OFFICIAL WABC BEATLES FAN CLUB CARD
When the WABC disc jockeys first heard "Fab Four" records in 1963, they were hardly impressed. Comments were made like "stupid name for a rock group" and "no way". The WABC DJ’s were not alone in that assessment. There were many in both the music and the radio industry who felt the same way. Their opinions changed quickly.
By 1964 The Beatles had their first number one song in the U.S. with "I Want to Hold Your Hand", followed immediately by "She Loves You". Still, there was enough skepticism about them so that Sid Bernstein, a concert promoter, booked them in Carnegie Hall rather than Madison Square Garden for their first New York concert. It was a mob scene. On February 7 they appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" which resulted in the largest television audience for an entertainment program up until that time. The enormous response to these incidents convinced program director Rick Sklar that The Beatles success was going to be WABC’s success.
Of course, WABC was not the only New York radio station trying to jump on The Beatles bandwagon. So were WINS and WMCA. Competition was intense for everything The Beatles did from releasing new records to their visits to New York. At WINS, Murray "the K" Kaufman dubbed himself the "Fifth Beatle" and WMCA battled WABC for every exclusive. This created one of the great radio station battles of all time. The prize for the station that could ultimately outdo the others and attract that huge "Beatlemania" audience was going to be the ratings winner. And, they all knew it.
For its part in the rivalry, WABC was up to the challenge. Specific Beatles jingles were commissioned from PAMS centered around the theme "W A Beatle C". These jingles were attached to every Beatles record played. There were Beatles look a like contests, poster contests, and name your favorite Beatle contests. WABC even gave away a giant photo of The Beatles that was used as a backdrop for the ABC show "Shindig".
... When The Beatles played at Shea Stadium in 1965, WABC ran a contest for a listener to design a medal to honor the group. "The Order of the All American" medal was awarded to each of The Beatles by Bruce Morrow. Again, the remote microphones were invaluable in giving WABC easy access to The Beatles in their hotel room for the awarding of these medals. It was all done over the air with much fanfare and the statement "another Beatles exclusive from WABC".
(credit: MUSICRADIO77.COM)