Bob Eubanks is best known as host of “The Newlywed Game” but Beatles fans are aware he holds another place in pop culture history.
Eubanks, who will be at The Sharon on Jan. 29 at 5 and 8 p.m. for a game show program, brought the Fab Four to an historic concert at the Hollywood Bowl in the summer of 1964. That was the year the Beatles conquered America after appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Eubanks, who will be in The Villages to host “Hollywood’s Greatest Game Shows,” promoted the Beatles with his partner. They spend $25,000 to bring the Mop Tops to Hollywood and the top ticket price was $7.
“The nice people at the Hollywood Bowl said, ‘Look we’re not going to be able to sell this thing out right away,’ ” Eubanks told The Hollywood Reporter. “We sold it out in three-and-a- half hours, which was a record at that time, certainly at the Bowl.”
The Beatles played for 30 minutes and the set included such early hits as “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “All My Loving” and “A Hard Day’s Night.”
Eubanks was a 26-year old radio disc jockey at the time. He also brought the Beatles to the Hollywood Bowl in 1965 and Dodger Stadium in 1966, the year of the band’s last tour.
By 1966, Eubanks sensed the Beatles were tired of live performing.
“Lennon had just made the statement that we’re more popular than
Jesus Christ and they were getting all kinds of problems with the press on that,” Eubanks told the Hollywood Reporter. “It was obvious that they were tired of each other, tired of touring and were ready to call it a day.”
Eubanks went on to host “The Newlywed Game” and “Card Sharks” and appeared on other game shows.
At the Sharon, 40 audience members at each show will have a chance to appear on stage and win cash and prizes, according the promoter.
