Mad Mel Returns

 

Here are the Beatles at a press conference in Portland, Oregon, in 1965.  That guy in the striped shirt and big sunglasses is none other than Mad Mel,  the Australian disc jockey who orchestrated the knitting of a huge scarf that he presented to The Beatles during their tour of Australia.  You can read the story about that here. 

When I saw these photos the other day, I was confused about why Mad Mel would be at a Portland Beatles press conference.   I discovered that in 1965, Mel left Australia and was a DJ at CFUN in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada).    Portland would have been the closest town to Vancouver to have a Beatles concert that year.   Since Mel had a friendly relationship with the Beatles, it makes sense that CFUN would send him down to Oregon to attend the press conference.  He must not have spent too much time in Canada because I read that Mel was back on air in Australia by the end of the decade.  It is believed that Mad Mel still lives in Sydney.  As far as I know, he hasn't been interviewed about his time with The Beatles.  Hopefully I am wrong and the book about the Beatles in Australia that is supposed to be published this year will give us more information about this interesting disc jockey and his Beatle connection.