The Beatles are our bosses!

For the past 2 days I have been working hard on this story.   I find the girls that worked at Apple to be very interesting and I always wanted to learn more about them and how they got such a great job.  But with most things I find interesting, there is very little information about the Apple girls out there.  So when I found this story about them in Bravo magazine, I wanted to read it right away.   The only problem is that Bravo magazine is written completely in German and even though I have a very German last name and even went to Hamburg last summer, I do not know German.   

So I took to Google translator to figure out what they were saying.   Only I could not cut and paste because of the format of the DVD that Bravo article was one.  So I wrote out the whole article in a notebook by hand and then typed out all of the German into Google Translator and then from there I tried to make it sound like English.    I hope I am somewhat close to what these girls had to say.   It sure was a lot of work.   

I think the little story that interested me was the girl who got a dog from Paul.   Where did Paul get the Yorkshire Terrier?   Surely he didn't give her Eddie???

The black and white photos in this post came from the Bravo article and the color ones came from a post at Miss Tammy's Beatles photo blog many moons ago. 

Janet Lumley

Kitchen maid (16)
I have been cooking for the Beatles for half a year.   It is fantastic.   I cook just as carefully for the four of them as I do for my own family.  John is the pickiest, he is vegetarian. Paul is the hungriest and has even brought his plate back to tell us how good it tasted to him.

Betty Rodrigues

Kitchen Maid (18)

I applied to an ad that only gave a box number. Apple does that all the time when people are searching for work.  Of course, I found it super that I should be a cook for the Beatles.  At first I was very afraid that I would not meet their needs. Although the four are not big eaters.  But I work for the nicest bosses in the world.

Sally Burgess

Press Secretary (21)
John, Paul, George and Ringo only have young, funny and talented people around and it flatters me to be a part of it. Although we work hard, the atmosphere is casual and fun, better than any other company in the world. And every day something new happens.  You must learn to quickly adapt to any situation. Once however, it even became too much for me and I just crawled under my desk.

Debbie Wellum

Receptionist (20)
I have decided that I have the most exciting Apple job. I have to catch all the teenagers who want to speak to my bosses.  Recently, a group of Italian scouts were here, all of whom claimed to be cousins ​​of George Harrison.  But I didn’t fall for such a dirty trick.  I wouldn’t trade in my bosses for anyone else in the world, even if they had really had so many cousins!

Sally Reed

Secretary (20)

I've been a Beatle fan before I started here eight months ago. The four are no longer for me, but I've learned to respect them as businessmen and superiors. I work in the production department; the Beatles are always nice and easy going, even if everything else is wobbling around them. They have a professional attitude which is a very different attitude to these things than a normal human; sometimes I wish I could have some of that.

Dee Meehan

Assistant (25)

I have to listen to all the tapes that are sent to the Beatles from people who want to make a career out of music.   A tough job, but whoever has worked in the pop industry, knows what is going on, especially if you have the Beatles as bosses. Paul is the best; he always knows exactly what he wants. George and Ringo are always nice and polite, but sometimes John gets on my nerves. . But he has improved a lot recently.

Amanda Hull

Tea cook (39)
I am responsible  for tea and coffee,  which  is used a lot with us, because Apple is a hospitable house. In a little chamber, I have a two burner stove, on which is always a pot of water and a pot of coffee standing. The tea is always fresh, otherwise it will be bitter. With Paul, I make sure that he does not get too much sugar. This is not good for his future children.

Jean Griffin

Secretary (24)

I got my job through an agency. I could never write a letter of application, as all these young girls, especially Americans want my job.  They also come up to say Ringo and say,” I'm crazy about you” “I work for you.” “You need me --pay any salary” But I would not like to change places with anyone. I prefer to work for Ringo, he has the best manners

Linda Bristow

Assistant Publisher (22)

I work for Apple music publishing. Of course I'm a Beatles fan, but I do not fall into a swoon every time they come through the door. Just to be a fan is not enough for a job at Apple. There is plenty to do and you have to know something too. But as for us, we are paid well and have the best bosses in the world. My favorite boss is George. He is for me the most beautiful thing. But I cannot tell him - because he would be pissed.

