It has been fifty years since our Liverpool lads touched down on Australian soil for the first time in what was hailed amongst fans and music commentators as the cultural shift of a lifetime. Now for the first time ever the archive footage of the 1964 Australian tour has been released by EMI records of their first and only ever tour of Oz.

From the 11th of June 1964 the Beatles played for 13 days in the country, travelling to 20 shows including Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. An article in the Sunday Herald explains how at the time Australia was cut off from the world with overly expensive overseas travel and international communication.

These clips showing the highlights of the tour show a country rocked by the appearance of what were the most influential music stars of the century. A news reporter can be heard saying “An assurance has been given that police will to everything in their power to help the fans see The Beatles”.

This footage not only displays the iconic band arriving amongst screaming fans in a media frenzy, but also the beginning of the spread of communication, news, music and a sharing of cultures. The Beatles are historically renowned for changing the face of music by means of experimenting with effects, live systems and recording techniques, but also as you can see for the ability to traverse the global gap and bring their music to the furthest reaches.

In today’s world The Beatles are still celebrated, but remain some of the few iconic bands yet to appear on Spotify, which can be argued to be the modern equivalent to music sharing and has now been granted access to The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Pink Floyd who failed to appear on the site in its earlier beginning.