seventy-four million viewers — a number representing about half the American population at the time.
50,000 requests were made for tickets, but only 703 got in. The excitement began shortly after 8 p.m. EST, when Sullivan gave his famous introduction, "Now, yesterday and today, our theater's been jammed with newspapermen and hundreds of photographers from all over the nation, and these veterans agreed with me that the city never has witnessed the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool, who call themselves The Beatles. Now, tonight, you're gonna twice be entertained by them. Right now, and again in the second half of our show. Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles. Let's bring them on."
The morning after the show, one newspaper wrote that The Beatles "could not carry a tune across the Atlantic!"
Some 14 years later, Universal took an affectionate, if not entirely accurate, look at this Historic Event.
The 1978 motion picture, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, follows the trials and tribulations of a determined group of New Jersey teenagers as they attempt to see The Beatles perform live on the February 9, 1964 Ed Sullivan Show. This light-hearted comedy captures the look, antics, and mayhem that surrounded The Beatles during this first trip to America. Beatlemania is alive and well in this film. Amazingly, almost all of I Wanna Hold Your Hand was filmed on the back lots of Universal Studios in California and the streets of Hollywood. New York City never looked so good!
I Wanna Hold Your Hand features 17 songs performed by The Beatles. Self-proclaimed "Fifth Beatle" Murray The K plays himself, while Will Jordan hams it up with his best Ed Sullivan impression. Written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, this Steve Spielberg production bombed at the box office. A soundtrack album would have sold millions and guaranteed success for this delightful romp through early 1964.
As Ed said later in the show, "Ladies and Gentlemen, once again......."
The songs featured are not taken from the soundtrack (with the exception of She Loves You), but are the MONO DESS versions.
As a bonus...The complete 9th of February performance.
Mister Moonlight and The Boob.
01. a really big shew - Feb. 8, 1964 (Will Jordan as Ed Sullivan)
02. I Want To Hold Your Hand
03. Please Please Me
04. a fab idea
05. I Saw Her Standing There
06. Thank You Girl
07. Boys
08. murray the k (himself)
09. Twist And Shout
10. we want the beatles
11. the fake fabs
12. Misery
13. Till There Was You
14. anti-beatles
15. Love Me Do
16. the "mob" tops
17. Do You Want To Know A Secret?
18. "surfing u.s.a." fake fabs
19. P.S. I Love You
20. Please Mr. Postman
21. "we love you beatles"
22. From Me To You
23. murray the calm
24. Money
25. There's A Place
26. I Wanna Be Your Man
27. i wanna cut your hair
28. ed vs. the audience 1
29. ed vs. the audience 2
30. ed vs. the audience 3
31. She Love You (with intro)
Bonus:
32. All My Loving
33. Till There Was You
34. She Loves You
35. I Saw Her Standing There
36. I Want To Hold Your Hand