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How long did Beatlemania last?
20 May 2019
1.10am
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Ron Nasty
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I've been requested to answer this question on Quora, and I already have my response in mind. I think it's an interesting question though, given the amount of young people here who far outweigh 50+ (age not amount, as we're way outnumbered a-hard-days-night-george-10) old farts that still spout on about them.

If you take it as the hysteria surrounding them 1963-66, you can say that phase ended when they stepped off stage at Candlestick Park in 1966 and George commented to a reporter on the flight home, "That's it. I'm not a Beatle anymore."

However, do all you youngsters on here prove that Beatlemania is alive and in good health?

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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966

20 May 2019
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The Hole Got Fixed
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'Beatlemania', the original concept, ended at Candlestick Park or not long thereafter. 

I don't think my generation proves Beatlemania still exists - rather, I'd say The Beatles are still a very popular band. Bit of a difference.

Also worth bearing in mind that many people in my generation probably couldn't name more than 1 song by the Beatles. 

 

So my answer would be Beatlemania lasted from 1963-1966, with them still remaining very popular for the 53 years since then.

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20 May 2019
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Ron Nasty
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See I would say it changed when they stepped off the stage at Candlestick Park, @The Hole Got Fixed, but it has continued.

It fascinates me how much of the more fan-girlish (for want of a better word) comments here are the same as those fans from 50+ years ago. Sometimes a little more lewd than would've been allowed all those years ago but often still as intense, and in places more-so as there is more to a-hard-days-night-ringo-6 over than all those years ago.

I often see little difference between the more fan-girlish responses to them here and those that appeared on the letters pages in The Beatles Book Monthly 50+ years ago.

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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966

20 May 2019
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The Hole Got Fixed
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You make a very good point @Ron Nasty and I agree to a degree. The reason why I wouldn't say that is purely because they aren't massively popular anymore, only perhaps mildly.

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20 May 2019
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Shamrock Womlbs
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i think Beatlemania is just asleep, it awakes as soon as a Beatle is around. Like when Paul did that visit to Liverpool and played in that pub, etc... isn't that Beatlemania?

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20 May 2019
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QuarryMan
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It seems to me that Beatlemania took a few blows from 1966 onwards, but I would say it's less a case of Beatlemania disappearing so much as morphing into the wider counterculture Revolution that was taking place in the late 60s. Though I agree that it seems to be dormant, emerging every once in a while when a Beatle does something.

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I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

20 May 2019
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ScarlettFieldsForever
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If Beatlemania only refers to obsession with the Beatles (and each Beatle), then I think we, fans on Beatles Bible and elsewhere, still qualify as solid proof of Beatlemania in the 21st century. However, I feel that the term is more often used to specifically describe the sensational fan phenomenon which swept the world during their touring years. Although nobody can ignore the Beatles' influence on today's world, there's no longer a widespread "mania" like 50+ years ago. So, I would agree that Beatlemania ceased in 1966.

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20 May 2019
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Timothy
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Even if AHDN era fans didn’t like the likes of Revolver , ending the band made them legendary and allowed the public to consider their career as one piece, even if the enthusiasm dropped off from where it had been. 

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20 May 2019
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Ron Nasty said
See I would say it changed when they stepped off the stage at Candlestick Park, @The Hole Got Fixed, but it has continued.

It fascinates me how much of the more fan-girlish (for want of a better word) comments here are the same as those fans from 50+ years ago. Sometimes a little more lewd than would've been allowed all those years ago but often still as intense, and in places more-so as there is more to a-hard-days-night-ringo-6 over than all those years ago.

I often see little difference between the more fan-girlish responses to them here and those that appeared on the letters pages in The Beatles Book Monthly 50+ years ago.

  

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18 May 2025
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I found a 12+ minute YouTube on Candlestick Park 1966 -- it says "Reconstructed".  What does that mean?

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19 May 2025
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vonbontee
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I'd say the difference between 1963-65 "Beatlemania" and present-day Beatles fandom is that current Beatles fans of whatever age would respectfully approach Ringo or Paul if they recognized either one in the street, and maybe ask for a selfie or an autograph; but they wouldn't chase after them, shrieking and tearing their clothing and pulling at their hair.

