Beatlemania
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Beatlemania is a term that was used during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy (particularly demonstrated by young teenaged girls) directed toward The Beatles, particularly during the early years of their success. A portmanteau of "Beatles" and "Mania", it is claimed to have been coined in 1963 by Andi Lothian, a Scottish music promoter[1], although the first printed use of the word is in The Daily Mirror 2nd November 1963 [2] in a news story about the previous day's Beatles concert in Cheltenham. Many fans across the world were known to have Beatlemania (and were thus known as "Beatlemaniacs") which hit the United States hard after The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. 'Beatlemania' was characterised by intense levels of hysteria demonstrated by fans both during the actual concerts played by the band (during which the level of screaming was often so loud as to completely drown out the music) and during the band's arrivals and travels to and from locations.
The term later became the name of various tribute groups dedicated to singing the songs of The Beatles. These groups have had John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr impersonators.
The term has had a number of derivatives, usually shortlived, such as Rollermania in the early 1970s to describe a similar phenomenon directed at the Scottish boy band Bay City Rollers, and in the early 1980s, Menudomania to describe frenzy across Latin America for another world famous boy band, Menudo. Rebeldemania has also been used, describing the success of RBD, a Mexican pop group.
One can envision the dimensions of the original Beatlemania during its peak year in 1964 by looking at the unprecedented sales figures caused by it. During 1964, The Beatles sold over 30 million records in America alone, at one stage holding the top five positions in the singles chart.[citation needed]
- ^ Mainds, Kathryn. Beatlemania was born in Dundee, The Sunday Post, January 26, 2003. Accessed May 25, 2007
- ^ > is an online text searchable archive of The Daily Mirror