Remember When: The 1964 Frenzy Around The Beatles' Mop Top Haircuts and its Impact
“Are you going to get a haircut at all while you’re here?” a reporter asked The Beatles during their first U.S. press conference at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City on February 7, 1964. “Nope,” said Ringo Starr, followed by a “No, thanks” by Paul McCartney. George Harrison shared “No, I had one yesterday,” and John Lennon added a curt “Nope.”
The Beatles’ long hair caused bewilderment amongst the media and some public backlash by the early 1960s with kids often emulating the mop-top hairdo and facing the consequences at school and how long boys could wear their hair before being reprimanded.
When the Beatles first arrived in America in February of 1964, TIME magazine called their top halves “mushroom haircuts,” while Newsweek referred to them as “sheep-dog bangs.”
Source: Tina Benitez-Eves/americansongwriter.com