Frankie Hart

Press Secretary (19)

Anyone who thinks that we spend the whole day painting our lips and putting mascara on our eyelashes because our bosses are not there would be completely wrong. After all, there are four of them, and one is always there to make sure no one is getting paid for nothing. But what girl would not like to work overtime, if, for example, Paul McCartney asked?

Carol Padden

Press Secretary (23)

Of course, I'm a Beatles fan. Who isn’t? It's easy to work for such pleasant, young handsome men instead of old thick, bad-tempered men who are constantly, trying to flirt with you. Such a thing does not exist in the Beatles.   I have never heard any girls complain that one of the Beatles had flirted with her!

Terrie Clemmons

Accountant (28)
We are constantly in turmoil, but you always know that you will to be treated decently. We rarely see the Beatles here because; of course they have no clue about accounting. . But if any one of us has a longing for our bosses, she can just go and talk with them.  My funniest experience at Apple? Once Mick Jagger ran through the room and I did not recognize him!

Sally Stewart

Secretary (19)

My relatives have always regretted that the Maharishi and the marijuana occurred. You probably have the feeling that I'm working in a brothel for the Beatles. I can only say what has happened to us girls inside and the Beatles were always first class.  I wish every girl could have such considerate and kind bosses.

Carol Chapman

Secretary (23)

It's a wonderful feeling to know that a hundred thousand girls envy this job I arrive in the morning a half hour earlier, because I live opposite of Apple. And when I hear the Beatles on the radio, my heart beats faster because it is my bosses who are singing.  Who else can say that?

Barbara Bennet

Secretary (24)

My best experience with Apple was when Paul gave me a little Yorkshire terrier.  He had heard me gushing to a colleague about this breed, and a few days later he had one in tow. But once when I visited my friend Colin Peterson the terrier ran into the city by himself.  I never saw him again, although I'd put up a lot of ads.

Laurie McCaffrey

 Switchboard (25)

I get  an average of 2,000 calls a day. During the school holidays there are even a lot more.  Sometimes a child will call and say “This is Mrs. McCartney, Can I speak to my son please?”  I have been working six years for the Beatles and I still do not know what is going to happen next. . But honestly I want this job even though I don’t know!

Some Fun tonight -- book review

Okay, so I have never reviewed a book that I haven't read all the way through before, but this book is so awesome that I didn't want to wait until I was done with both volumes to give a review.

I met the author Chuck Gunderson because of this blog. He emailed me several years ago with some questions about some of the photos I had posted.  He was a regular reader of this blog. He was one of the first people I had ever talked to that were actually "regular viewers."  I met him in person at the Fest for Beatle fans in Chicago.  Before long, he told me about the book he was writing about the Beatles' North American tours.  I had thought about writing such a book at one time.  Nothing has ever been published on the North American Tours that went into detail.  It was a gaping hole in Beatles books. I was glad that Chuck was taking on the topic, because I do not think I would be able to do it justice.

I have been anxious about Chuck's book since he first told me about it.  And now it is here! His book ended up being a two-book volume set.  The 1964 tour is in one volume, and 1965/1966 is in the second.  The book, titled Some Fun Tonight is published much like one of Bruce Spizer's books.  It is in full color and hardcover.  It is a beautiful set of books.   Inside, there are photos that were brand new to me, along with concert memorabilia.  Each stop on the tour is discussed in detail, along with stories from those who were there and fans.   

I started reading volume one last night. So far, it is awesome! I am learning new nuggets of information and loving every second of it. When I finish updating this blog, I am anxious to read some more.

Also, just an aside....if you look at the acknowledgments in the back, you will spot my name.

I can't recommend this book enough, and I am not just saying that because Chuck is such a nice guy.   Really, this is an awesome book set!

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book.  I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/3TsfT4o

Family outing

Busted peeking

Here George and Pattie are at their court day for their pot bust.   I have always thought that Pattie just looked stunning on this day.   But what do we spot?   A fan who is busted for peeking at the famous couple.

International man of mystery

On my way to work....

