Beatlemania in Australia

Learn about The Beatles 1964 Australian tour with Trove.

The response to The Beatles’ visit to Australia was intense. Between fainting teenagers, armed guards and Beatles themed food, The Beatles Australian tour is a stunning exploration into Australia’s social environment in 1964. 

Anni Turnbull, Collection Curator at Powerhouse Museum, explains:

'Through 1963 The Beatles gradually built up a following in Australia. By April 1964 they held the first six positions on radio station 2SM's Top 100 chart. When The Beatles finally arrived in Australia in June 1964, 'Beatlemania' had swept the world. The Beatles' 1964 Australian concerts consisted of an eleven-song, half-hour set; there were usually two shows a night.'

Media hype

Exploring the newspapers available in Trove for 1964 show just how excited, or horrified, the Australian public was about The Beatles visit.

There are many articles discussing the crowds of people turning up to greet The Beatles as they enter and leave each city, and the vast amount of police and guards required. Although, it wasn’t always easy to predict how many officers were needed. One article discusses how ‘four hundred police turned out at Kingsford-Smith airport this morning as seven fans waited to see The Beatles take off for Adelaide.’

An article titled 'Beatles' guard vastly outnumbers devotees'
'Beatles' Guard Vastly Outnumbers Devotees'The Canberra Times, 13 June 1964, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105765823

Of course, by the time The Beatles arrived at the airport, the number of fans had ‘swelled to about 150’, some of them airport employees. 

An article titled 'Beatles Fan Fined', shares the news that a Beatles fan was fined for jumping a barrier when Ringo Starr arrived. He was fined £23, the equivalent of approximately $765 dollars today. 

Not all articles sing The Beatles’ praises. The Canberra Times reported that ‘the mass hysteria associated with The Beatles represented a loss of human dignity and personality’ and ‘more mature teenagers were turning to jazz and folk music…’.

The Beatles tour was reported widely in Australian community newspapers available in Trove. The Dutch Australian Weekly, for example, published a number or articles about The Beatles. 

A newspaper article written in dutch
'Voor de Vrouw Betekenis van de opmerkelijke Beatles haardos voor de man', Dutch Australian Weekly, 26 June 1964,​​​​​ nla.gov.au/nla.news-article218818697

The biggest welcome

The reception The Beatles received from Adelaide locals was a step above the rest and it began before the tour even started. Adelaide was not originally on the tour schedule, but Bob Francis from 5AD led a petition that was signed by 80,000 people. He also corresponded with Kenn Brodziak to sing Adelaide’s praises to further convince Kenn to send The Beatles to Adelaide.

A black red and white poster advertising The Beatles visiting Adelaide with images of the Beatles on the front. Text on the poster reads 'The Beatles, Adelaide 12th June, Centennial Hall'.
Dezo Hoffmann, Beatles Adelaide reproduction tour poster, 1963, trove.nla.gov.au/work/247379235

Buying tickets was a huge event in Adelaide. A ‘This week in Adelaide’ article, mentions that Adelaide may have reached a world record for Beatlemania. 

Former Treasurer and current Chairperson of the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society (RA&HS Archives), Bob Snewin, was one of the lucky few to receive a ticket for one of the Adelaide shows at Centennial Hall. 

‘When tickets went on sale at John Martins fans slept in the queue (myself included) for 3 and 4 days to purchase tickets. Tickets were priced at one pound one shilling and I obtained a ticket (much to my joy) for the 7pm show on Friday 12 June,’ Bob said.

Tens of thousands were reported to have lined the streets to welcome The Beatles to Adelaide. Some students were given permission to get out of school for the event, while others cut class to be there.
 

Newspaper article with the headline '30,000 Greet Beatles'
'30,000 Greet Beatles', The Canberra Times, 13 June 1964, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105765782

 Erin Reardon, Museum and Archives Coordinator at RA&HS Archives says:

‘Estimates are that 250,000 to 350,000 people lined the streets from the airport to the Adelaide Town Hall to watch The Beatles drive by in an open top car… This is especially remarkable given that the population of Adelaide at the time was less than 700,000.’ 

The RA&HS Archives holds correspondence of John Martin’s, a department store chain who stepped in to sponsor The Beatles Adelaide visit when conflict over venue hire fees threatened Adelaide’s ability to host the tour. This correspondence discussed the cost of hire and crowd control conditions, including not allowing ‘stomping’ by fans. In one of the Adelaide shows, Paul McCartney asked the fans to show their appreciation by stamping their feet.

Fan mail

A painting of the Beatles on stage playing in front of a crowd
Image from 'The Beatles Image' article, The Australian Women's Weekly, 10 June 1964, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53250532

Kenn Brodziak, of Aztek Services, was the producer and promoter of the Australian Beatles tour and employed Betty Stweart to manage the publicity and Malcolm Cooke as an assistant tour manager. Kenn was in London in 1963 and signed The Beatles for an Australian tour just before they became a sensation in Germany. 

