The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand REACTION 

They were not Elvis. They were new and they were ours. As a 13 year old girl when I first saw them, it was an amazing time. No internet. We heard the music, saw some photos, but this was the first time we got to see them live. They were cute, young, different from Elvis. They belonged to us! Yes, their early music was geared to young girls, but it certainly evolved over the years.💕

I was watching this as a 13 year old. You have to remember that boy/girl love songs was about all that was happening. And the Beatles wrote numerous perfect boy/girl love songs... until they started to grow, grow grow. And they took all of us fans on a wild ride to something like enlightenment and self-awareness. It wasn't perfect but plenty of their songs were. As for the excitement among females, let me give you an example. The next day after the B's first Sullivan show appearance I was in music class. My teacher was a stern, humorless, dried-up older woman who wore stockings that looked like steel pipes. She walked into class that day with a beaming smile and spent the entire class talking about the Beatles and the power of music. She'd gotten a goddamned hairdo! The class was flabbergasted! For myself? I learned to play guitar, formed a popular band, and spent my whole life to this day playing and working in rock and pop music with considerable success. Thank you John, Paul, George, and Ringo for putting me on a path to a life in music. Sorry for the interminable comment BUT I just want to say thanks for the reaction. The excitement was real and it exploded around the world like a benign nuclear reaction, if there could be such a thing. The Beatles went from a local phenomenon to the best known people in the world in a couple of weeks. It was pretty exciting.

You really can’t help but smile while watching this, how young and fresh faced they all look too! 😊

The Beatles were a phenomenon. It was real.

You’ve hit the nail on the head! They were the boy band of the time but so much more talented.

I believe this was their second appearance during their first visit to America.February 1964 an historic date in music history

Many years later, Paul McCartney admitted that the early batch of love songs that he wrote with John Lennon were marketed directly at the teenage girl market, so songs such as "Love Me Do," "Please Please Me," "From Me To You," "She Loves You," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," etc., were constructed for that purpose. Starting with "Help," however, the subject matter of their songs started to diversify, and by late 1965/1966, they were starting to go psychedelic.

In '63, Pop music, mostly American, was winding down, and in November JFK was killed, making the country a basket case. Then, to the rescue, came The Beatles, in January of 1964, with a new, more upbeat vibe...and people drank it up. And it was healing. Love yer show and reactions!

I was 9 at that time, I remember distinctly sitting in front of the TV set when this came on, as close as I could get! Me and my friends were Beatle Fans -- I still own all of my original Beatle memorabilia from then. When they performed in Milwaukee, I begged to go but alas too young and never got to go!! I made up for it many years later just to see Paul McCartney & Wings play in Milwaukee in the pouring rain, but I didn't care! They called George Harrison the quiet one, you could see it clearly on this video. He had an early solo song called "Do You Want To Know A Secret" -- check it out.

You mentioned a similarity in their early music. I think what their early songs had in common is that were either slow or fast songs to dance to, which was the original purpose of club bands. As their fame and amazing catalog grew, the focus shifted to watching them perform their hits and then on listening to their evolving music on their albums. The lead guitarist is George Harrison, considered the quiet one of the group.

This was their first #1 song in America. This was their first live performance in America (this was from the first of 3 appearances on Ed Sullivan in a row - John’s mic was really low this first show) and 73.3 million people were watching. In 1964, when a lot of people still didn’t have TVs! It was nearly 60% of the population, which included my 8 and 9 year old parents. I’ve grown up hearing all about it, how it changed everything. I’ve grown up on them since birth because of my parents but really wish I had been alive to witness it first hand. I caught the tail end of Wings but I was in diapers lol. So I’ve always loved McCartney. 🫶🏽

In 1963 and 1964 with a lot of "oh girl", "You girl" "love" "and other teeny bob sensibilities. The music market for rock was all teens. They were targeting their market. As they got older, they helped mature their audience as they did.

They harmonized incredibly ❤Beatles live on!

They progressed from I Want To Hold Your Hand all the way to The Long And Winding Road with stopping off points everywhere in between in the universe of music, in less than 6 years. George was 26 when they broke up.

I was 6 years old, sitting on the living room floor, watching that performance on the big old console TV! It is hard to describe the excitement the Beatles brought, but it was palpable. I was at an age where I thought boys were gross, LOL, but yet was in love with these guys. I think it was a combination of hair we had never seen before, the English accents and as you said, music that just made you happy!! 3 Early songs I think you would really enjoy are "All my Lovin", "Twist and Shout" and "Please Mr. Postman". 😊😊😊

To answer your question, all popular songs were about this topic. They were just doing what everybody else does.

