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The Beatles 40 years after the invasion
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
As you may just possibly have heard, February marks the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first trip to America. For some of us, the anniversary brings back first hand memories of the British "invasion." For others, the invasion exists only in history, as remote as the Wright Brother's first flight. (This, of course, makes members of the first group feel both privileged, and old.) 2004 is also the 40th anniversary of the Fab Four's film debut, "A Hard Day's Night," and unlike the 10th, 20th and 30th anniversaries of these events, this year fans can experience (or re-experience) both these musical milestones on the web.
The Beatles: The First US Visit is a part of Beatles.com (the band's official website), and was created to promote a DVD release commemorating the tour - but the site still has a good deal to offer visitors whether or not they intending to buy any music. Powered by Flash, the presentation uses animation and multi-media to full effect in a basic but effective website.
"Visit" opens with glimpses of photographs from the tour, punctuated with first impression quotes from each of the Beatles. (We can only imagine the feeling that Paul McCartney describes as he turned on a radio in a limousine, and heard a running commentary of the band's arrival as it was happening.) After the intro, there's a commercial for the DVD (in the form of a scrolling text box), and a link to Take the Tour, which maps out the three cities visited by the band in '64 (New York, Washington, Miami). Choosing a city generates another introductory animation (more photos, this time accompanied by such audio snippets as the Beatles telling each other to lock the car doors as they're surrounded by fans), and an index of featured events in that city. And here, we get to the main content.
Each event in each city exists as its own mini multi-media exhibition. Visitors are first presented with a brief text summary of the occasion, and are invited to contribute to - or simply explore - a "Where were you?" collection of user-supplied reminiscences. If you choose to browse, a clickable calendar will take you to entries for any specific day - accompanied in some cases by personal photographs submitted by the online contributors.
In terms of professional content, each event offers all or a combination of audio and video clips, and still photographs. Some episodes, like the press conference on arrival at JFK Airport, will be familiar to anyone who has seen documentaries about the band, but even here there may be some new material for most fans - such as a shot of the press corps during the conference, clearly enjoying themselves. (All the more impressive as they had apparently arrived at the airport with the intention of putting the British upstarts in their place.) Audio and video clips include both material gathered on the spot and later interviews.
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