On February 9, 1964, the Fab Four from Liverpool made their first live American television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and started a peculiar type of hysteria known as Beatlemania. I grew up with the Beatles, and now, as we drive around town in our mini-van with a Beatles CD blasting, my kids are starting to sing along with me.
In 2000, Capitol Records released Beatles 1, a CD compilation of twenty-seven Beatle songs that reached number one on either U.S. or Britain music charts. The songs span all eight-years of the Beatle's recording history, starting with "Love Me Do" (1962) and finishing with "The Long and Winding Road" (1970.) This Web site is the official companion to the Beatles 1 album. Although marred by seriously bad color choices, the content is first rate. Visit for behind-the-scenes audio, video, photos and an interactive Flash video for each hit song (look under New Features.)
Sections of this Fab Four fan site are cleverly arranged as cuts on an album, each taking their title from an actual Beatles song. "I Should Have Known Better" explores and disproves "many grotty misconceptions about the Beatles held by the general public." "I've Just Seen a Face" is a gallery of Beatle photos taken by fans. Best clicks are the biographies, and the audio interviews sprinkled throughout the site.
The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. This single-page article tells their story, and includes a timeline of their lives and successes. John Lennon (as an individual performer) was inducted in 1994, Paul McCartney in 1999. You can jump to their pages by following any of the underlined links from the Beatles page. And from the Hall of Fame front page, you'll find a link to a short George Harrison memorial, as well as to the ongoing Lennon exhibition (look under Exhibitions/Featured Exhibitions.)
Calling the Beatles "the most popular, influential and enduring rock group of all time," RollingStone.com has an extensive selection of Beatlemania. Start with the biography, and then explore the sections (such as Articles, Discography and Photos) listed under Artist Info in the red column on your left. Best clicks are the reader-supplied Beatles trivia questions; there are more than a thousand of them. After answering each question, you'll not only learn the correct answer, but also how many people have tried their hand at the question, and what percentage answered correctly. You'll also be rewarded with a link to submit your own Beatles trivia question.
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
The Beatles WebsiteTime 100: The Beatles |
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