There will never be another band quite like The Beatles and I was lucky enough to grow up with them. ❤

They released “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” on October 17, 1963. Elvis was singing about girls, love and all the goods that go with the show way before 1963! Hey! They all got high on women. Men still do today. Lol😊

I love all your reactions so much. You have an infectious smile and you seem like a very pleasant person. I wish you continued good work.

Great music, Mayoman. Keep it up. 👍

Great Reaction! It sure brought back memories!! I was 9yrs old when this was going on, so I was a little too young to really get into the actual "Beatlemania" frenzy (although they were undoubtedly a big part of my whole generation's growing up experience). I did have my own favorite bands a few years later, and though most of them did not elicit the emotional levels that the Beatles had, teenage girls definitely had VERY STRONG emotional responses to many of bands!

I have to straighten this out for you, Michael. When the Beatle songs first came to the U.S., we had never heard songs with such a back beat. The kind of beat they brought in their songs was brand new!!!! It was a whole new sound that we LOVED. Then, we saw pictures of them on the covers of the 45rpm records or albums and the teen magazines. When we saw their long hair (as compared to the Bobby Darin, Bobby Vee, Dion look) we thought "wow, they are soooo cool". We saw them in magazines, on the news, and everywhere in photos before they came on Ed Sullivan. We heard them on the radio all day every day. We knew all the words to their songs. I had their pictures plastered on my bedroom wall cut-out from teen magazines and I was under the age of 12. Then, when they finally came on Ed Sullivan the next year (1964), not only was the audience screaming, we were going crazy in our own living rooms as well. It wasn't so much about the love songs, it was the new sound and the new look, and our ability to finally see them live. The fact that our parents didn't like their long hair made us love them even more. Hope this helps.

`hi michael, hope you're good.i think it had more to do with the fact that this was totally new and their parents didn't approve. i'm a female, although i wasn't there then, and i can't imagine going so stupid that i couldn't hear the music or end up with a banging headache. i think you should try, help, we can work it out or penny lane, or elanor rigby, i could go on and on lol. another cool reaction michael, especially like how you're digging into the thinking of the artist when the song was originally written.

You are a wise young man with your astute reaction analysis. I am glad I subscribed. Rock on!

I think I cried watching this on Ed Sullivan! I was 8 years old and I was hooked. George Harrison was my favorite, still is, all these years later.

Their songs were love-dominant which was the fashion of the time. The Beatles melodic talent was always clearly on display. But their innovative, unique musical perspective made an increasing presence with the passing of the years. In each successive album, there was a greater breadth of instrumental and lyrical sophistication.

It's because they were cutting edge at the time and at least for Americans, they were from across the pond and they had so much energy and they were really tight. But they had large numbers of fans from around the world.

They simply evolved with the times and the music changed a lot!

It was the hair ❤

Thank God we did not have the internet back in the 60s. We had "The Ed Sullivan Show"! 73 million people were watching that Sunday night!! Ed Sullivan was on Sunday nights on CBS for 27 years. Absolutely every famous person at the time appeared on his show. From movie and Broadway stars to sports figures to music legends to opera stars to icons of dance to political leaders to religious leaders to circus and acrobat stars, etc. Every Sunday night was an event. And we watched it faithfully as a family. I miss those evenings.

It was greater than you can imagine.

Early days were pop rock sounds that were very unique and fresh with the most beautiful Melodies. They radically changed over the years

The Beatles were my introduction to Rock n Roll & music in general. Have been a fan of The Fab Four ever since! This song started it all in America. Odd note, don't think this song lasted three minutes...wow! Way to go Michael, right on! 👍😎

Interestingly, with every appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show the NYPD recorded an actual DROP in crime rate during the time The Beatles appeared.

They renewed the world, not just the music. Their wardrobe, their haircut, their joy, their freedom, among a world of old-looking people, it was like throwing the house out the window. These are their first songs, and you can see their fun watching the mess of people screaming and having fun. They were a party where they presented themselves. I was 14 years old. Best regards from Chile ☺️💖🇨🇱

The Beatles arrived for the first time in America two days before this performance. Excitement was at a fever pitch. Close to half the televisions in the entire US were tuned in for this show.

Love The Beatles! 🥰🥰🥰

I was a pre- teenanger when the Beatles came hit America. My musical tastes as a teenager ran to the Doors, and the Beatles were producing albums like Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road.

