If you haven’t been Beatled out from last week’s 50th anniversary celebration specials on all sorts of stations across Australia, the best may yet be to come.
For a week, starting next Tuesday, ABC Radio will launch a pop-up radio station with all things to do with that once again famous 50th anniversary of the Beatles concert tour of Australia in June 1964. It will also be available from ABC Extra via mobile on the ABC Radio App, streamed online at abc.net.au/radio and on digital radio.
The station will feature a series of recently made programs, programs from the ABC Radio archive and the music from 1964, including:
Hindsight from RN: a program that charts the story of the Beatles down-under, with contributions from some of the people who helped to orchestrate the visit, as well as social historians, fans and detractors of the Beatlemania phenomenon which swept Australia. The version of the Beatles that Australia saw in 1964, with their mop top haircuts, and neat black suits, marked the arrival of the manufactured boy band. But did they also spark the beginning of an overdue generational and social shift in this country?
The Beatles In Australia Exhibition: Rod Quinn from ABC Local Radio visits the exhibition curated by Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum (currently on display at the Melbourne Arts Centre).
The Importance of The Ed Sullivan Show: Rod Quinn interviews Ken Womack about why the appearance by The Beatles on this popular American variety show helped feed into the high expectations surrounding the arrival of the Beatles in Australia in June 1964.
The Story of Jimmie Nicol: with Ringo Starr ill just prior to the Australian tour, he was temporarily replaced by Jimmie Nicol. What effect did those 13 days and ten live shows (four of them in Australia) have on him? And what happened to Jimmie Nicol as a result? That’s the subject of a new book by author and Beatle historian Jim Berkenstadt.
The Beatles Story: An official Capitol Records documentary from 1964 on the rise of the Beatles.
More info from ABC, click here.