An auspicious day, February 12th, looking back at pop culture milestones that made their first appearance on this date. In 1964, The Beatles gave their first live concert in NYC at Carnegie Hall. They had been on Ed Sullivan on February 9th and a record 73 million people had watched. But not everyone was impressed. The NY Times talked to Ed Sullivan's musical director, Ray Block, who said about The Beatles: "The only thing that's different is the hair, as far as I can see. I give them a year."
Then there was the debut of "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin on this date in 1924 at NYC's Aeolian Hall, with Gershwin himself at the piano. The Times critic wrote that "this composition shows extraordinary talent" but he said the composer was "struggling with a form of which he is far from being master." D'oh!
It just goes to show that when you make sweeping critical judgments, you're going to be wrong some of the time. With that in mind, we'll try to stay on the charitable side of things around here. Whatever happened to The Beatles, anyway?
This compilation/remix, created for a Cirque du Soleil show, has the feel of a brand-new Beatles album. And the title -- "Love" -- makes it a perfect Valentine's Day gift.
written on Monday Feb 12, 2007
on this day,
2/12,
debuts.
