The Beatles began their first and only tour of Australia 60 years ago this week. It remains a landmark event in our social and cultural history.
The Beatles spent almost three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. Touching down in a wet and cold Sydney on Thursday June 11 1964, they played 32 concerts in eight cities: first Adelaide (where drummer Ringo Starr, suffering from tonsillitis and pharyngitis, was replaced by Jimmie Nicol), then Melbourne (with Starr again), Sydney, Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch and two final shows in Brisbane on June 29 and 30.
Charming and irreverent as they were, The Beatles themselves were only part of the reason the tour was so memorable.
