The history of music can be split into two big parts: before the Beatles and after them. The Beatles were so big, they didn’t just change music with their songs. They also changed how music business works and became a model for others to follow.
One big moment that shows how the Beatles changed everything quickly was right before their fourth album in the U.S., “A Hard Day’s Night,” came out in 1964.
The Beatles’ American Debut: A Frenzy of Buzz and Record Sales
In February of that year, the Beatles visited America for the first time. They performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, and about 73 million people watched them on TV. Many famous musicians, like Billy Joel, Tom Petty, and Bruce Springsteen, say that watching the Beatles that night made them want to be musicians too.
Because of that TV show, everyone in America wanted to know more about the Beatles. Something exciting happened with a radio station in New York City, WMCA. They got special permission to play the whole album “A Hard Day’s Night” 10 days before it was supposed to come out. This was huge because if radio stations didn’t play new and popular music quickly, they could lose listeners to other stations. Billboard magazine pointed this out in July 1964.
This whole buzz meant more than two million people ordered the album even before it was ready. According to Stephen Glynn, who wrote a book about “A Hard Day’s Night,” this album was set to be the most sold in the U.S. at that time. The album didn’t just reach number one on the charts. It also made a lot more money than expected.
The Strategic Release of “A Hard Day’s Night”
The company with the rights to the Beatles’ music for the movie, United Artists Records, saw how crazy everyone was about the Beatles. They decided to release the album in America quickly. So, the American version of “A Hard Day’s Night” came out on June 26, 1964. This album had all seven songs from the movie, plus “I’ll Cry Instead” and four musical pieces arranged by George Martin.
The U.K. got its version of the album on July 10, just four days after the movie premiered in London. The album was a big hit there too, staying at the number one spot for 21 weeks straight. When the movie finally came out in the U.S. on August 11, the album was already the most popular in the country.
Even though the album and movie were huge successes, the Beatles were still trying to understand how famous they had become. In a press conference on August 18, 1964, someone asked them what they planned to do with all the money they made. Paul McCartney answered, “Uh, dunno really. We don’t make plans.”
So, the story of “A Hard Day’s Night” shows not just the Beatles’ music’s big impact but also how everything around them was moving so fast, including how their album was released. This was a time when the Beatles were not just about music; they were changing how things worked in the whole music industry.