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GEORGE: In fact, The Detroit Sound. JOHN: In fact, yes. GEORGE: In fact, yeah. Tamla-Motown artists are our favorites. The Miracles. JOHN: We like Marvin Gaye. GEORGE: The Impressions PAUL & GEORGE: Mary Wells. GEORGE: The Exciters. RINGO: Chuck Jackson. JOHN: To name but eighty. 

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19 May 2025
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19 May 2025
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Sea Belt
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This might be the perfect thread for my recent mind-blowing (which remains murky in my head and full of questions).  It was triggered by watching for the first time in my life, the Candlestick Park concert -- apparently the last concert the Beatles did, in 1966.

First, it's eerie that only 2 years later (a very short time when you think of it), the Cultural Revolution would explode, and one of its epicenters would be Southern California, especially San Francisco.  Yet here are the Beatles just 2 years earlier, still wearing their stiff suits and still doing old fashioned rock (dipping their toes into a couple of Rubber Soul tunes).  How could the culture accelerate like it did so wildly and extravagantly, just 2 years later?  I can't wrap my head around it.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but after that last concert, no other pop/rock band aroused such mass screaming hysteria ever again from young girls (and boys -- we see in Candlestick footage young male teens also -- with short hair and no beards). Here they were, in San Francisco, behaving like they had back in the Beatles heyday of the early 60s.  2 years later, they'd be painting their bodies with flowers, getting high on marijuana sitting cross-legged on the floor grooving on Hendrix & Joplin etc.

And it's interesting that this seismic rupture occurred coincidentally with the Beatles deciding not to tour anymore (something I still suspect we've never been given the real full story about).

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19 May 2025
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LucyInTheSkyWithHackneyDiamonds
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Honestly you can't deny the top-notch beatlemania when fangirls were outraged and screaming after Paul quit and the Beatles broke up. A broken hearted jubilee which lasted a Long, Long, Long time.

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19 May 2025
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Timothy
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We all know the Beatles love has spanned decades but a band that has ended is different to an active, contemporary band. I’ve always thought what the hype levels would’ve been like if the Beatles remained together through the 1970s, even if just for a few years more. What does everyone else think? I get the impression that there would’ve absolutely been interest, but it would’ve dropped off a bit. Perhaps sections of the public taking them a little for granted or simply getting older and starting to have different tastes? 

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20 May 2025
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Sea Belt
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Timothy said
We all know the Beatles love has spanned decades but a band that has ended is different to an active, contemporary band. I’ve always thought what the hype levels would’ve been like if the Beatles remained together through the 1970s, even if just for a few years more. What does everyone else think? I get the impression that there would’ve absolutely been interest, but it would’ve dropped off a bit. Perhaps sections of the public taking them a little for granted or simply getting older and starting to have different tastes? 

  

I think I commented on this a long time ago, but I saw pictures for example of John and Paul scouting out places in England to film parts of Magical Mystery Tour , which would have been late 1966, early 1967.  They seemed to be able to just walk around and sit on public grass with nobody mobbing them.  It seems surreal to me that the Beatlemania hysteria would just turn off so quickly, like a faucet. 

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23 May 2025
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meanmistermustard
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I think Beatlemania was starting to fade in 1966 and they stopped in time to not have more reports of dwindling ticket sales at concerts, and I think it was starting to come across that they were less interested in playing live than ever before. The fan hysteria was still there but it was pretty much time for everyone to have a breather. 

 

@Sea Belt. Reconstructed means that the video creator has made that video by using multiple different video and audio sources to recreate it. Most of the Beatles concerts were not filmed professionally or complete and therefore whatever available footage from fans with cameras, news reels etc have been used to stitch back together what exists with the audio synced in place (if it even exists as many Beatles concerts were not recorded either). Candlestick was recorded by Tony Barrow at the Beatles request as they knew it was their last show on the last tour - tho the tape ran out before 'Long Tall Sally ' finished.

The process can take ages and there are groups of people out there dedicated to such projects for many Beatles concerts and even video promos, home footage etc. It's very impressive.

 

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