Beatle Ringo went to the air

Beatle Ringo went to the air 

By Hans Skrinjar

I was one of the 200,000 hippies who took three days  at the Isle of Wight in the fog. Loaded with blankets pots and bags they came from almost all of the countries of the world. Beatle  Ringo Starr did not want to  miss this hustle and bustle.  Along with his wife, he participated in this unique event from afar part - namely, from a helicopter. When the machine on,  many flower children were ready to greet their star.   Ringo probably feared  he was going to be pulled by his fans from the helicopter. As a precaution, he was quickly carried away by the pilot in the safe skies. 

Mendips

This is a new one to me.  Does anyone know who the girl with John is?   I love photos taken at Mendips!

Getting away from it all

Up and down

Trying to leave the car

Japan bike riding.

John toots his own horn

No autographs please

On a dark race course

This is a very nice George snapshot from 1969, just too bad it is so dark.  

Right on

Thanks to Andrea at That Eventuality , I was able to order the DVD-rom of the Bravo magazines that have the Beatles in them!    Now I cannot read any of it since it is all in German, which is too bad because some of the articles look really interesting.  However, there are some amazing photos on the discs, such as these of John!  I am really digging John's look during this time.

Radio's battle for the Beatles

I find the whole "radio race for the Beatles" in the 1960's to be very interesting.   This article written by Peter Kanze has some interesting bits of information about WAMC and WMCA in New York and the Beatles.    This was published in issue #48 (from 1989) of Good Day Sunshine Magazine.

1964 Revisited:  Radio’s Battle for the Beatles

By Peter Kanze

When the Beatles first hit American shores in 1964, radio personalities scrambled to befriend them and scoop other stations.   WIN’s (New York City) Murray the K and his exploits are well known but here’s a taste of the mania that occurred at the other top New York rock stations.  Rick Sklar of WABC-AM radio (Sklar was WABC’s Program Director from 1962 through 1976, and is largely responsible for the tightly formatted, professional contemporary radio that is the standard for today.  He’s currently Vice President of ABC Radio in charge of programming), and Joe Bogart of the now all-talk WMCA-AM radio in New York city recently remembered how their stations covered the first wave of Beatlemania.

In its heyday, before the disco barrage of ’78, WABC was the leading radio station in the New York City area, and had been so for some 16 years.  Its signal reaches the entire eastern half of the United States on a good night, and virtually every AM listener in that half of the country (and a good number of listeners in many other parts of the world) has picked up its signal at least once.

Conversely, WMCA was, and is only a 5000 watt local station with a coverage area of approximately 75 miles.  During the 1960s, the WMCA “Good Guys” placed more emphasis on new music programming and on-air listeners’ empathy than WABC, but usually came up only #2 in the ratings.  Because of this, and such factors as the advent of FM rock radio, WMCA finally switched to an all talk format in September 1970.

Joe Bogart, Music Director of WMCA in the ‘60’s remembers how they became the first station to play “I wanna Hold your Hand” as an American release.  “We played the Beatles records in 1963, before Capitol had signed them.  We gave them a chance; but they didn’t do anything, so off the playlist they went.  But as time went on, we couldn't help but be impressed by their popularity in England. So when Capitol told us that they had signed them for the United States, we told them that we were willing to take a chance on a record, and to bring it up when it was ready.”

Ken Luttman was the local Capitol promotion man at the tie.  He brought up the new Beatles single, “I wanna hold your hand,” on the morning of Thursday, December 26, 1963.  Jack Spector played it on the air for the first time around 12:30 that afternoon.  It just took off from there.

“WABC never took a chance on anything, they just played the records after we made hits out of them, “ Bogart continued, “I always considered ‘top 40’ as a creation of management and frightened people.  WMCA wanted to play the best music – the sounds that really belonged on the air.”

Rick Sklar remembers that “WABC never deviated from its standard policy with and artist, including the Beatles.   In order to get played on the station, the artist had to be established first.  Once they made it, fine, but we weren't going be the station to take a chance.  “WABeatlesC” went on the first American Beatles releases, but only because of their track record in England.  I don’t think that it was very significant that WMCA played “I wanna hold your hand” before we did.  As far as we were concerned, the Beatles weren't known yet.  Once the Beatles were known, though, we always tried to have the exclusive. “

The “exclusive” or “scoop” (a record that has been obtained first by one radio station in a given area and no other) was all-important in those days, and still is to some extent with superstar performers.  In the case of the Beatles, it was meant to convey the impression that one radio station had a closer relationship to the group than the other.  Hence, newer music, better gossip, etc.

