Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Beatles vs. Scarecrow

It's been said that over 73 million people watched the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. As most people alive then know, it was their first of 4 appearances on that show.

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!

2 comments:

  1. i watched both back and forth they were on feb. 9th, 16th and 23rd same as the scarecrow sullivan show on cbs at 8:00p.m. and walt disney's wonderful world of color on nbc at 7:30 p.m. british invasion on two major networks both great tv ah! those were the day's my friends we thought they'd never end nothing like those times anymore...GOD help us all!!!

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  2. Hi Mark, I made amends by buying the DVD of the 4 complete Ed Sullivan episodes that featured the Beatles.

    On one of the episodes, future Monkee Davy Jones was performing a song from the Broadway show "Oliver".

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