Unfortunately, I was among the 1% of the population that did not tune in to the Beatles that night. Oh, I was aware of the Beatles back then, having collected Beatle cards and was even a Beatle for Halloween that year, complete with wig and gray collarless suit that my mother made.
(Hmm... in hindsight, maybe I WASN'T aware of the Beatles leading up to their first US appearance, only afterwards.) The main reasons were that I didn't listen to rock & roll radio until December 1966, and that our family never watched the Ed Sullivan Show back then.
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color was on another network on the same night, and THAT was always must-see TV at our house.
A few years ago, I read where the Disney episode that night in February 1964 was a segment of "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh", sort of a "Robin Hood meets Zorro", starring Patrick McGoohan. He was a mild-mannered vicar by day, and a rebellious anti-government do-gooder by night, doing for late-1700s' England what Zorro did for 1800s' Los Angeles.
I remember seeing that show back in day, so THAT is where I must have been while many other boys were watching the Beatles and plotting their future rock & roll careers!