Skylar continued, “There was a tremendous fight for exclusives.  We would try to wait until Friday night, and then we’d have the exclusive record over the weekend because all the offices were shut down.  The telegrams and injunctions might fly, but the damage to the competition was already done.”

Bogart achieved a still legendary status of being able to “scoop records”.  He recalls, “We made a hobby of it.  Our slogan in those days was ‘First on your Dial’ (referring to WMCA’s 570 kHz AM dial position), and we tried to make it mean something.

“We basically used connections to get scoops.  There were super-secret arrangements which to this day I still don’t think I should talk about.  I remember waiting at the airport at 7 a.m. one very chilly morning for a cargo plane with the tapes of one of the first Beatles albums to arrive.  We got it back to the station, and Ed Baer aired it cut by cut, just as we finished dubbing it off the tapes.”

There was also an equally big rivalry between the stations as to who would do a remote broadcast or who would emcee a concert.  Says Bogart, “I was supposed to go to England to make a deal with Brian Epstein to bring the Beatles to Madison Square Garden.  Instead Epstein came over here.  He felt that the Garden was much too big a place, and chose Carnegie Hall instead.  The Beatles played two shows at Carnegie Hall.  We hosted one show, and Murray the K of WINS hosted the other.

“When the Beatles played Shea Stadium the following year, we were not allowed to do a live broadcast.  So, we did the next best thing.  We stationed Ed Baer in a broadcast booth to do color.  As the Beatles started a song, we’d switch back to the studio and play a record of the song they were performing live.  As the song ended, we’d switch back to Ed and broadcast the applause and hysteria.”

Sklar adds, “You never heard any music at the concerts anyway.  There was too much screaming.  It was 45 minutes of sheer ecstasy and madness.  Whenever they were in town we at WABC would do anything and everything to make them a part of the station.  When they stayed at the Warwick hotel, we put in equipment that ran from the WABC station just across the street so that we could use our microphones without having to trail all that equipment around.  We could just go to their rooms, do the broadcast and come back.

I remember in 1964 we hit the Warwick hotel two day’s early making friends with the detectives and staff.  It’s funny how far a bottle of Scotch would go in those days!  By the time the Beatles got there, they knew who we were and it was safe to go in.  We didn't get stopped; we just went right through the line.  That way, we sometimes got in when others couldn't.

“There were many memorable situations.  Once, some girl (in the crowd) ripped off Ringo’s St. Christopher medal and we broadcast appeals for it.  Ringo was all broke up about it and said he couldn't perform without it.  Evidently he’d worn it around his neck since he was a kid.  We broadcast the appeals and, sure enough, the girl came to the radio station.  But by this time it was so dramatic that we took the girl, called her home and asked if we could put her up for the night.  WE shut her up in the hotel and continued the appeals all night, even though we already had the girl and the medal.  In the morning the medal was returned to Ringo.  He could play again and it was an emotional moment for all. 

I also remember the time that we persuaded Paul McCartney to come down to our room where we had the equipment to do a lengthier interview.  The security in the place was maddening because the Beatles were afraid to appear in public.  So he and I tip-toed out to the elevator – in those days the elevators were manned by operators.  Sure enough, the first elevator that came was going down when we needed to go up.  The elevator stopped and opened up:  inside was a middle aged businessman and his daughter who had evidently persuaded her father to let her stay overnight.  The only people who were allowed in the hotel were paying guests, and she was evidently hoping to see the Beatles.  The elevator stopped, and I told the operator that, while I knew this elevator was going down, this was an emergency, and we had to go up one floor in a hurry.  Could she just turn around and take us up that one flight?  The operator was in the process of giving us a big explanation as to why she couldn't when the girl (who was looking down at the floor) looked up and realized she was only two inches from Paul McCartney.  She screamed, “It’s him!   It’s him!”  As she screamed, the elevator operator (who didn't know who we were) slammed the door right in our faces.  As the elevator dropped we could hear the poor girl screaming “Let him in!  Let him in!”  All the way down.

