30 Years Ago Yesterday? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

It’s the sort of comment that, coming from a grown man, can make a middle-aged baby boomer suddenly feel old.

“The Beatles? Oh yeah, I was a big Beatles fan--when I was young. I used to borrow old Beatles records from my mom.”

The speaker is Kevin Ratner, 26, of Venice, one of dozens of people interviewed Wednesday about the 30th anniversary of the Beatles’ appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964--an event that occurred years before Ratner and almost half the rest of the American population was even born.

Based on those interviews, several Beatles-related conclusions can be drawn:

Everyone has heard of the Beatles. Most people, regardless of age, say they like the Beatles. Almost everyone over the age of 35 can name the Beatles. Almost no one under the age of 35 knows who Ed Sullivan was.

And, finally, the interviews indicate that for Americans in their 40s, the Beatles’ first Ed Sullivan appearance was more than just a TV show. It was a landmark cultural event, a youthful snapshot rendered in grainy black and white, a silly, happy, generational-shared experience from the days before the 1960s got too serious.

For the benefit of younger readers, a little background:

The Beatles--John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr--released their first album in America, “Meet the Beatles,” in January, 1964. By Feb. 1, the song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts; two months later, Beatles songs occupied all five top slots on the Billboard singles chart.

On Feb. 7, 1964, the shockingly long-haired Beatles arrived in New York from their native England; two days later they made their first appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” a hugely popular Sunday night variety program, in front of a studio audience largely composed of screaming, crying, semi-hysterical teen-age girls. The show drew what was then the largest TV audience in history--57 million viewers.

“Absolutely I remember watching the show,” said Quince Buteau, a 42-year-old Hollywood Hills packaging designer, as he browsed through the CD racks at Tower Records in West Hollywood. “It was a super big deal. I remember my parents saying nobody will even know who they are six months from now. . . . I still have their records. Every now and then I take them out and spin ‘em.”

In Orange, Fab Four fans found their way throughout the day Wednesday to Pepperland, a music store specializing in Beatles memorabilia. The store celebrated the group’s historical performance by handing out gifts, serving cake, and holding a trivia contest.

“I’m a big Beatles fan and this is the place,” said screenwriter Mike Thomas, 42, who drove up from San Diego. “We didn’t know it on that night 30 years ago, but the Beatles were going to change our culture. Their performance was like an explosion.”

John Henneke, 46, of Santa Ana said he remembers “my mom yelling at my dad during their performance: ‘Look at that long hair, look at those clothes, what kind of influence is that going to be?’ ”

Terry Abrahamson, 42, a Chicago music composer in Los Angeles to work on a film, said, “I remember the show, I remember all the screaming. I bought all their albums. Now I have three kids--7, 5 and 2--and they’re getting into it (Beatles music). ‘Rocky Raccoon,’ ‘Yellow Submarine.’ There’s something about it they respond to.”

“Thirty years isn’t really that long,” said Steve Johnson, 38, a North Hollywood driver-courier. “A hundred years from now, they’ll still be listening to Beatles music.”

Correspondent Martin Miller contributed to this report.