Tomorrow, Feb. 7, should by all rights be a national holiday. I've said this for years but, hey, I guess the right people weren't listening. Tomorrow will mark the 45th anniversary of the Beatles' arrival at Idlewild Airport in New York. Thousands of teenagers greeted them, their press conference wit and energy won over the American press, and two days later they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, at which point, "it was on."
As one of the primary catalysts for what has come to be called "The Sixties," the Beatles' eventual influence on world culture is practically immeasurable. That decade and the wrenching changes it brought have been mocked during a now decades-long conservative backlash, but the fact is that life for you, dear reader, would be a lot less free, diverse, democratic and creative if "all them changes" hadn't happened. The guys who spearheaded, and came to represent, that cultural earthquake should get proper recognition.
OK, that's my Beatles spiel for this year. Have a great weekend; tomorrow never knows.