I was going to say it was not just the "young" girls- LOL

You have to understand the times. JFK had been shot in Dallas. The Beatles I wanna hold your Hand Made it to number one on the USA charts. When they hit number 1 they were ready to come to the USA. I was 6 years old when I saw them on the Ed Sullivan show. It was all Beatles for me after that.

They evolved in real time and never stood still . The evolution in the 7 years at the top from 63 to 70 is just mind blowing. There will never be another band like The Beatles it just cant happen. It did and changed everything... Phenomenon.

This is the Performance and Song that Charged Everything. There music was so different than anything before them, they wrote their own songs and on this Performance Feb 14, 1964 played live ( the first rock band to do so, not back up band or lip Sync...) other groups did not have the ability or talant to do that. Not, thier first hit, but the first in America...i can not describe what they brought to the table. Also, i resent it when you call them a "boy band" . They were in their 20s, wrote their own songs, all could play their instruments great and played for hours at a time in the Red Light District of Hamburg, Germany....so not a boy band!

Did you know that the Bealtes sang in german language, too? I mean: At the beginning they lived, spent and played some time in Hamburg (GER) ... It just came to my mind, as a german version of this song is avaible: The german version of "I want to hold your hand" is called "Komm gib mir Deine Hand!". The other german song is called "Sie liebt Dich!" (aka. "She loves you"). Check it out! It's no fake, it's no AI, .... it's the Beatles singing german. Pretty well compared to Elvis, who tried to sing in german as he was living in Germany while he war in the Army. Elvis recorded "Muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus" and the video (half english, half german) with a wooden puppet doll is kind of creepy! XD

IN 1963, nobody looked like they looked and sang what they sang. It was an era that was open to a big change in music. I know it must be hard to see it from 2024 what was going on before 1963 musically but really, trust me, this was innovative. And of course, they are cute with Beatles haircuts, matching Teddy-boy jackets, stove-pipe pants, etc. They were fresh and amazingly the whole world found them as Marshal McLuhan was writing in his book published in 1964 "The world is a global village"! :) The world was opening up and what one side of the world saw, the other side of the world saw too, not months or years later, but immediately.

The guys went crazy too

I have been listening to The Beatles since I was 5 years old (now 61) and LOVE them ! I never thought about what u said in the beginning about the love songs they sang in the beginning of their band days bringing the young girls into loving them. I think u r so correct😊 Seriously wow🎉

I finally got to see Paul McCartney a couple of years ago and believe me, the audience acted exactly the same! The man was two weeks from turning 81 years old and he stood up there for three hours straight! Best day of my life in terms of music! One more thing checked off my bucket list! BTS is next! ❤️💜

I can remember watching this when it was first broadcast. It was the evolution of a new era in music.

For boys, the realization that girls go wild over rock musicians if you only got a guitar or drums was a great idea. For girls it was the love songs and the uniqueness of their English accents and cuteness. It was a time of rock awakening and thank goodness it was or we wouldn't have the progress in rock music that we witnessed afterward. If only artists were as influential AND progressive today

they were just new, and had sweet songs (as compared to rap and hip hop songs of today). This was one of their first big hits here in the USA. Just the genre back then, similar songs from groups like Herman's Hermits (I'm Henry the 8th)--the British invasion. Kinda perfect for the times, because not long before, JFK was assassinated and the country was still in shock. I loved the Beatles cover of Mr Postman and Twist and Shout.

I washed every dirty dish in the house when I was 13 to buy this album. Two months later I had to jump out of my bedroom window to escape our burning home. Lost everything. I mourned that album for years. I worked hard to get a record player then I focused on that album!

Dude, I remember very clearly. I went to the movies to see the Beatles first film. The screaming in that Brooklyn theater was so loud I couldn’t hear the dialogue. I had to go back days later to see it again and it was better so I could hear the cleaver, witty dialogue.

They were the beginning of rock n roll coming from Liverpool. They started the long hair days with the Beatles haircut. Saw them live at RFK Stadium in Washington DC in 1965. Great show, I was in nosebleed seats but still great show.

Yes, The Beatles started composing boy-girl songs, and after hearing Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" they realized songwriting could be so much more. Contrast this reaction to "A Day In The Life" or "She's Leaving Home".

I was a kid going to a very strict Catholic school when this came out. They were always having some kind fundraisers and this one, that devestated me, was a talent show. My mother and her friends sang this wearing Beatle wigs.

