FEB 9-15: Historic events this week from The Beatles, Van Halen, Black Sabbath and Bon Jovi

• • •

FEBRUARY 9, 1964: THE BEATLES APPEAR ON ED SULLIVAN

The Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first of 3 consecutive Sunday appearances.

73 million viewers tuned in to see the Beatles play “All My Loving”, “Till There Was You”, “She Loves You”, “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand”.

Two days later, on Feb. 11, they played their first US concert at Washington Coliseum in D.C. in front of 8,000 fans.

FEBRUARY 10, 1978: VAN HALEN’S DEBUT ALBUM

Van Halen’s self-titled debut was recorded in 3 weeks for $40,000. Containing “Jamie’s Cryin'”, “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love”, “Runnin’ with the Devil” and a cover of The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me”, it has sold well over 10 million copies in the US alone

FEBRUARY 13, 1970: BLACK SABBATH’S DEBUT ALBUM

It’s not a coincidence that Black Sabbath’s debut album was released on Friday the 13th.

Upon being released, the album received negative reviews from the critics.

However, the album would go on to influence heavy metal, doom metal and stoner rock.

FEBRUARY 14, 1987: BON JOVI’S “LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER” IS #1
A month before “You Give Love a Bad Name” became Bon Jovi’s first #1 single, the band released “Livin’ on a Prayer” as the second single from their massive Slippery When Wet album.

Reaching #1 on this date, “Livin’ on a Prayer” held the top spot on the charts for 4 straight weeks and sold 3 million copies.