AUBURN - A group of very '60s-looking music fans crowded into the living room at the Cayuga Museum in Auburn Saturday afternoon, hankering after nostalgia.

Terry Hamblin was speaking about The Beatles' impact on the culture of the '60s and '70s, and some guests were willing to sit out in the hallway to listen.

A few wore their tie-dye keepsakes, including Eileen McHugh, executive director of the museum and Auburn City Historian, whose tie-dye socks were unique.

Hamblin began with a video of The Beatles' arrival on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February 1964, with the "Mop-Tops" singing "All My Loving" to a screaming teenage audience.

"People laugh at the Beatlemania that occurred," Hamlin said, "but in recent years musicologists and historians have been looking more seriously at The Beatles' impact on society and politics." He said there was a symbiotic relationship between The Beatles' music, particularly that of John Lennon, and social problems both in the United States and Europe.

"Looking at that video, the Beatles look a lot different than Ed Sullivan," he said. "In the '60s, people in their forties looked conservative. The Beatles' long hair mop-top and clothing personified the youth culture." He emphasized how that look reflected the cultural revolution and impacted it as well.

"You can't just look at The Beatles as a musical group," he said. "The Beatles were one of the first groups to transcend global boundaries. They were not only popular but critically acclaimed as well."

Hamblin, a history and economics professor at SUNY Delhi, said the exploration of the political impact of The Beatles is an untapped market for research.

Read the full report in Sunday's edition of The Citizen.