Beatlemania redux A small but significant slice of the Beatles’ magic came back in 1986 with release of the classic John Hughes teen flick "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” wherein Matthew Broderick’s title character lip-syncs the early Beatles classic "Twist and Shout” (ironically, a song they didn’t write) from the top of a float in a downtown Chicago parade. John Lennon sang "Twist and Shout” as though the words were joyful corrosive poison, that his only hope of survival was to expel them with all the vehemence that his rhythm-besotted body could muster, and so does Ferris in the scene. Paul and George’s responses matched John’s zeal at the end of each stanza with their delirious "Ooohs.” They were enjoying themselves so much that this song seemed the most important thing in their lives at that moment. The Beatles knew the awesome responsibilities of pleasure Ferris lips lustily, the frauleins on the float shimmy and shake and bounce off of Ferris like electrons, the thousands in the crowd sing along from the pits of their pelvises. Chicago jams as one, recreating the Beatles’ amazing real-life feat of a unifying mass-madness that changed people’s lives for a time. When I saw the movie in the theater in ‘86, people actually stood up and danced in the aisles. How could they not? The "Twist and Shout” segment was the most exciting and joyous musical moment in a movie since the Beatles own "A Hard Day’s Night” (1964), and was the perfect climax to Ferris Bueller’s film exploits. The public was so wistful for Beatlemania that "Twist and Shout” returned to the charts for 15 weeks that year, a brief but sweet reminder of the real thing. | 
