“Columbus Day Madness: Hold the whiskey for me, Taylor.”
By Mahnuel Muñoz
The media is amazed by the magnitude of the fan phenomenon surrounding the pop singer Taylor Swift, and we all know that it is a phenomenon older than water. Remember Michael, the Liverpool Four, Elvis…
And it is worth remembering one of the first of our era: of course, Frank, who back in 1944 caused quite a stir in the heart of the Big Apple. Without sets that require thirty trailers, nor provocative songs, nor pelvic movements. Just a voice and an orchestra.
On October 11, 1944, Columbus Day in the United States, one of the most emblematic events of Frank Sinatra’s artistic career took place. The marquee of the Paramount Theater in New York was covered with a poster two stories high with Sinatra’s face as the main protagonist. An evening was announced in which the film “Our Hearts Were Young And Gay” would be screened, followed by performances by comedians, dancers and musicians, with the recital of The Voice as a brilliant culmination.
Sinatra fans, who at that time were numerous, began to flock to the theater box office at four-thirty in the morning. Those were difficult times to understand today; Frank gave FIVE concerts a day at the Paramount Theater (and he did so for three weeks) and the first of them took place at twelve in the morning. When the doors of the venue opened, there was a full house. After the concert, the spectators refused to leave their seats to enjoy the show again. On the street, a line of ten thousand people lost patience waiting for their turn, and around twenty thousand others wandered through Times Square to find out what was causing such a wait, with the inevitable circulatory collapse.
The law enforcement forces had to make an impressive display to take control of the situation. The figures and effects of the “Sinatramania” suggest a social revolt: almost 600 police officers and 200 detectives mobilized, destruction to the theater and the windows of the neighboring stores, and most importantly: an outrageous statement from the Department of Education. : “We cannot tolerate young women making a public display of how they lose control of their emotions“
Frank was at the top of the tops. He felt that his fame and the love of his fans would be eternal.
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