Feb. 16, 1964 - Shrieking teenage girls welcomed the Beatles to Miami Beach tonight, but the situation remained in hand. The youngsters were outnumbered by middle-aged people watching the mop-topped British performers as they appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, televised from the Napoleon Room of the Deauville Hotel. Policemen and the hotel’s security force were everywhere in the big room, but there were no incidents, in contrast to the quartet’s arrival at Miami International Airport last Thursday, when windows were broken, automobiles damaged, and youngsters cut by flying glass.
About 3,200 were in the audience. Hundreds were turned away because the seating capacity was reduced to accommodate television equipment. Sergeant Jack Tighe said about 1,000 persons holding tickets never made it inside. However, about 4,000 kids had been invited to a special dress rehearsal earlier in the afternoon.
Two people who didn’t have to shove their way in were heavyweight champion Sonny Liston and former titleholder Joe Louis. They sneaked in a back door and were ushered to their seats in the third row. Sullivan himself stepped out to see the mob, shook his head, smiled grimly, and said: “It’s the Beatles.”
Enough teenagers were let in to give squeal effect to the show. They moaned and groaned so loudly the audience couldn’t hear anything but loud drums and “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” The more the Beatles shook their shaggy locks, the louder the screams. One girl, sitting far stage right, passed out and had to be carried to the lobby during the finale.
The Beatles originally planned to return to New York tomorrow, but a band spokesman said: “We like it here, and the people seem to like us, so we’re staying on until Friday.” He said the group would return to New York that day and depart for London at 8 p.m.
