Teens Paint the Town Red and Beatles Grab the Green (Shea Stadium 1965)

 Teen Paint the Town Red and Beatles Grab the Green

No writer listed

Newsday

August 16, 1965

 

Flushing-- Four frenzied, extraordinarily loud young men and 1000s of their frenzied, extraordinary, loud young fans converged on Shea Stadium last night. The young men in an armored car, the fans in another world, brought to a climax a weekend the lengths to which New York has seen before and could see again. The Beatles were back in town.

 The Beatles —Ringo and the others —stayed long enough to sing a dozen songs against a background of screams and squeals from 55,000 of their young fans. The selection included such classics as “Can't Buy Me Love” and “A Hard Day's Night”; the ordeal brought the singers roughly $304,000 and brought the squealers near hysteria.

 The mop-headed singers arrived in an armored car from the heliport at the World's Fair and left the stadium following the concert in the same closely guarded van. The Mets were in Texas, and there were the Beatles at second base, the biggest hit the stadium has seen in months. Even Casey Stengel would have to admit they had a certain something.

Whatever it is that they have, it glows, and their shrieking, swaying, adulating fans, mostly girls, told them so. In screaming counterpoint, they shouted, “I love you, George” or “I love Ringo”, as the Beatles did a 35-minute rock and roll stint.

 The atmosphere, both inside and outside the stadium, was good-natured. Banners hung from the stands read “Paul, throw us a kiss, Ringo, throw us a ring”. Another group of fans had a British flag with “John” written across it in black.

On stage, the Beatles beat out their rhythmic chant. But if and how the shrieking teenagers heard the music is still a mystery. One young girl ran down the aisle, and before police could stop her, she made a flying leap over the dugout opposite third base, landing in the arms of a policeman. She was promptly escorted from the field. Two or three boys, later tried to scale the outfield fences, turning precariously on top, saw the cops and retreated back into the stands.

 The Beatles staged their third invasion of the US. Friday, between then and yesterday, their hotel, the Warwick in Manhattan, was besieged by hordes of screaming teenagers who strained police barricades and attempted to get at their heroes. Awaiting their arrival at the hotel on Friday, the fans swarmed over nearby cars to gain a better view, but the Beatles, by going the wrong way on a one-way street, managed to get to and inside the hotel, more or less unmolested.

 On Saturday, police outwitted the waiting admirers and got the Beatles out a side door and to rehearsal for last night's carryings on. Again and again last night, police at the edge of the bandstand gently slapped the faces of long-haired little girls who were collapsing in ecstasy at the sight of their heroes. More than 100 special officers lined the stadium and field and were backed up by a New York City Police contingent and 20 policewomen.

 Five hours before the Beatles arrived, more than 400 fans were in their seats warming up their lungs for the singer's eight o'clock appearance. In their midst walked two young men with anti-Beatles signs saying, “The Beatles are bush” and “Get off our infield, You hairy howlers”.  Their signs were ripped away in minutes.

When the Beatles arrived at 5:15 pm, the fans sent up a deafening roar. They surged forward against the police barricade, only to be pushed back by police. Police said that 115 youngsters suffered minor injuries such as fainting, bruised knees, elbows, and twisted ankles. During the frantic concert, about two dozen girls were taken to nearby hospitals.

At the end of the concert, some 25 teenagers attempted to get on stage, but were restrained. The Liverpool quartet jumped into a white ambulance waiting by the stage, which took them to their armored car outside the stadium.