Song 602: This week on the playlist you can hear I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. On Monday, February 10, 1964, while at junior high school, I kept hearing a word that I thought referred to a particular insect. I didn't partake in these conversations so I did not know the context of the mentions, and I considered the possibility that they might point to a remarkable new version of VW's most popular model, since it seemed unlikely that an insect species would stimulate extended discussions in the middle of winter in upstate NY. When, a couple of days later, I finally asked my playmate buddy what everyone was talking about, he found it amusing that the supposed smart kid of the neighborhood did not have a clue about that week's top story. My family and I had missed The Beatles' U.S. TV premier, and so, when Sunday night rolled around again, all 7 household members gathered in the living room just before The Ed Sullivan Show hit the airwaves. Soon after the Fab Four took the stage, my older brother said, "This is just junk. Let's turn this off!" My parents and grandparents strongly agreed with him, but my younger brother and I felt captivated by what we had seen and heard, and we insisted on watching the entire segment, so we all did. The quartet closed their set with this 45, which had already hit number 1 in the U.S. by mid-January. So now I'll tell you something I think you'll understand - before that February 1964 moment, I might have enjoyed the orchestra and chorus rambles that I had ridden along with as a team player, but I had not imagined any specific kind of musical future for myself personally. The night John, Paul, George and Ringo rocked my world, they also gave me a resounding example of a melodic way that I could jazz up my own life by riding the notes.
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