On some national subconscious level the Beatles manifested as the perfect LBJ antidote. The music was central, no question; but the music did not invoke the mania. It was the visual. The music created a multi-billion dollar industry — but it was their collective image that created Beatlemania. On a family trip to Iowa in January 1964, a mere two weeks before the Sullivan show aired, I heard the Beatles on a car radio. The music made not a dent. You had to see them.  [ read more ]