Three things that helped spark Beatlemania in 1964

Cronkite’s decision to broadcast a report on The Beatles Dec. 10, 1963, triggered a domino effect causing Beatlemania to explode in America. Watching CBS News that evening was 15-year-old Marsha Albert of Silver Spring, Md.  She saw The Beatles performing “She Loves You” in Britain.  She loved it, writing a letter (no social media back then!) to her favorite radio station – Washington’s WWDC -- asking why can’t we have this music in America?

Disc jockey Carroll James, who had also seen the CBS News Beatles report, arranged to have a copy of their latest British hit single, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” delivered to him by a flight attendant who worked for British airline BOAC.

Exactly one week after the CBS News story -- on Dec. 17, 1963 -- James invited Marsha Albert  to introduce the song on his radio  show.  The station’s switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree with eager listeners phoning in to rave.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand” was immediately added to WWDC’s playlist and placed in heavy rotation. Next, disc jockeys in Chicago and St. Louis began playing a tape of the song.

• Complete coverage of The Beatles: 50 Years Later

Although Capitol Records was initially upset with this unauthorized playing of the song, it quickly realized it had a major hit on its hands. The song’s U.S. release date moved from January 13, 1964, to the day after Christmas 1963.  New York City’s  WMCA immediately picked it up, with rivals WABC and WINS following – all three stations placing the song in heavy rotation.

The same pattern was repeated throughout the nation.  Boosted by saturation airplay at a time when American teenagers were out of school for the holidays, “I Want  To Hold Your Hand” was an instant best-seller with over 250,000 copies sold in the first three days.  By January 10, 1964, Capitol had sold over one million units.

• More on the Night That Changed America at CBS.com

Vee-Jay and Swan also piled on. These labels had earlier taken The Beatles when Capitol and others would not.  They reissued their Beatles records, “Please Please Me” and “She Loves You” -- flops when first issued several months before.

So, by the time the Beatles arrived in New York City on Feb. 7, 1964, they  were not only the talk of the town, but  of the entire nation.

• More on the Beatles from CBS Local
• Win tickets to the live event at the Ed Sullivan Theater on Feb. 9

The full story of The Beatles' first U.S. visit and how Beatlemania evolved in America can be found in Bruce Spizer’s book "The Beatles Are Coming! The Birth of Beatlemania in America." Bruce has been posting a history of what was going on with The Beatles 50 years ago on his website, www.beatle.net.