An even more famous occurrence was the time would “Cousin” Bruce Morrow and Scott Muni were interviewing the Beatles in their hotel suite.  At the spur of the moment, they stuck their microphone out of the window.  Dan Ingram, the DJ on the air at the time, told the crowd (most of whom were evidently carrying radios tuned to WABC) to sing along with the jingles.  Sure enough, on cue, about 10,000 kids suddenly started singing along with “Your world looks great on 77 WABC.”  They repeated the process with three different jingle cuts and then Ingram played a Beatle record as a “reward.”

Both stations used the Beatles tie-in as a way of promoting the station.  Beatle drawings were a favorite.  “One contest involved drawing a Beatle wig on a celebrity,” recalls Bogart, “Some of the entries were really fabulous and inventive.  We had entries such as someone took a Lincoln penny, mounted it on velvet, and painted a Beatle haircut with enamel; other entries included portraits of such diverse people as Pope Pius and Adalai Stevenson with Beatle haircuts.  We had something like 85,000 entries.”

WABC’s contest involved a Beatle “look alike” promotion.  The winner was a dead-ringer for Ringo Starr – a girl! 

“The Beatles were very easy to work with,” says Sklar.  “We ran a contest, ‘Win a Date with the Beatles.’  The only way we were able to do this was because ABC had a tie-in with the Cerebral Palsy charity.  We set up a benefit concert at the New York Paramount and to help sell tickets we offered this contest.  The winner got to go to the concert and had dinner; then he/she got to go backstage and meet the Beatles at a small reception.  Because we did this with a charity tie in, we were able to get the group to work with us. “

Other prizes in similar contests ranged from a trip to England to money, records, concert tickets and even WMCA “Good Guys” sweatshirts.  One early contest involved the giveaway of a special 45 rpm picture cover for “I wanna hold your hand,” featuring the Beatles on side one, and pictures of the WMCA disc jockeys on the other.  A lock of Ringo’s hair accompanied by a picture of WMCA DJ Joe Obrien snipping it off was another such prize.

According to Sklar, “It was sensational, that kind of radio.  It had excitement that you don’t see today.  We had a 25% share of the audience – that’s 6,000,000 listeners to a single Saturday night “Cousin Brucie” Morrow show.  When you talk to program directors today, they just don’t understand.  Soon after the Beatles, FM came along and fragmented the audience.  It exploded the whole thing and everybody got a piece.  That’s why you don’t see that kind of radio programming anymore.

“Could it happen again?  At some point in time an artist could gain catch on via radio.  In turn, the group would help radio to re-establish itself as a key medium.  Go back and consider Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and the others.  It’s a logical progression.  These phenomena tend to repeat themselves because the public wants them to.”

Two gentlemen

Films

Hello Richy

Just a bunch of cow-folk

This appears to be an "end of the tour" photo taken in Dallas in 1964.   Look at Mal up in the corner!

The happiest place on earth

This new photo was posted on this tumblr page with an explanation that the blogger's grandfather took the photo of John and May while they were watching a parade at Walt Disney World in 1974.   It is truly an amazing photograph!    I am trying to figure out where at WDW they are.   Adventureland maybe?

Mister Mom

Sir Paul

Adventures of a 1st generation fan (part 3)

Well I finally found it!   After 5 years I now have all 5 parts of Sue Bujnousky's stories of being around the Beatles in the late 1960's.    Here is part 3, which was the last part I needed.   It came from the Spring 1990 (issue #54) of Good Day Sunshine magazine.

Adventures of a first generation fan

Part 3 (1968)

By Sue Bujnousky

During our last week in England in July of 1968, we spent almost all of our free time either at Paul’s house, Abbey road or the Apple Building on Savile Road.  A few incidents stand out.

Waiting outside Paul’s house with the usual crowd of girls (it’s funny, but now that I think of it, I don’t remember ever seeing any guys there), we could hear Paul’s Aston Martin coming out of the garage while Rosie, his housekeeper, came and opened the gates.  We all crowded around, and Paul opened the window to talk to us.  One of the girls gave him two roses.  He put one behind his ear, the other between his teeth and drove off toward the studio; waving out the window for us to follow.  It was like a scene out of “a Hard Day’s night”, all of us running after the car, screaming.  This is not the easiest thing to do when you’re wearing high heels and a mini-skirt!  I don’t know how his neighbors put up with this.  They must have been very patient people.