Arts Centre Melbourne is the custodian of the Australian Performing Arts Collection, including the Kenn Brodziak Beatles Collection and the Betty Stewart Collection. These are large archives from the tour and include correspondence, arrangements with hotels, letters and financial records.  Although they are not yet available on Trove, these documents can be viewed onsite at the Arts Centre Melbourne. 

An older man wearing a blue suit and maroon tie sitting at a work desk holding the Beatles Australian Tour contract and other Beatles memorabilia.
Rennie Ellis, Kenn Brodziak with Beatles contract and 1964 programme, 1994, trove.nla.gov.au/work/167530473

Claudia Funder, the Research Coordinator of Collections at Arts Centre Melbourne shares some of the highlights they hope to make available in Trove one day. 

Kenn Broziak’s collection contains a variety of letters from people and local governments asking The Beatles to visit their town. The letters were personally responded to by Kenn Broziak or Malcolm Cooke who politely declined the invitations. 

They received several insistent and heartfelt letters from Miss Carol Broderick asking them to come to Tasmania, including a thank you note once the tour ended. In Malcolm’s response to this final letter, he says that, should they bring The Beatles back in 2 or so years, they will include Tasmania on the Tour. 

‘This is a lovely little vignette of responding to a fan and after so many responses in the negative, a little glimpse of hoping they can grant her wish in the future. It is also the only evidence I have found around thoughts of the company doing a second tour,’ says Claudia.

Other letters include questions like ‘are the tickets on sale yet?’ and ‘how do we set up a Beatles fan club?’ One annoyed parent wrote: ‘how dare you sell tickets to my underage daughter for this show’. 

An image from a newspaper article with a group of people wearing Beatles fan club uniforms.
Kerry Yates joins... FAN CLUB FOR THE BEATLESThe Australian Women's Weekly, 1 April 1964, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55472130

One letter from the Betty Stewart collection reads:

‘Dear Kenn, this letter is being typed at 10pm. It is now impossible to get any desk work done during the day as phone rings continually from 8am and as I am making personal calls on all press to ensure everything is right for “B” day, the day slips away…’

Beatles Memorabilia

Two people looking at a scrapbook filled with newspaper articles about the Beatles.
Beatles material from the collection at the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia (RA&HS Archives).

Beatlemania consumed Australia and businesses were no exception. A record shop in Sydney created a homemade shop display to promote The Beatles during their tour. This is held at the Powerhouse Museum and Anni Turnbull explains its significance:

‘The suits worn by the figures suggest the display is consistent with this date and a time before 1965 when The Beatles clothing began to change in style. Possibly made by the shop owner and used for the promotion of Beatle records and the Australian Beatle tour in 1964, it’s quite a unique form of product signage, with moving figures powered by a small electric motor.’

Artistic creations of the Beatles all holding instruments in front of some mountains.
Beatles shop display, 1963, trove.nla.gov.au/work/247389293

There was a diverse range of Beatles merchandise that could be obtained. You could get Beatles broaches, dolls, scarves, mugs, badges, t-shirts and more. 

‘…even the bed linen on which the band members had slept was cut into three-inch squares and sold,’ says Anni.

Beatles wigs were also quite popular, even before the tour. In January, three Australian tennis players were photographed wearing The Beatles wings between matches at the Australian Championships. 

A rare piece of merchandise that was created specifically for the Australian tour was a local Beatles chocolate bearing the image of The Beatles. 

A blue background with the Beatles heads above the words 'The Beatles © Seltaeb Inc.'.
MacRobertsons Pty Ltd, Food packaging label featuring The Beatles, 1964, trove.nla.gov.au/work/247396401

Some fans also got creative. On Wednesday 13 May 1964 The Australian Women’s Weekly published instructions on how to make a ‘Beatles Tea-Towel Blouse’ and provided a variety of Beatles party food for people to try and make. 

A burger patty with lettuce at the top replicating hair, two egg slices replicating eyes, a piece of onion replicating a smiling mouth and tomato wedges replicating ears. The words 'Beatle Burger' are underneath the image.
'BEATLE PARTY FOOD', The Australian Women's Weekly, 13 May 1964, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55185376

‘One of the more “unorthodox” items in our Beatles collection is what is commonly referred to as “The Beatles Urinal.” This urinal was in the green room of Centennial Hall that performers used, meaning hundreds of international stars and thousands of performers would have used this item. None of them, however, were bigger than The Beatles,’ says Erin.

For more information

'Event of the yeah' newspaper article with an image of the Beatles sitting together talking to the press.
'Event of the Yeah', The Australian Women's Weekly, 24 June 1964, nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51399142

The Australian Performing Arts Collection at Arts Centre Melbourne can be accessed on request. If you’re in the area, contact the Arts Centre Melbourne Research Centre for more information.

You can find out what other Beatles items the RA&HS Archives has by contacting them through their online form

The Powerhouse Museum has a great Beatles collection on Trove and more on their website. They also have a research centre where you can access more information about their collections. 

There is so much to find about The Beatles in Trove. Find more newspaper articles, interviews talking about the Australian tour books and magazines. What can you find?