Beatles Arrive in Washington -screams heard 'round the world.
Frank Sinatra Jr. Kidnapping Trial – Beatles Arrive In America – February 11, 1964
News for February 11, 1964 – XTRA-AM News, Los Angeles – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Maybe as far away from July as you could get – maybe in the midst of terrorizing heatwaves, news from the dead of Winter offering the possibility of some respite. Or maybe something just to counter the glut of bad news that seems never-ending.
Whatever it is, getting an earful of what February 11th was sounding like in 1964 might take your mind off things for bit. It was a busy day from a Pop Culture standpoint. We were different people, fifty-nine years ago.
On the West Coast we were knee-deep in the high-profile kidnapping trial of Frank Sinatra Jr. – how the seemingly sure-thing kidnapping of an icon’s son thought to be airtight and foolproof managed to go haywire and backfire in grand fashion. It was not looking good for the defendants and a good chunk of the country was giving un-interrupted attention.
But on the East Coast, all was mayhem of the happier sort. The Beatles arrived in Washington D.C. for their first U.S. concert later on that day. The news reader is less than enthusiastic and offers a few digs during the newscast, but that was par for the course, this day in 1964 – not everyone was a fan, lest you forgot.
Interesting that murder suspects had their home addresses broadcast to the entire city. And we were no strangers to conspiracy theories, especially since we were just getting over the Assassination of John F. Kennedy in November and the John Birch Society was loaded with them. But even in 1964 we were desperate for distractions – dying for a bit of good news. The Beatles were at exactly the right place at exactly the right time and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
So along with news on Frank Sinatra Jr. and The Beatles on tour, that’s a bit of what happened, this February 11, 1964 as told by XTRA-AM News in Los Angeles.
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