PAUL MCCARTNEY: 'EVERYONE WAS SCREAMING & CRYING!'

As the former Beatle returns to our shores, we recall the time the Fab Four came Down Under!

-  Cameron Bayley

Way, way before Taylor Swift's many eras, there were the Beatles - the "Fab Four" British pop phenomenon who defined the sort of hysteria we would come to expect from the world's biggest musical performers.

The group was at its peak of fame when it toured our shores in June 1964, taking in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide (which was added last-minute after a radio DJ organised a petition) and Brisbane.

Crowds swarmed Sydney Airport to welcome Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon, as well as fill-in drummer Jimmie Nicol (who played the earlier shows while Ringo Starr recovered from tonsillitis).

"The reaction the Aussies gave us the first time round, it was exceptional," Paul has since reflected. "You'd have to be half dead to not love it."

Wild scenes confronted the band wherever they went. In Sydney, one woman threw her child onto the back of the open truck the group was being paraded around town in (Paul helpfully handed him back), while in Melbourne, people climbed trees and swarmed the Southern Cross Hotel where the group was staying.

IT'S BEATLEMANIA!