Beatlemania
Beatlemania is a term that was used during the 1960s to describe the intense fan frenzy (particularly demonstrated by young teen girls) directed toward The Beatles, particularly during the early years of their success. The word is a portmanteau of "Beatles" and "mania". Andi Lothian, a former Scottish music promoter, claims that he coined the term in 1963,[1][2] although an early printed use of the word is in The Daily Mirror 2nd November 1963 [3] in a news story about the previous day's Beatles concert in Cheltenham. Many fans across the world were known to have Beatlemania (and were thus known as "Beatlemaniacs") which hit the United States hard after The Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. 'Beatlemania' was characterised by intense levels of hysteria demonstrated by fans both during the actual concerts played by the band (during which the level of screaming was often so loud as to completely drown out the music) and during the band's arrivals and travels to and from locations.
Similar coinage
The term later became the name of various tribute groups dedicated to singing the songs of The Beatles. These groups have had John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr impersonators.[citation needed]
The term has had a number of derivatives, usually short-lived, such as Rollermania[citation needed] in the early 1970s to describe a similar phenomenon directed at the Scottish boy band Bay City Rollers, and in the early 1980s, Menudomania [citation needed] to describe frenzy across Latin America for another world famous boy band, Menudo. Rebeldemania[citation needed] has also been used, describing the success of RBD, a Mexican pop group.
References
- ^ Mainds, Kathryn. Beatlemania was born in Dundee, The Sunday Post, January 26 2003. Accessed May 25 2007
- ^ Radio interview, Radio Tay AM. Accessed May 26 2007
- ^ > is an online text searchable archive of The Daily Mirror
