Did The Beatles make fans hysterical?

In the 1960s, parents, the press, psychologists, and many others were confronted with a large, terrifying, global problem: Beatlemania. In this episode, Ben talks Rich through how the world tried to make sense of the screaming, potentially hysterical, pop fan. We encounter theories of red goddesses (what were shrinks taking in the 60s?), anti-communist creeds, and Adrienne from Brooklyn that really, really loves Paul.

Show Notes Sources and Links

[Video] A taste of Beatlemania in the 1960s

[Video] CBS News reports on the Beatles in 1964

“What the Beatles Prove About Teen-agers” (1962) U.S. News & World. 24 February.

Berman, G. (2007). "We're Going to See the Beatles!": An Oral History of Beatlemania as Told by the Fans who Were There. Santa Monica Press.

Davies, E. (1969). Psychological characteristics of Beatle mania. Journal of the History of Ideas, 30(2), 273-280.

Dempsey, D. (1964). Why the Girls Scream, Weep, Flip. The path to understanding is psychological, anthropological and a whole lot besides. New York Times Magazine, 23.

Ehrenreich, B., Hess, E., & Jacobs, G. (1992). “Beatlemania: Girls just want to have fun” In Lisa A. Lewis (ed) The Adoring Audience Routledge.

Leonard, C. (2016). Beatleness: How the Beatles and their fans remade the world. Skyhorse.

Millard, A. (2012). Beatlemania: Technology, Business, and Teen Culture in Cold War America. JHU Press.

Mills, R. (2019). The Beatles and Fandom: Sex, Death and Progressive Nostalgia. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

Taylor, A. J. W. (1966). “Beatlemania—A study in adolescent enthusiasm”. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 5(2), 81-88.

Taylor, A. J. W. (2014). “The 1964 Wellington Study of Beatlemania Revisited”, Psychology, 5(15), 1844.

Van Luling, T. (2017) “11 Things You Probably Didn't Know About The Beatles, Even If You're A Superfan”, Huffington Post. 7 December.

Womack, K., & O'Toole, K. (Eds.). (2021). Fandom and the Beatles: The Act You've Known for All These Years. Oxford University Press, USA.

Note: Journal articles are often behind paywalls. If you don't have institutional access but would like a copy of these papers please email Illeffectspod@gmail.com and we will happily send you a copy

Credits:

Hosts – Rich McCulloch and Ben Litherland

Music by - Brutalust (Colin Frank and Maria Sappho), recorded and mixed by Joe Christman

Creative producer – Rachel Wood

Technical producer – Caroline Pringle

Technical production – Colin Frank