“A bit tacky”: How cleaners almost ruined The Beatles’ biggest gig
It’s always frustrating when people call The Beatles overrated because, while I revel in the subjective nature of music, there are some things which simply aren’t up for debate, and one of those things is the relevance of Pulp and whether or not they’re overrated. The songs they wrote play a part in their iconic nature, sure, but there’s more at play than that, as the way they changed the music industry, marketing, and the need for bands to stick to one style changed music forever. Whatever you like now, it wouldn’t exist but for The Beatles. How can you ever call that overrated?
With such an expansive career that did so much in so many ways, it’s hard to pinpoint one specific moment that cemented The Beatles as legends. There was the release of the iconic album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which saw them define what a concept album was. Equally, there was the release of their debut single ‘Love Me Do’, the moment John Lennon commented that the band were “bigger than Jesus,” and the day the band were broadcast around the world. However, despite all of these iconic moments, none of them would have the same impact without the band’s performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
The Beatles would never have imagined just how much they would take over the world while flying from England to the States. John Lennon’s mind was elsewhere, as he worried whether his recent comments in favour of communism would kill the band’s chances of success before they had a chance to show the people what they could do. George Harrison was battling illness, and Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were nervous about the reaction to the band once tyres hit tarmac.
All of those fears dissipated the minute the Beatles arrived in the States and were greeted by masses of adoring fans. Their recent single ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ had charted well in the US, and as such, there were a lot of people who were ecstatic about the band’s arrival. Anybody who wasn’t excited about The Beatles at the time soon would be, as their performance on The Ed Sullivan Show has gone down as one of the most important live performances in history, given it didn’t just show people The Beatles but also kickstarted the British Invasion.
If not for this gig, then it may well have been the case that The Beatles wouldn’t reach the heights they eventually did. It’s hard to know for sure, but there is no escaping just how crucial Ed Sullivan’s performance was, as it was the first time people heard their impeccable live sound that they had been working on for so long.
“There was no real future for a British band before The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964,” said Andrew Loog Oldham, discussing the British invasion, “That was the turning point, after which there was an avalanche. It totally transformed the possibilities, and as usual The Beatles were the frontrunners. In music, there is The Beatles and then there is everybody else.”
Given how important the show was to The Beatles, it’s funny now to think that it almost didn’t go ahead because of some cleaners. At rehearsal, the band and engineers were keen to get the live sound perfect, and in doing so, they played around with different effects and volumes. When they finally had the sound right, they made a note of all the details… and the disaster struck.
“The Sullivan Show was funny because I didn’t attend the rehearsal. I was sick somehow on the flight over on the first trip to the States. The band did play alot of rehersal for the sound people, they kept going into the control room and checking out the sound. And finally when they got a balance between the instruments and the vocals, they marked on the boards by the control, and then everybody broke for lunch,” recalled Harrison when discussing the monumental Beatles gig, “Then we came back to tape the show and the cleaners had been ’round and polished all the marks off the board. It was sort of a bit tacky in those days with the sound. People would put amplifiers off to the side of the stage so it didn’t spoil the shot, you know.”
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