I was almost 5 but I remember seeing this show we watched ed Sullivan every we and I remember my older sisters screaming at the tv

Please try and wrap your head around the fact that this was all NEW to ALL of us. We never experienced anything like this! Our minds were going crazy with joy, euphoria, love delight etc

Look at the Beatles, We can work it out 👍🏻😊

I remember watching this on The Ed Sullivan show

They started out with this music because they were young. This is when they were their best.

The Beatles first hit of sorts was a skiffle uptempo version of my Bonnie with tony Sheridan on the lead vocals. Worth a listen it’s great

Remember this is early 1964 and everything about them was totally new. Also the studio versions of the songs sounded better than the live versions. They came on the scene not with one or two hits, but a whole slew of them, and two albums full of good songs, and then a third a month or two later.

It's hard to fathom without being part of it. Imagine you're a teenager, having drunken corporate eggheads shoving 2nd rate music down your throat, and you see what you just saw; four guys from across the water, from working class families just like yourself delivering tight, catchy, truly rock music based on the subversive blues and rock from the "forbidden" parts of America. They wrote their own songs and played it themselves! Then you come to find out these guys aren't playing by the corporate rules, aren't playing the corporate music, aren't wearing the acceptable clothes and hair. They have their own ideas and values. THEN you come to find out they aren't one-hit-wonders like so many artists that come and go. YEAR AFTER YEAR they continue to evolve and put out hit after hit and you mature as they mature. They experiment as you experiment. Each album different than the last. Their last album was better than their first. This just never happened before and it hasn't happened since. Even the greats never put out #1 hits every 6 months for 8 years. There was security in being a Beatles fan. Going their way was the RIGHT way and they didn't just talk. They delivered!

Pheromones. The Beatles were the first band to pump pheromone spray into the audience. Nobody realized it at the time, but it was ingenious.

you have no idea how radically different these guys were

They simply grew as songwriters and adults.

On the album Rubber soul they have a song called " Run for your life" that kind of ends their days of being "nice boys "

Has anybody recommended "And Your Bird Can Sing". Lennon dismisses it as a throw-away song. Yet I and others just love the moments of sublime harmony. It's mid-Beatles at their prime if you ask me. Then there's their song "Rain" from the same era which was released as a single and not on an album until later in compilation albums.

You should have seen them perform in Shea stadium. Sound decimals were off the chart.

I've seen an interview with the young lady that everyone comments must've been in her 30s, but she was apparently 15 or 16 and just dressed up to look older.

I feel a lot of people (reaction channels),are short-changing themselves on the Beatles live... The Ed Sullivan Show which was a TV Show in a Tv studio , if you want to get a sense of The Beatles live, listen to the Hollywood Bowl and pick a song. It'll give you a good enough recording and get a sense of the excitement of the time

I don't believe it was because they were singing love songs it's because it was totally new. It was like a more rock version of the Everly Brothers, more electric.

I've seen footage of a young Sinatra with girls in the audience going crazy in the same way. Like The Beatles, he had " it."

I think they affected girls in a good way a certain evil politician is affecting idiots in a bad way.

It wasn’t love songs....Everyone loved them! They were like from another world...they stared the English Invasion!

Maybe if you did number 1s of the 60s it will give you a better idea of the music before the Beatles!!!!

All we had was a 12 inch black and white TV. No color TV

You can hear the nervousness, a little pitchy...or maybe they truly couldn't hear each other? British bands never do well in the US, but Ed Sullivan was kind of a huge thing for them...for anybody actually. Ed had seen what was going on in Europe. It was chaos. Beatlemania. Yes, the Beatles appealed to a wide age-range. Older women going nuts was not uncommon. My dad was kind enough to let us watch this. We've watched this variety program before and the audience has always been relatively polite and appropriate. I had never seen anything like this. And so..... Many, many, and maybe too many books have been written about what? A 1960s pop band?? It sounds preposterous and yet persists. You can read about it or listen to the music videos, etc. There's even video games. How do they keep attracting attention generation after generation? Well, they were pretty darn good, after all. Yet, nothing will ever be quite as personally relevant as having actually lived during their time, unfortunately. Somehow, the Beatles broke through against the odds and became worldwide. Other British acts broke soon after. Sure, the Beatles were smart...or at least their manager was. He cleaned them up so that they were somehow wholesome. They broke into the music market with the safe and approved generic pop lyrics. They were imitating musical acts from the US...and Love sells. (Look at almost all of McCartney's entire solo career) And those ever catchy melodies. Did you say they write their own material?? Nobody does that!! Even their throwaways have some merit. And they get magnificently better with each album. After they quit touring, they left everyone in the dust. It's quite striking. And it's all extensively documented. IMO, the one thing outside of their dominance of the charts, and the one thing that greatly helped to ensure their dominance of the charts was a strange symbiosis they had with the audience that no other group could maintain. Either the Beatles grew up with their audience or the audience grew with the Beatles. Most would say that the Beatles pointed the way in so many facets of the society and recording industry of the time. I'm so glad these moments were preserved so that later generations can at least see that this really did happen and it's not some rambling statement emanating from some old coot (he said without a shred of self awareness). I hope you enjoy your trip through this catalog.