The first time I saw George, John, Paul and Yoko had “come together” to the studio in John’s white rolls, Ringo arrived in a small, non-descript car.  I can still remember the feeling.  I was finally going to see George face-to-face.  Someone said, “Here’s George” as a cream colored Mercedes (License Plate No. OLA 600E) came around the corner and pulled into the parking lot in front of the studio.  I ran into the front gate, camera ready.  George got out, wearing a ruffled white shirt and the brightest green pants I have ever seen.  I tried to get around the car but the guard (I think his name was James, we got to know him pretty well) very politely “escorted” me back to the sidewalk, I was frantic.  George was already up the stairs.  I started screaming, “George turn around!”  No luck (This probably looked rather strange, since I was the only one in the crowd yelling, jumping up and down and pounding on the studio fence).  Finally out of sheer frustration I yelled, “You creep!”  (Isn't that wonderful?)  Well, he stopped, turned around laughed and waved at me.  I took a picture, but my hands were shaking so badly by then that it didn't come out very well.

A couple of days before we left England, Yellow Submarine premiered.  Of course we couldn't go to opening night, but we were there the second night.  After seeing them all arrive at the studio, a group of us decided to see if we could get in.  We must have gotten the last few tickets, since we ended up in the third or fourth row – talk about a stiff neck.  It was quite an experience, though, having just talked to them and then watching them on the screen at the end of the film – talk about “cloud nine!”

We left England and came home via Geneva.  I don’t think the full reality hit us until we had been back a few weeks.  Our parents, who hadn't sounded too thrilled with what we had been doing when we called home (not enough culture—why didn't we go to a museum or art gallery?) were telling all their friends that their daughters were “hanging around” all day with the Beatles!

Abbey Walk

Stella first autograph

This was taken when Paul took his family to see the original Broadway cast of Annie in New York.   I would have loved to have seen the original Broadway cast and to have seen Paul there as well.   I bet Stella enjoyed the show!

Before Ringo learned how to make a proper peace sign...

A day in Japan

Stanhope

The Platypus you need is on your shoulder.....

It is isn't every day you find a photo of John Lennon with a platypus on his shoulder.   It is interesting that both Paul and John are signing the book since Paul wrote the forward to it.

Shake it up baby now

So a radio station from Connecticut ran a contest in 1965 ran a contest and the winners of the contest got to fly to London and meet the Beatles backstage during their concert at the Hammersmith Odeon!   You can see here that DJ Lee Gray and the two winners, Jill and Diane are all doing some crazy handshake backstage.  What a great prize they won!

Driving in a yellow shirt

Paul at 2 in the morning

Here is another story from Bravo magazine  (#43 from 1968) that Andrea from That Eventuality  sent to me to share on this blog.  She is so sweet because she sent me several of these and even translated them for me.   

Ringo in the crowd

Johann snapped this photo of Paul at the Beatles party.  He had to wait!

"Paul came at two in the morning

. When I was in London recently, I by chance got hold of a ticket for the party The Beatles were having hosting for the launch of their film "Yellow Submarine."

The party began at around 11 p.m. at the Royal Lancaster Hotel. In front of the entrance to the basement party room, a man dressed as a "Nowhere Man" stood and greeted people. He only allowed people with invitation cards to enter.

Among the guests were The Marmalade, Jane Asher and many models. There was as much of a cold buffet and champagne as you could eat and drink. At around 1 a.m., the first of the Beatles to appear was Ringo with his wife Maureen. He seemed to feel - at least that was how it appeared to me - a little lost among the many guests. Which is why he didn't hang around at the party for very long. At around 2 in the morning, Paul McCartney and John Lennon showed up. Paul was immediately surrounded by lots of people. He felt visibly more comfortable in the throng than Ringo had. Unfortunately, George Harrison did not attend the party. That was too bad, because I would have liked to have seen all of The Beatles "live." But even so, it was a great experience!"

Johann Diewock, Frankfurt; royalty: 60 D-Mark

Smuggle