ABSTRACT
The velocity of the Beatles' sudden and spectacular impact in the UK through 1963 was, and is, without precedent in popular music's history. After several years of performing to small, local audiences in the clubs of Merseyside and Hamburg, they had released their first single, 'Love Me Do', in October 1962. Yet despite the growth of TV ownership and the impact of rock'n'roll in the 1950s, the attention given to popular music - by both channels - was, for the most part, intermittent and desultory. In addition, several accounts have referred to the importance of a small number of television appearances in promoting and consolidating the public identification of the group. Similar claims have been made about the critical importance in the US of the Beatles' first national appearance on CBS-TV's The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. In August 1962, the Beatles were filmed at The Cavern for inclusion in Granada's lunchtime magazine programme.
