Thursday, January 5, 2017

Those Famous Steps

Photo by Nigel Machin.  Used with permission.  Do not copy without his permission

Photo by Nigel Machin.  Do not copy without his permission



Over on the wonderful world of Facebook, a fan named Nigel posted some photos from when he met Paul and Linda in 1978 outside Abbey Road studios.    I asked if I could share the photos with all of you, and he said "sure!"     He also included some information about the photos.

I was in London in 1978 and as a rock fan I went to look at Abbey Road and there was about 6 people waiting at the gate. They said McCartney is recording and I hung around for a while and he turned up and was very happy to chat. We didn't give him any hassle and he said to us if we could turn up the next day he would try to get us into Abbey Road. More innocent times then - John's execution finished off a lot of this fan interaction. Paul was not that popular in 1978 either - The Beatles and 60s stuff was considered dated.....

His photos and stories also come with a search for his old Beatles pen pal from Germany who was with him on this trip to London.  

I met Suzanne Wilms because she wrote her name and address on the Apple Saville Road door asking for penfriends. She was 15 and I was 17 - i wrote down the name and address and we corresponded (she lived in Dusseldorf West Germany) and we eventually me about 2 months later in London. We visited Abbey Road and as luck would have it Paul was recording, in those days he would often invite fans to his house for a "cup of tea" (his London residence is only 5 mins walk from Abbey Road). Random great times - not seen Suzanne for nearly 40 years!

Nigel would love to get in contact with Suzanne Wilms again.  He knows that she took many photos on the two days that they met Paul in 1978 that he would love to see.  He also would like to reconnect with his old pal.    So if you know Suzanne Wilms from Germany who is a Beatles fan in her 50's, please let me know so I can pass along the information.   I know it is a long shot, but crazier things have happened thanks to this blog!

8 comments:

  1. To say that Paul was not that popular in 1978 just seems..... silly. That's like saying that water wasn't popular that year. (MarkZapp)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think he was saying that Paul wasn't popular in the same way he was in the Beatles where 100's of fans would stand outside the studio and he would have to rush inside. There were only 6 fans there because the interest in waiting for Paul had faded and so Paul was able to talk with the fans.

      Delete
  2. He was still a chart act in 1978, but definitely a bit 'old hat' by then

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nigel's accounts are very interesting from a different perspective and hope he finds Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hope he can get back in contact with Suzanne. In August 1969, I a Belgian teenager then, met by chance a teenage girl my age from Richmond, Virginia outside 'Apple' in Saville Row; we exchanged addresses and were close pen-pals for over 40 years. She turned out to be a terrific letter-writer! Wonderful times. ("Miss you, Pauline...)

    ReplyDelete
  5. In 1978 London, the Punk movement was still in full swing and they tended to disrigard the older generation's music, so that is why the Beatles' popularity dipped a bit at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jason is right about London then but some hard core P & J fans here in the US still hung around waiting to see the lads

    ReplyDelete
  7. The Christmas/New Year period 1977/78 saw Mull Of Kintyre become the then biggest selling UK single EVER with sales of over 2 million. That's a strange definition of popularity dipping!

    ReplyDelete