Why Beatlemania A Look at What Lead to Britain and America s Obsession with the Beatles
To fully understand the reason for Beatlemania and why its impact was so profound, one must go back to America and Britain in the 1950s. Britain had not recovered from the effects of World War II and as a result economic hardship and shortages of goods and services were widespread throughout Britain. America, however, was flourishing. ... There was little mobility in Britain as most could not afford a car, the choice of radio stations could be counted on the fingers of one hand, all of which catered to the parents, not the youngsters. ... They were completely out of touch with the needs and wants of the youth audience and did not recognize a Britain outside the confines of London and the ‘home counties’. Out of this atmosphere, however, emerged a new type of music called ‘Skiffle” which was unique to Britain. ... S origin. ... Lonnie Donegan popularized Skiffle in Britain and was an inspiration to the country’s youth. ... S imports, London and the south of Britain began producing such acts as Adam Faith, Marty Wilde, Johnny Leyton, Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard were very popular. ... In Liverpool, the music played was a blend of American product performed with a touch of the famous ‘Mersey’ humor and individualism, a term which had been adopted by Britain’s press. ... In the United States, the roots of Rock n’ Roll were a lot more explicit than in the second-hand aspect they had taken in Britain. The mixture of Blues and Country that had been created in the 50s by performers such as Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry into a genre that mainstream WASP America found threatening when their children came to embrace it as an expression of their culture.