hello from Joe Nania

This, and "She Loves You" were the quintessential songs that defined Beatlemania in the early sixties. But you need to listen to the official singles to appreciate their true effect on our consciousness. Videos like this don't do them justice, they only give one a rough idea of what it was all about.

Unfortunately, a young person from the current time can never really understand what it was like. There hasn't been anything to really compare to it in the intervening 60 years. These early songs were not as innocent as they seem. Young teenage boys of this time could usually pick up on something sexual in the lyrics. For example, on the second chorus of the studio version of this song, if you listen carefully, John sings what sounds like "I'm NOT gonna hold your hand". We knew he was implying he would be doing some non-specific other thing. "Please Please Me" was overtly sexual to us. The live clips of this song, and others of their early recordings, do not do justice to what we heard coming out of the radio. Here is a remastered version of this song which is pretty faithful to the original. In it you can more clearly understand why our parents said that it wasn't music; they were just screaming. We were pretty sure the 'screams' were meant to be orgasmic. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v1HDt1tknTc.html

It was a real shame that a cleaner messed up the volume control on Johns mic so all you can really hear is Paul.

I think Ringo was the first to have his set raised up on a platform so he could be seen. Correct me if I'm wrong. Or maybe he popularized it.

I was a teenage girl when thse songs appeared. They were good songs but I liked other songs better. I bought their albums and liked many of their songs that were never hits. As they "matured" I liked fewer of their songs, liked some of their hits, but didn't buy any more albums.

Notice there wasn't a single foul word, idea or suggestion?

This screaming girl phenomena has been discussed many times. There’s no big secret here it’s twofold really. England and most of the world was still recovering from the effect of the Second World War and the authoritarian upbringing of their parents, many of which were still in the military. The Beatles and rock and roll broke down those barriers so people could be enthusiastic about life again. There’s songs were peppy and fun. The second thing was just pure biochemistry. You put four cute young men with some talent in front of a teenage girls and that’s going to happen. It wasn’t a calculus to start with these simple songs and go to the deeper more complex songs. A few years later.That was just how creativity goes. They didn’t have Sgt. Pepper in their back pocket. They also didn’t have the technology, nor the mindset or experiences to do that other stuffs. It’s just how it had to unfold.

@michaelduffy ~ I’m not sure if you’ve already reacted to it, but my all-time favorite Beatles song is “In My Life.” I’d love to see your reaction, because I love how you really listen to and appreciate the lyrics. In My Life is so simple and beautiful and yet profound. Give it a listen!

The early tunes were love songs. Later, the songs had substance.

What’s with the mayonnaise mate ?

The Beatles started as a boy band and within 5 years they were Radiohead.

I’m fairly certain that one audience member wasn’t as old as you think she’s was.

same genre: Beat-music :)

Have you watched the movie, A Hard Days Night??? You should

They were different gud to look at talented...there was no intranet the equipment wasnt as gud and everything was live and singing over the noise....so it just shows how gud they were

What's with the mayonnaise jar on your sofa???😮

My 14 year old thinks they are the greatest band ever---STILL!

If you really want to hear how the song sounds you need to listen to the studio version. Something's wrong with John's mike because John and Paul sing the lead together and you can't really hear John. Paul is singing more of the harmony part so it doesn't sound right. No one in the audience would know with all of the screaming.

That wasn't a 30 40 year old. It was a teen. Not the older women didn't like them.

Don’t you realize how historical this is you should research before you comment

“Tell me your secrets; why did you friggin do this??” Simple answer: repressed female sexuality screaming it’s way out of the box society had locked femenino libido in for hundreds of years. They started with Elvis some eight years prior, a little swing of the hips and the girls had a collective orgasm. The Beatles were not just gifted musicians and songwriters: they had a very unique sex appeal. Without fitting into the desirable stereotype of masculinity of the time, they oozed male desirability. They were all comfortable with their own powerful sexuality without necessarily being buff and cut and ultra masculine and that made them literally irresistible.