Jimmy Rabbitt and the Beatles both arrived in Dallas at about the same time in 1964! His radio show soon filled the Dallas, Ft. Worth nites, not only with the trendy British music of the time, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Cream, The Animals, The Yardbirds, Herman's Hermits , Peter and Gordon and others, mixed in with the local stars of an ever growing Texas Music scene. He played selected top 40 hits, and mixed them with "album tracks", being played nowhere else in the country! New music by local favorites like John Fred and his Playboy Band, B.J. Thomas, The Steve Miller Band, Janis Joplin, The Five Americans, Z.Z. Topp, (then sporting blue hair, and calling themselves The American Blues!) The Sir Douglas Quintet, ( featuring old friends Doug Sahm, Augie Meyers, Johnny Perez, Frank Morin and Harvey Ragen all sporting new new Beatle haircuts and english costumes! ) Mouse and The Traps, The Chessmen, ( featuring old band mates littles Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughn ) old pals Roy Head and Johnny Winter, and many others, all credit Jimmy Rabbitt and KLIF with giving them their first break on the radio! Throw in some blues and country just for fun, and you'll get some idea of the broad scope of music the people of Texas were being offered on "the Mighty 1190" during Rabbitt's show.

Jimmy Rabbitt then still in his late teens, was also an actor who soon appeared in several movies like "High Yellow", "Sindy", "Hot Rod Fever", "Cajun Cowboy", and "Motorcyle Mamas", and his recording career in Dallas included several minor hit records like "Pushover Baby" by Jimmy Rabbitt and the karets and "Whishey Washey Woman" by Jimmy Rabbitt and the Rowdies. ( available on "Rare Texas 45's" from Pellett Music, at: http://www.therabbitt.com. )

He also just happened to be sporting one of the first Beatle hair cuts in Texas, as a result of an on the air challenge back at KDOK by Bill Young! The station showcased the handsome young d.j., in a second floor studio complete with lights and marquees, outside speakers and microphones, so Rabbitt could both talk and listen to the sounds of the city! Crowds began to gather every night when he was on the air, in downtown Dallas at the "Trangle Points" of Commerce Street, Jackson Street and The Central Expressway!

Then, to add fuel to the growing fire, Rabbitt, who was also a "Screen Life Magazine, gossip columnist", (don't ask, and he can't remember! see insert:Screen Life Mag. 1964) read internationally by millions of teens, decided that since everyone else was kissing their ass, he wouldn't! He had said, tongue in cheek, in the January 1964 issue, that he and his readers, and listeners were getting tired of the Beatles! Remember, they had 20 and 30 chart records at a time, even entire top 40 surveys made up of just Beatle hits! Rabbitt said that The Beatles would have to prove it to him and his "Screen Life People! He said. "I'm not really sure about The Beatles anymore! What if Brian Epstein had discovered a new kid named Bob Dylan, or a group called The Rolling Stones? Where would John, Paul, George and Ringo be here in 1964?" he asked his readers, "They just might be plunking around a dingy Liverpool pub, while some real English dog and pony performers are headlining Ed Sullivan's 64' Winter extravaganza!"

Months earlier, on the air one night, "the rabbitt" had responded to a story called, "Leslie Gore Is Breaking Up The Beatles", by saying that he knew she would never forsake her American fans for those guys, and that he knew for sure that she wasn't dating any one of them, because she was his girl friend, and that's why he played more of her records than their's anyway! With a little creative editing, Lesie's press kit/open-end interview became a "live" phone call to Rabbitt on the air, professing her love for him, and they both had laughed out loud about a report that the "fab four"'s American sales had peaked, and that world wide their sales were falling off! Beatle fans were furious, they were really up in arms, who was this d.j. in Dallas, who was going to marry Leslie Gore, and wouldn't play The Beatles anymore!! It all started overnight, with the station request lines jammed! Then the next day thousands of cards and letters came flooding into, not only the KLIF studios, but also the New York, London and Hollywood offices of Screen Life Magazine! Mitch Lewis, and the KLIF publicity department had started an international rumor that Rabbitt was dating the singer, and refused to play Beatle records because they were hurting his girl friends sales! By the time They arrived in Dallas for their concert, they were ready to meet this guy! When Rabbitt was taken to their room, they clicked, and he made "Beatle Reports" from their room, and he hung out with them most of the night they flew into Dallas. Then the next morning, they called his room, and granted him a taped interview, the only taped interview in Texas! While the interview was playing on KLIF the night of the concert, Rabbitt was roaming around the arena in shock at the thousands of beautiful girls screaming for these four musicians! Kids, they were kids, just like us in my band! The show was a blur, act after act, then The Cookies came on, and he remembered that someone had told John, "the Cookies last song is 'Chains', when you guys hear it, no matter where you are, head for the stage!" And then, just like in a Beatles movie, The Cookies started their song early, the show was running long, The Beatles are coming on now! And as Rabbitt later remembered, "I headed for the stage to see them come on! Charlie and Harrigan were going to bring them on, and they said they mention my name, maybe bring me up! I wanted to see that! And just as I flashed my backstage pass, and was heading onto the edge of the main stage, here come the Beatles surrounded by a sea of police! Ringo was first, and when some guy asked who is going to bring them on, he pointed to Rabbitt, and he was literally shoved onto the stage! As soon as he stepped out from behind the curtain, he was blinded, a barage of flash bulbs exploded prematurely, as thousands of screaming teen-agers spotted a young man with long hair, wearing high heel boots step out onto the stage, and just went crazy! Rabbitt remembers, "I had never heard anything like it, it was so loud, it scared the hell out of me! But at the same time, I loved it! I was never the same guy again, from then on, I was in love with the audience, from then on I was hooked! But I couldn't think, I couldn't see, I just shouted "Ladies and Gentleman, Jimmy Rabbitt, Charlie and Harrigan and K-L-I-F present The Beatles!" Then believe it or not, it got even louder! It was like an Atomic Bomb, white light and all! I was on the right side of the stage for most of the show, but I never heard a single note of music! I was blinded, and almost fell off the stage!

The Jimmy Rabbitt, "friend of the Beatles" image, with long hair, wearing Beatle boots (actually Flamenco boots borrowed from Trini Lopez's brother Jesse) on stage at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium back in 1964, was recorded forever on thousands of rolls of Instamatic film, and in the minds of every Dallas listener! It would play well over the next few years, and Rabbitt and McLendon took full advantage of it!

During those wild and crazy years from 1964 thru 1967, yes in fact right on thru the "Summer of Love", Rabbitt selected all of the music he played during his show. Gordon McLendon was quoted as saying in an interview with the New York Times, "Jimmy Rabbitt is an exception to the rule, he knows exactly what the people like, and the ratings have never been better, so why should I let a Program Director, or General Manager, who have never delivered even one listener to me personally, tell this kid "the rabbitt" what to do? He may be gone tomorrow, but he's my hero today!"

The ratings have never been better indeed! Rabbitt's share often reached 70% of the highly competetive Dallas, Ft Worth radio market! Then when McLendon made him station Music Director, his special ear began to help shape the entire Texas Music scene! Dallas became the number one "breakout" market for new hit records through the years of 1965, 1966, and 1967.